1-800-Flowers Wants You to Buy Their Snacks

Flowers aren’t the only thing in bloom at 1-800-Flowers, the online floral retailer that sells everything from tasteful mom-approved bouquets to arrangements in the shapes of pets. In addition to a new line of “Party Animals”—the Cool Pup, the Purrfect Party Cat, and the Honey Bee—1-800-Flowers has begun branching out its e-commerce portfolio in earnest.

In fact, though it might seem like flowers are the centerpiece of the company, food makes up for more than half of 1-800-Flowers’ business. In 2016, for instance, the company’s snack and gift division was responsible for 57 percent of its $1.17 billion revenue.

Although 1-800-Flowers has offered gift baskets for years, the company is now looking to boost its snack sales with more exclusive offerings that can’t be found on other online retail sites like Amazon.com, which recently acquired Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. Though Amazon’s snack catalog is undoubtedly more diverse, 1-800-Flowers counts on having brand exclusivity and return shoppers.

In May of this year, 1-800-Flowers sold its own Fannie May Confections, a Chicago-based chocolate company, to Ferrero while retaining a commercial arrangement to sell Ferrero products like Nutella and Ferrero Rocher. Since then, the company has been “looking to figure out how to replace Fannie May,” Steve Druckman, president of the Midwest Gourmet Food Group at 1-800-Flowers.com, told Food Navigator.

One snack maker in particular has been tapped to fill the void. Harry & David, which 1-800-Flowers acquired in 2014 and helped transition into an everyday brand, has recently partnered with Nestlé to access a younger market. Moose Munch, a “premium popcorn” mix from Harry & David, comes in two varieties—Buncha Crunch or Butterfinger—and much like the Amazon-Whole Foods merger, will help 1-800-Flowers reap the benefits of the brick and mortar sale. Later this year, Harry & David’s Moose Crunch will be available nationwide in major retailers like Walgreens, Walmart, and 7-Eleven.

We're definitely down with the popcorn (+ Nutella + chocolate), but let us know when they acquire Edible Arrangements, because there's nothing quite like a bouquet of assorted flower-shaped melons and chocolate-covered strawberries.