International Seed Shipping Update – Floret Flowers

This spring the team and I worked incredibly hard to figure out all of the logistics required to ship Floret Original seeds abroad. 

We spent countless hours doing research, talking to other seed companies, meeting with our local USDA inspector, and working with different shipping carriers and international customs agents around the world. We’ve learned so much about international shipping!

Through the process, we also sent nearly 30 test shipments of seed to seven different countries, all of which included the necessary paperwork and phytosanitary certificates, and then carefully tracked each package along its journey. 

While all of the shipments eventually made it to their destination, what we discovered was that no two orders were handled in the exact same way.

There were so many variables that we encountered that didn’t match our research, such as requests for more paperwork (even though each order had the necessary documents attached to their boxes), duties and taxes that were charged to recipients (that didn’t match the percentages outlined by their country), additional application fees (though orders had all of the necessary prepaid permits and paperwork), and physical inspections before the packages were released. 

When we started looking into the feasibility of offering international shipping, we knew that it would be a very complicated puzzle to figure out. 

Despite our best efforts and the incredible amount of energy our amazing team has poured into this project, I still don’t feel like we have cracked the code on international shipping and can offer this special service at this time. Our team is just too small and the process is too labor intensive to offer on a larger scale. 

I can’t tell you how disappointed I am to not be able to share the Floret Originals with everyone who wants to grow them. Hopefully someday in the future, we will be able to send these special seeds to you. 

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