CHENNAI : Imagine the misty white jasmines, the vibrant yellow and orange marigolds, velvety white and pink nerium oleanders and buds of pink and white roses greeting you every day in small boxes along with your daily subscription of newspaper and milk. Making this a reality is Venkatesh, an engineer by profession, for whom the idea of fresh flowers being delivered to your doorstep every morning before you rush to your packed schedule became a business opportunity.
After almost six months of sweating it out, when he finally launched Flora Fresco along with his wife Rashmi, also an engineer, in January this year, the company became Chennai’s first flower subscription, he claims. “I used to wonder why my wife wasn’t buying flowers often even though she liked them. When I asked her, she put forward many valid problems including the unavailability of fresh and clean flowers near our place. While pondering over this minor problem, I thought why not implement it ourselves? Our necessity became the business,” he says.
For this, the couple returned to their native, Madurai where they started a warehouse to enable the transit of flowers and eventually set up a website and an app. Now, they have a team of ten members including a florist, delivery executive, and social media managers. Venkatesh narrates, “We dedicated six to seven hours on weekends to create the website.
During our six months of research, we learned ways to ship the flowers almost 450 km from Madurai to Chennai. The flowers kept in the ice boxes are immediately refrigerated and we ensure that it travels only for less than 10 hours. We failed almost 15 times before learning the right way.” The delivery has to happen almost immediately considering the life span of the flowers. The company has enabled delivery only from 5 am to 8 am with the help of around six delivery executives.
An everyday spring
Despite the challenges, they deliver around 28 varieties of flowers. “Even though we don’t deliver garlands and bouquets, we provide a range of strung and loose flowers. Almost all categories of roses, marigolds, arali, jaathi malli, kadambam, and mullai, are available,” he says. The loose flowers, except lotuses and country paneer roses, are packed into boxes of 100 grams. Assorted flowers include a combination of yellow samanthi, white samanthi, and red button roses.
Venkatesh ensures that the pricing is similar to that at the market without any delivery or packaging costs but also warns that it can vary according to the availability of the flowers. “Jasmine is expensive as it is not the season now. The jasmine we get in Chennai is not Madurai jasmine, but we deliver that. In April, as the availability increases, the cost will also decrease,” he says. With their automated mechanism to ensure consistent quantity in packaging, the company provides the exact quantity they promise.
A unique business model
While starting this one-of-a-kind business model in the city, the couple didn’t have any other organisation to look up to. Taking up the challenge, they researched how milk deliveries happen every day and implemented the same style. Explaining the customisation and ordering details, Venkatesh says, “For example, if you have placed an order on Tuesday before 11:30 pm, your package will be delivered on Thursday morning. We need a day for transportation. You can customise your order for selected days on the website. Once you have ordered an everyday subscription, we will make a note of it and deliver it everyday, except for Sundays.”
The company now has almost 400 subscriptions. “Our subscription base is improving every day with 15-20 new subscriptions. Right now we are only able to cover OMR and other areas in the main city proximity. We are yet to start delivering flowers to Ambattur, Porur, Tambaram, and Airport,” he notes.
They consciously minimise the use of plastic and opt for paper packaging to ensure zero waste. Through their Instagram page @flora.fresco, they educate their followers on the history and prominence of the flowers they sell.
Through these initiatives, the company aspires to be the city’s own brand that delivers all things flowery and fragrant to your doorstep.