Costa Farms, North America’s largest horticultural grower, is shifting its communications strategy to increase focus on indoor and outdoor gardeners. As part of this strategy, the company launched a branding effort and consumer marketing campaign and redoubled efforts to educate and engage the end consumer.
This shift in strategy is repositioning the company from its current role as a leading wholesale grower of houseplants, tropicals, annuals, and perennials to a beloved consumer plant brand. The growth of Costa Farms—from 30 hectares to more than 5,000—over the past 60 years has allowed it to build a structure that allows it to directly respond to the needs of home gardeners across the country. “We are focused on growing crops that meet the needs of retailers by appealing to end consumers,” said Joche Smith, Costa Farms CEO. “With changing demographics and the renewed enthusiasm for gardening — especially indoor gardening after COVID-19 — we’re seeing more consumers than ever want to communicate directly with the team that grows their crops. plant. We welcome this opportunity to build relationships in the plant community and make an extra effort to connect with new gardeners.
Become a Brand
Although consumer and competitor research, the Costa Farms team has identified important areas of plant parents and future plant buyers that have emerged after the pandemic. “The explosion in plant sales during and after the peak of COVID drove consumers to contact us with plant questions. We dug in and our research revealed a whole community of underserved plant lovers . Our goal is to make beautiful, healthy plants accessible to everyone, regardless of whether they are plant enthusiasts or have yet to discover their green thumb,” said Mari Carrasquillo, Costa Farms Senior Director of Marketing. , “Our new visual brand language reflects this. Costa Farms is more accessible than ever.”
Costa Farms started by launching a direct-to-consumer site, https://shop.costafarms.com. This online plant store gives consumers the opportunity to enjoy plants sent directly from the farm to increase the convenience of everything. The company’s plants are also available through brick-and-mortar channels such as Lowe’s, The Home Depot, and Walmart. “Our online plant store is the perfect opportunity to start building relationships with consumers,” said Justin Hancock, Costa Farms Horticulturist, “so we’ve grown it as a communication platform.” Costa Farms is investing in building a direct-to-consumer business. This includes research and development, proprietary software, and the opening of an ecommerce facility with the potential to ship up to 30,000 plants per day. “This vertical integration allows us to be better prepared to serve consumers as interest in plants continues to grow,” Carrasquillo said.
Reaching the Consumer
In addition to its website and social media channels, Costa Farms has developed an educational and experiential platform called Plant Rx. “We built Plant Rx to support consumers to grow plants successfully in any environment,” Hancock said. For example, Costa Farms is working to reach indoor and outdoor gardeners in their preferred way, using the social media platform TikTok to create growing tips to increase a taller form. podcast hosted by Hancock and a leader in Integrated Pest Management. “In everything we do, we think about how we can help people succeed and better enjoy their relationships with their plants,” Hancock said.
Consumer Involvement
To match the excitement and growing demand for plant information, the Costa Farms team is adding sizzle with the launch of an All Thumbs Are Green campaign contest that includes plant recipes (one-on-one virtual consultation with Hancock and other Costa Farms Horticulturists) and a year of free plants, including early access to new releases within the popular Costa Farms Trending Tropicals collection.
“By appealing to consumers’ appetite for plants, targeting their pain points, and offering innovative solutions, we know plant parents will feel confident joining a brand that has been on the ground for a long time,” said Carrasquillo.
About Costa Farms
Costa Farms is the largest grower of houseplants in the world. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, this fourth-generation family-run company spans 5,000 acres and employs more than 6,000 team members. This 61-year-old company was named International Grower of the Year by the International Association of Horticultural Producers and has farms in North and South Carolina, throughout Florida, and in the Dominican Republic. It ships plants to some of the largest retailers across North America, including Lowe’s, The Home Depot, Walmart, IKEA, Costco, Rona, and Kroger, as well as a variety of independent stores in plants and garden centers.
