WORDS BY ALICE THOMPSON
From the glamorous corporate world of Europe to a Queensland flower farm—Katrin Rosse has swapped business attire for muddy boots to bring the brightest and freshest of Bundaberg’s blooms to people’s doors.
Katrin and her partner Andrea Corbucci own From Farm to Vase, a local business that connects Bundaberg’s flower farms and allows customers to order beautiful seasonal flowers online and find them in local retail stores.
Katrin is in her element as she bunches stunning lilies, sunflowers and asters, and you could be forgiven for thinking she’s always worked with flowers. But her former career in marketing and event management with European and international brands was quite the contrast to her life now.
Raised in Estonia, Katrin paused her career for a chance to travel to Australia. After arriving in Bundaberg, Katrin formed a great friendship with Trish and Adam Robertson from Robertson Flower Farm and one year away led to another, and another. Eight years later Bundaberg has become home.
Katrin met Andrea in Bundaberg. Andrea is from Italy and was also working at a nearby flower farm. While their romance blossomed, their shared interest in people, leadership and business planted the seed for their growing venture in From Farm to Vase.
“I would meet people at the roadside flower stand who would comment how long the flowers lasted for and how fresh they were, and we wanted to expand that experience to a wider audience,” Katrin said.
“A high number of the flowers on the market are imported and there’s no labelling. We want to educate people around Australian grown flowers and make Bundaberg known for the local produce available here,” she said.
When they’re not picking a gorgeous bunch for customers, Katrin and Andrea like to spend their downtime traveling to new places or cooking with fine local produce. With a new Australian home they love, a thriving business and their first baby due this Spring, it’s fair to say that Katrin and Andrea are flourishing.
Order it!