Why Every Nursery Needs a Broker

               Are Nursery Broker’s really just cherry-picking middlemen or do they provide a necessary service?  In today’s article, we examine the cost of working with a broker.  I also make a case for why they are an invaluable asset to nurseries at both ends of the transaction. 

               The reputation for cherry-picking is inevitable, especially after spring.  We’ve talked in earlier articles about how the availability of plants may ebb and flow.  In preparation for spring, professional brokers generally place well-rounded orders as they serve their longstanding customers with a healthy mix of material from their growers but there are surprises each year.  A customer may win a large job that was unexpected, or demand may be hot for an item like Vanderwolf’s Pyramid.  Those situations can increase sales if the buyer can procure the materials.  After they’ve exhausted their main vendors, a buyer will reach out to their favorite nursery broker.  This extends their supply chain into all the growers the broker works with. 

                An established broker is generally plugged in with many buyers and many growers.  Those connections provide an avenue to effectively find and deliver whatever plants the buyer is missing.  Delivery here is a keyword because it can be tricky to build and ship partial loads throughout the year as a single nursery.  The broker’s access gives them more orders to play with and can speed up the process.  Shipping velocity is one of my favorite benefits of working with a strong, well-connected broker. 

               This lends a new perspective on the term “middlemen” that I’ll get to shortly, but I do want to address the elephant in the room first, which is how they make their profits.  Brokers do fit the traditional definition of “middlemen” as they make their margin somewhere between the grower’s price and the buyer’s cost.  With that being said, high-performing brokers generally buy a lot more volume from their key nurseries than any one of their customers might move by themselves.  This outsized purchasing power helps the broker to command a healthy discount with the grower so that the buyer is able to purchase at an agreeable price.  Either way, if the pricing doesn’t work or the quality isn’t there, the deal won’t happen.  If the value is there, however, everyone benefits. 

               The new perspective on the term “middleman” that I wanted to discuss is how the broker acts as a bridge between a nursery’s current state and their desired state.  The grower produced beautiful plants and now desires to ship them and get paid for them.  The buyer needs plants to support their sales goals.  Nursery brokers provide an expeditious bridge to gap for both nurseries.  The best part is that the sale will only happen if the timing is right, the products are of good quality, and the price makes the whole thing profitable for all parties. 

               The best nursery brokers I know provide much more than a listing service.  They physically travel around the country scouting nurseries, checking quality, and finding plants that may not be even listed.  Every year, millions of plants are sold and shipped around the country that never made it onto an availability.  If you didn’t go, you wouldn't know. 

               We talked in another article about the difference between container size and plant size.  It’s one of the biggest issues with standardization in our industry.  Good brokers know their growers, have relationships with the inside sales staff, etc., so they can ensure your plants meet expectations.  This limits credit requests and increases profitability for all parties.

Closing

This is a relationship industry, and the right brokers will help nurseries effortlessly expand their relationships.  By knowing the broker, your supply chain gets plugged in to a network of growers and customers.  This allows you to enjoy the benefits of having purchasing power and logistics support equivalent to a much larger organization.  The effect is similar to joining a buying group, except you only participate when it benefits you.

I recently conducted a survey of my connections on LinkedIn and was shocked to find that 88.5% of respondents are currently working with brokers.  That seemed extraordinarily high especially for how firmly stereotypes are planted in our industry.  With that being said, I believe the verdict is definitely in.  Brokers provide a necessary service in our industry.  If you are in the minority who are not currently working with a broker, perhaps this little article will pique your interest to explore further why every nursery needs a broker.