Deciding how many seed groups your shop can carry

Choosing a seed range usually starts with varieties, but the harder decision comes first: which catalogue groups your shop commits to at all. Each group is a separate stocking commitment with its own shelf section, its own buyer expectations and its own enquiry work. This guide treats vegetables, flowers, herbs, microgreens and sprouts, houseplants and the additional varieties listing as individual decisions, so you can settle group breadth before you look at a single cultivar.

Start from groups, not from varieties

The catalogue separates botanical groups from individual varieties, so an enquiry can name both the species and the exact seed reference. That structure is useful for stocking decisions too. If you begin with a favourite tomato or basil variety, you have already committed to a group without testing whether your shop can support it. Begin instead by listing the groups the catalogue publishes, then mark each one as carry, defer or skip. Variety work only begins for the groups you keep.

What a group commitment actually costs

A group is more than a line on a shelf. It needs a section customers can recognise, enough depth that the section does not look abandoned, and staff who can answer basic questions about it. Microgreens and sprouts, for example, are organised in the catalogue under their own populated seed groups with named variety references, and the heading itself does not establish that a seed lot is cleared for sprouting or direct consumption. A group that raises questions your staff cannot answer is a commitment you have not costed yet.

Vegetables as the broadest commitment

The vegetable seed catalogue is by far the widest entry point, covering a long list of species groups from artichokes and asparagus through cabbage and kale, carrots, peppers, squash and tomatoes. Choosing vegetables therefore means choosing which sub-groups to take, not simply whether to take vegetables. A retailer who says yes to vegetables has still not decided anything practical. Break the group down and treat each sub-group, such as root vegetables or peppers, as the real unit of decision.

Herbs, and why sub-listings matter

Herbs look compact but are internally varied. Rosemary, for instance, is catalogued under Rosmarinus officinalis, a synonym of the accepted name Salvia rosmarinus, so both names describe the same botanical identity rather than two assortments. Basil is split across Ocimum basilicum, Ocimum americanum and Ocimum sanctum records, and a trade description such as lemon basil can appear in more than one record. If you carry herbs, you are also deciding how far into these distinctions your shelf should go.

Microgreens and sprouts as a distinct decision

Microgreens and sprouting seeds sit in their own catalogue area rather than inside the vegetable listings, and the populated microgreens group includes references such as Amaranthus, Beta, Brassica, Eruca, Rumex, Foeniculum and Tropaeolum. This is a separate stocking commitment because the customer and the use case differ from packet vegetable seed. Decide this group on its own merits rather than treating it as an extension of vegetables; a listed weight-based price is not a seed-count conversion or a batch-specific germination statement, so keep expectations modest until the quotation confirms details.

Flowers, houseplants and additional varieties

Flowers, houseplants and the additional varieties listing are further separate commitments rather than overflow from the vegetable range. Each brings its own shelf logic and its own customer. The practical test is the same for each: can you give the group a recognisable section, a workable depth and a clear answer when a customer asks what distinguishes one entry from another? If not, deferring the group costs less than carrying it thinly.

A simple screening test for each group

For every group on your list, ask four questions. Does the group have a natural home in your shop that customers will find without help? Can you stock enough references for the section to look deliberate? Can you describe the group's entries accurately from the catalogue alone? And does the group share shelf or storage demands with a group you already carry? A group that fails two or more of these is a candidate for deferral, whatever the appeal of its individual varieties.

Record the decision before varieties

Write down the outcome for each group: carry now, defer to a later round, or skip. Note the reason in one line so a later review does not reopen settled questions. Once this list exists, variety selection becomes a bounded exercise inside known groups, and enquiries can identify the SKU and the required weight for each selection. Keep in mind that pack size, available quantity and final price are checked in the quotation, so group decisions set direction while the offer confirms the numbers.

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