Figures on sales increase of veg seeds, Covid-19

GemmaJF

Interesting figures for those who have waited on orders. My final order from Suttons did arrive, 6 weeks later.

Country Smallholding has an article with the following figures from Suttons:

Salad leaf seeds up 700%

Tomato seeds up 421%

Beetroot Baltardy (part of my last order) up 461%

Without giving an actual figure, the article states that the biggest sellers have been bean seeds.

nick615

If difficulty is experienced with UK suppliers, Ireland isn't that far away.  Try Seedaholic or Brown Envelope Seeds.  Domestic gardening isn't as prolific over here so drain on supplies is unlikely to be as acute?

GemmaJF

Fortunately I've got everything I need this year now.

I do though think Suttons might regret not prioritising existing regular customers during the spate of ordering.

I'm not sure how many of the 400% - 700% increase will order seeds next year or the year after. A lot of regular customers will be left remembering the generic emails saying they were 'busy' and the website queuing system which has meant waiting even if it was just to access the status of orders placed. I suppose I will just go back to ordering everything in January next year before most people think about it. 

Mary370

Seedaholic are closed 

GemmaJF

I wouldn't include the new gardeners here because they obviously have the enthusiasm and are properly giving it a go as we can all see. I suspect though many of the orders of seeds were similar to the toilet roll hoarders, and there are now an awful lot of unopened seed packets sitting about in homes right now. The way our local supermarket seeds were stripped off the displays before lock down gives me that feeling. They usually move very slowly. I really hope it is more positive, if there is a renewed interest in gardening comes out of this mess, it gets my support all the way.

nick615

Thanks, Mary70.  Not permanent I hope?

bookmonster

There has been no significant hoarding, but our just in time distribution can't cope with the increase in demand of everyone staying at home, as the loo roll and food used in cafes, offices etc has separate distribution chains

GemmaJF

bookmonster said:

There has been no significant hoarding, but our just in time distribution can't cope with the increase in demand of everyone staying at home, as the loo roll and food used in cafes, offices etc has separate distribution chains

That is not what I saw before lock down. I saw people grabbing trolleys full of toilet roll, booze, flour, dried pasta and hand sanitiser. The pictures of the stripped shelves were widely published over social media and the main media. I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a handful of people stripped the seed display at the supermarket.

Astro

This current situation has definitely displayed herd mentality from some people.  You suspect many of the 'me,me " types have grabbed more than their fair share and will not progress past killing a few seedlings.
This is a shame for the seasoned gardeners that are struggling to source supplies now.

Hopefully the knock-on is some new gardeners are going to stay the duration, would be beneficial to wildlife. I also hope this period encourages more of a mend and make do attitude.

Lyn

Most seasoned gardeners would have had their stock in long before the COVID crisis, I think there will be a lot of seeds for sale on eBay before very long or at the start of next year. 

Astro

Lyn said:

Most seasoned gardeners would have had their stock in long before the COVID crisis, I think there will be a lot of seeds for sale on eBay before very long or at the start of next year. 

I personally had 90% of everything I needed prior with the ornamentals but not so much with edibles (more like 30%). I do know people that are keen gardeners but maybes owing to work and others commitments have been left short.  May be interesting to see how it pans and if there are items for sale on eBay