DRAPER, Utah — If you happen to blink, you could possibly simply cross Riverbottom Butterflies, which is tucked away in a wooded space off 700 West in Draper.
Brothers Parker and Michael Bautner function the enterprise on their decades-old household farm.
Parker began Riverbottom Butterflies round seven years in the past. Again then, he was rising crops to promote to nurseries and landscapers. Nevertheless, life’s timing introduced butterflies into his life as a substitute.
“As soon as I noticed potential and the way enjoyable it was to work with butterflies, and the impression that I may have on different folks, I actually began diving deeper into that,” Parker defined.
The enterprise solely started gaining traction in 2020 when their butterfly rising kits have been promoted by a good friend who had a preferred Instagram web page. On the time, their plans to distribute the kits in school rooms had been sidetracked by COVID-19.
Since then, the enterprise has developed, and a majority of gross sales come from promoting butterflies wholesale proper now.
Michael stated their enterprise has doubled yearly for the previous couple of years. They at present promote about 2,000-3,000 butterflies every week to folks all throughout the nation for numerous events together with weddings and funerals.
He defined extra of us need butterflies as replacements for extra conventional, celebratory objects issues like balloons and doves.
“The most important downside we now have now, which is an efficient downside to have, is we don’t have sufficient manufacturing. We don’t have sufficient butterflies,” Michael mirrored.
How they receive and refresh their seasonal butterfly inventory is an interesting sight to see. The Bautners will head into close by fields with an enormous internet to catch as many, native butterflies as they’ll. Then, the butterflies can be positioned into aerated containers, in a temperature-controlled house the place they’ll breed.
“Each time I deal with them and see them, it’s simply awe each time,” explains Michael. “I like that I have been in a position to see it develop a lot whereas I have been serving to my brother do it.”
As their enterprise continues to flourish, Parker says he takes nice pleasure in sharing his admiration of butterflies with others.
“The dealing with, and the up-close with nature … You simply cannot get that from a YouTube video. You may see a number of cool issues, however truly touching it and holding it in your hand can actually impression an individual for the remainder of their life,” Parker stated.
Lately, the Bautners carved out a path of their household farm that acts as a “drive-thru”, the place folks can place their butterfly orders and pick-up their butterfly rising kits.