San Francisco Flower Market Receives SAF’s Century Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Amanda Jedlinsky
(703) 213-5802
ajedlinsky@safnow.org
ALEXANDRIA, VA – AUGUST 20, 2026 – More than a century ago, Italian and Japanese immigrant growers gathered near Lotta’s Fountain in San Francisco to sell flowers. Those early gatherings laid the foundation for the San Francisco Flower Market, a cornerstone of Northern California’s floral trade for generations.
The San Francisco Flower Market is a 2026 recipient of the Society of American Florists’ Century Award. The award recognizes companies serving the floral industry for 100 years or more. The market received the honor Aug. 20 at the Stars of the Industry Awards Ceremony, held during SAF’s 141st annual convention in Amelia Island, Florida.
Where California’s Flower Trade Took Root
The market’s roots date to 1912, when immigrant flower growers created a central place to bring their products directly to customers. As California’s floral industry flourished, the market gave family-owned farms access to buyers and became a gathering place where generations of floral professionals sourced flowers, forged relationships and built their businesses.
After several moves, the market established its longtime home at Sixth and Brannan streets, becoming a fixture of San Francisco and the heart of Northern California’s floral trade.
A Market Worth Saving
That legacy faced a defining moment in 2014, when the market’s longtime property was sold. Rather than lose an institution generations had built, vendors, stakeholders and the city of San Francisco came together to secure its future. The market transitioned to a nonprofit model dedicated to supporting the floral industry and began working toward a permanent new home.
In January 2025, that work came to fruition when the San Francisco Flower Market opened its new facility in Potrero Hill. The move marked not an end to its history, but the beginning of its next chapter.
Today, it remains one of the last wholesale flower markets of its kind in the United States — more than a marketplace, but a living connection between the growers who gathered on San Francisco’s streets in 1912 and the floral professionals carrying their industry forward today. About The Society of American Florists The Society of American Florists is the association that connects and cultivates a thriving floral community through training, education, marketing resources and advocacy. Our vision: The power of flowers in every life. For more information, visit safnow.org.
Event photos are available here.
About The Society of American Florists The Society of American Florists is the association that connects and cultivates a thriving floral community through training, education, marketing resources and advocacy. Our vision: The power of flowers in every life. For more information, visit safnow.org.