Two years ago, the company “Floway” installed the first smart flower vending machine at Riga Airport, where you can buy flowers around the clock using a bank card. The company now owns 13 smart flower vending machines in Riga, with 300,000 euros invested in the project, Latvian Radio reported on 20th March.
Latvian Radio met with Kārlis Ozoliņš, chairman of the board of “Floway,” in central Rīga, near the station, where one of the 13 flower vending machines is located. He explained that the initial idea was to install just one flower vending machine at Rīga Airport to generate additional income alongside their main business.
Customer interest turned out to be strong enough, and now a flower studio has also been established in Piņķi, where florists work. The specially adapted vending machines are manufactured in Poland.
“The Polish manufacturer offers these vending machines and, let’s say, the technical support for these functions. We manage everything remotely via an app, receive notifications for every purchase, so we can also increase or decrease production depending on current activity. What are we trying to achieve with this? To shorten the cycle so that it is as short as possible on our end and as long as possible for the recipient of these flowers. All our bouquets are in special water reservoirs; it’s not an oasis, but a real vase. We see that people buy flowers on a daily basis; we also have business clients who use these vending machines,” said Ozoliņš.
The company “Floway” is currently one of the finalists in the Latvian Rural Forum’s “Dižprojekts 2025” competition.
“Floway” is a family business located in Piņķi, Mārupe Municipality, and company director Kārlis Ozoliņš explained that the main driving force is not just the desire to make money.
“Why did we start this in the first place? We have two boys, and we wanted to show them that there are other ways to earn a living. We’ve already succeeded in part, even though they’re only three and six years old. Therefore, fostering the mindset that you can also be your own boss, and this, I believe, is certainly very valuable for Latvia, so that our society has more entrepreneurs and is less afraid to create something new, something interesting,” Ozoliņš noted.
In the future, Floway plans to improve its smart flower kiosk service and expand its business by selling and installing smart fresh food vending machines.
Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor
Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor
Tell us about a mistake