Flower Box Types and Packing: A Wholesale Buyer's Guide
Full box, half box, quarter box and wet-pack — what the packing formats mean, how they protect your flowers in transit, and how they affect your freight cost.
Packing is one of the least glamorous parts of the flower trade and one of the most important. How a box is built decides whether your flowers arrive fresh and undamaged, and how much you pay to move each stem. Here is what a buyer needs to know.
The common box sizes
Flowers ship in standardised cartons. A full box (often called a jumbo or EB — "eight bunch") is the largest; a half box (HB) is half the length; a quarter box smaller still. The sizes matter because freight is charged largely by volume and weight, so consolidating into fuller boxes usually lowers your cost per stem.
Hard box versus standard
A hard box uses stiffer board to protect delicate heads — think large roses, hydrangeas or premium event flowers — from crushing in transit. For robust products, a standard box does the job at lower cost. Choosing the right board is a quiet way to protect quality without overpaying.
Dry pack versus wet pack
Most flowers travel dry-packed: cooled, bunched and laid in the box without water, which keeps weight and cost down for hardy stems over short, fast journeys. Wet pack — stems in water or gel — is used for thirstier or more sensitive flowers, adding weight and cost but protecting hydration. Knowing which your product needs prevents both waste and unnecessary freight.
How flowers are secured inside
Inside the box, bunches are packed head-to-tail and braced so they cannot shift, with the heads protected and the whole load kept snug. Good packing is invisible when it works and obvious when it fails — bruised heads and bent stems are almost always a packing story.
Why packing is really a cost conversation
Every packing decision is a trade-off between protection and freight. The right answer depends on the product, the distance and how premium the flowers are. A supplier who packs thoughtfully is protecting both your quality and your margin at the same time.
One partner, one packing standard
At Vibra, consolidating different products from different growers means packing is coordinated to one standard rather than left to chance farm by farm. Tell us what your program ships and we will pack it to arrive right.
Build your program
Tell us what you need. We will bring the right flowers, growers, and solutions together.
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