Sales & Profits

Published November 07, 2016

The industry is seeing some growth in general, and some growers reported big strides in sales. Housing starts are up and the GDP is growing at an average of 2.1 percent, says Charlie Hall, economist and Texas A&M’s Ellison Chair in International Floriculture. “There will still be some shakeout in the industry, but the economy is not working against us and won’t be in the near future,” he says. Of those surveyed, 58 percent said their 2016 sales increased over the previous year, and about 65 percent anticipate increased sales for 2017. Some 25 percent said there was no change in this year’s sales compared with last year and a little more than a quarter of respondents expect sales to stay the same next year.

More than 70 percent of those surveyed were profitable this year, with 7 percent breaking even. Growers mentioned they are growing new plant introductions, implementing production efficiencies and improving quality control to help maintain or improve profitability.

Our company has had significant increases in sales this year. We are expanding our production, and our five-year plan calls for significant growth each year. A lot of factors can arise to change plans. The Black Diamond Crapemyrtles continue to drive our growth by licensing and finished production at our nursery. — Jim Berry, J. Berry Nursery, Grand Saline, Texas