After 18 years in business and more than 1 million gifts dispatched, Australian gourmet gifting company Edible Blooms is celebrating the festive season early this year with its first major retail partnership with TerryWhite Chemmart.
The Adelaide-based business, which was founded by sisters Kelly Jamieson and Abbey Baker and currently delivers to every major Australian capital city and Auckland in New Zealand, has launched its signature chocolate bouquets in participating TerryWhite Chemmart locations across Australia.
Edible Blooms is expected to be stocked by 100 TerryWhite Chemmart Stores stores by the end of November, and 250 by Christmas 2023.
The family business is also working towards being stocked in 1000 key retail locations by June 2024 and anticipates its monthly retail store volumes will be 40,000 bouquets per month when it is in full bloom.
Edible Blooms co-founder and CEO Kelly Jamieson said with TerryWhite as its launch stockist, the company is also partnering with additional key retailers that it is hand-picking for their brand fit and locations.
“We’re on track to be stocked in 200 stores by the end of November, 300 stores by Christmas, and over 600 stores in early 2024 ready for Valentine’s Day,” she told SmartCompany.
Jamieson says the retail partnership adds to Edible Bloom’s existing e-commerce store.
“We strategically chose TerryWhite Chemmart as our launch partner because of their strong brand, centred around the value ‘care’, their geographic locations nationwide and their convenient opening hours for our customers,” she says.
“Supporting other Australian companies and customer speed has always been a priority for us and our retail partnerships are no exception.”
Jamieson said another exciting aspect of the new retail concession from Edible Blooms is its partnership with Australian manufacturers to create its custom display stand and retail presentation.
“The bespoke display design and production has been created locally in Adelaide in partnership with a family-owned metal fabrication business, Heatlie,” she explains.
“From the time our retailers place their first order, our custom retail concession stand can be delivered and set up within just 48 hours.”
Jamieson says the idea behind the collaboration with TerryWhite Chemmart is to be where the company’s customers need them and to make it easy for people to give thoughtful gifts to recipients of all ages.
“Hospital gifting is a core strength of Edible Blooms, nurses love our gifts delivered to their patients because they don’t require water and there is no sneezing caused by pollen, so a pharmacy partner was our logical first step to foray into retail locations,” she says.
An 18-year journey to bricks-and-mortar retail
During August and September, Edible Blooms trailed its bouquets in 37 key TerryWhite Chemmarts and was greeted with a positive response.
Jamieson says in just the first few days of the partnership launch, the team was pleased to see sales were above targets, which was rewarding.
“We look forward to even more Australians accessing and giving our bouquets this festive season and beyond,” she says.
Jamieson says Edible Blooms’ proprietary product design and quick-to-market delivery is a compelling offer, and new product ranges are set to be released in the New Year.
“Identifying strong retail partnerships, with more to be announced in the coming month, our growth trajectory is looking strong for the year ahead,” she says.
“To be honest, we can’t believe we haven’t already expanded into the retail bricks-and-mortar channel – it’s only taken us 18 years!”
Jamieson says the entire Edible Blooms team – which now includes more than 60 employees in Australia and New Zealand – is excited about the next stage of the company’s growth.
“We are excited to be growing steadily through this partnership as well as corporate gifting,” she says.
“We have an additional four key retail partners we’re in the process of rolling out so the future is definitely blooming.”