After working in the floral design business for 13 years, Amy Dunlap thought about becoming a flower farmer, but she realized that the only options to sell her flowers would either be at farmers markets or by driving from florist to florist.
“I decided I did not want to add to the local supply chain without fixing it first,” she said.
In 2020, Dunlap founded Stemz, a logistics technology company that connects local flower farms with wholesale buyers. Stemz’s platform combines logistics and e-commerce, as farmers can list their available flowers and wholesale buyers can purchase or request an advanced order.
Stemz receives pre-cut flowers, stores them in cooled shipping containers at its hub in Winston-Salem and then delivers them within two days directly to the buyers.
Stemz
Industry: logistics and technology
Founded: 2020
Top exec: Amy Dunlap, co-founder and CEO
Address: 1001 Marshall St. SW, Winston-Salem 27101
Phone: 336-875-0351
Website: findstemz.com
Dunlap explained that the benefit of this model is that wholesalers – like floral designers and florists – have a more diverse selection when buying local rather than buying imported flowers that are boxed and rehydrated.
“It doesn’t get much fresher [than this],” Dunlap said.
So far, the model is proving to work for the woman-founded and -led company.
In 2022, Stemz generated about $230,000 in revenue and is on target to hit $500,000 this year. The startup’s profit margin is about 40% but it hopes to increase to 50%, Dunlap added. Stemz is currently working with 24 farms that are all within a 100-mile radius and employs four people and up to three delivery drivers depending on the season.
Stemz is looking to grow its network by adding a second hub. Dunlap said Stemz is searching in Virginia and South Carolina, so that the startup can be in a different hardiness zone and offer different flowers. She added that, at scale, a hub is predicated to generate $1 million in revenue.
Dunlap said that Stemz plans to begin building supply in a new market this fall by beginning with a cooler and aims to open the second location next year.
To help accomplish this, the startup is raising $350,000 and is in due diligence with two funds, Dunlap said.
Part of the funding will also go towards upgrading Stemz’s technology, making the user experience better for pre-orders. Wholesale buyers can currently request advanced orders at least 10 days and up to three months in advance.
“We’re learning that the further [wholesale buyers] can order in advance, the larger the orders are,” Dunlap said.
Knowing that this pre-ordering service works well, the startup also provides a forecasting and seasonality guide twice a year that helps farms grow what is in demand in the wholesale market. Stemz is also beginning to offer contract grows, a common practice in commodity crops, securing farmers who will grow specific, high-demand flowers.
