Childhood friends Andy Burde and Tristan Schmitt, who later became post-college roommates, shared a unique passion for enhancing their living space with house plants. Disappointed by the lack of user-friendly online platforms for purchasing houseplants, they founded House Plant Shop in 2017 to provide consumers with a direct web-based destination for their botanical needs. The company expanded to include House Plant Box monthly subscriptions in late 2018.

Originally operating from their shared home, HousePlantShop.com and HousePlantBox.com have now evolved, occupying expansive greenhouses in southern California and central Florida. The company collaborates with a network of growers and employs in-house greenhouse operations to offer retailers an extensive selection of indoor foliage. Additionally, House Plant Wholesale, another business unit, assists in reducing costs and enhancing indoor foliage sales through services like drop-shipping and gifting.

However, challenges arose with transportation affecting profits, particularly due to shipping costs and potential damage during transit. To address these issues, the company sought a cost-effective and custom packaging solution.

Initially using standard corrugated boxes, House Plant found them expensive and ill-fitting, contributing to damage. To optimize storage space and reduce SKUs, the company partnered with Veritiv in the development of a custom packaging solution. The new paper-based packaging with secure fittings not only minimized SKUs by 50%, streamlining operational costs, but also incorporated branding elements.

The challenges of packaging live plants were met by focusing on the strength around the plant base, ensuring stability and protection during stacking and transit. Addressing the need to ship multiple plants in one box, Veritiv added secure tabs on both ends, allowing for single or double pack-outs, reducing SKUs and improving efficiency.

Results of the new packaging system were significant, with a 30% reduction in corrugated packaging costs, a 50% reduction in SKU count, a 25% decrease in damage-related customer complaints, and a 15% reduction in shipping costs through FedEx, UPS, and USPS. House Plant Shop received positive feedback from customers, acknowledging the attention to packaging detail in ensuring the safe delivery of healthy plants.

Looking ahead, the company plans to design an add-on to the current packaging for shipping pre-potted plants in decorative planters, aiming to maintain cost savings and a low SKU count. Overall, the collaboration with Veritiv proved successful in addressing packaging challenges and optimizing the efficiency of House Plant Shop's operations.