Valentine bouquets going blooming crazy

Bacon to doughnuts, treats gaining on flowers

Forget traditional flowers. Although roses continue to be one of the top-selling Valentine’s Day gifts, other bouquets are gaining in popularity: Think meaty ones made with bacon and beef jerky, sour ones with pickles or sweet ones with candy, cupcakes and doughnuts.

More edible and nontraditional bouquets like these have been sprouting up in recent years. “(It’s) allowing consumers to get their valentine a unique gift that still holds onto the tradition of Valentine’s Day,” said Sarah Hollenbeck, shopping and savings expert at Offers.com, a deals website.

U.S. consumers are expected to spend an average of about $162 on Valentine’s gifts and meals this year, up $18 from last year, according to the National Retail Federation’s annual holiday survey. Total spending is forecast at a record $20.7 billion, a 6 percent increase over last year. About 35 percent of those celebrating the holiday are expected to buy flowers and 52 percent will purchase candy, according to the survey.

About 35 percent of participants in an Offers.com survey said chocolate, candy or other food treats were their most-wanted gift.

This doesn’t surprise Ben Wynkoop, co-founder of The Manly Man Company. Valentine’s Day is his Newport Beach, California-based company’s busiest time of the year. The company started selling beef jerky flower “Man Bouquets” in January 2017 and then added beef jerky rose bouquets. This year, they added Bacon Jerky Roses, a $79 gift of a dozen dark chocolate-dipped maple candied bacon jerky roses. Orders were still being accepted Wednesday but the bouquets are back-ordered. “They want to be unique and give an intriguing gift,” Wynkoop said of his customers. “We’re