The vegetable vendor brings a special request from the wholesale market in addition to the normal quota of fruits and veg – stemless fresh cut flowers for puja at homes. The selection of red roses, yellow and orange marigolds are brought tied in transparent polythene bags and given to the ladies for the daily puja. The Gods need fresh flowers everyday.

Fresh flowers for puja are not difficult to procure, there are roadside vendors selling them on push carts. They are also listed on food delivery apps like Big Basket. So does an online startup venture selling puja flowers and paraphernalia make sense ? 

And that’s exactly what Rose Bazaar attempts to do – an online subscription for puja flowers and all related paraphernalia – their USP is that they claim that their flowers will remain fresh for 15 days ‼️ – plenty of days for it to reach from farm to home. And that is definitely an edge while because currently, you need to step out to buy or order in fresh flowers daily or every two days. How many days will stemless cut flowers remain fresh? I am not sure, maybe two or three days.

The startup Rose Bazaar is a venture by Yeshoda and Rhea Karuturi – the name is familiar. Karuturi Global is a listed company in India. They were growing flowers in Ethiopia. The company once the leading producer of cut flowers is now bankrupt.

I read about the Rose Bazaar in the newspaper, the link to the article is below. https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/catalyst/a-budding-floral-start-up-takes-a-divine-route/article31571941.ece

I don’t do puja at home but I visited the website hoping that maybe they will have fresh flowers I can keep in a vase. Unfortunately right now, they cater only to the puja needs. They are fresh flowers; they will be home delivered. It’s convenient – early morning, at you doorstep, in addition to the milk packet and newspaper now fresh puja flowers too🌸🌸.

As per the article, the packaging is 100% biodegradable and compostable. The flowers are kept fresh by ethylene blockers. The marigolds are difficult to say no to and I ordered a box of them – Rs. 60/- for the flowers plus Rs 50/- for the delivery charges for 1 month subscription. 

If you are wondering what to do with stemless flowers, here are a few inspirations – they adorn the lobby of almost all the hotels in south India and I keep taking photos of them😘

I am awaiting my marigolds…🧡💛

Till next post, take care !!