One of my friends attended the latest convention of the International Cemetery, Cremation, and Funeral Association (ICCFA) and reported to me that “there were a crazy amount of post-cremation product vendors exhibiting available options”.  And, sometimes when I walk into arrangement rooms where many post-cremation options are available I get a sense of how big that business could become.

 

With United States cremation rates either at or pushing 60% nationwide there will be no shortage of customers to purchase these options.  America has about 3 million annual deaths and a 60% cremation rate means that there are about 1.8 million cremation families annually that could explore a post-cremation purchase.

 

What do I consider a “post-cremation purchase”.  I use a definition of a purchase that leads to the use of the cremation remains as a type of memorial.  That would include urns, columbariums, cemetery spaces, and monuments but it would also include things such as Memory Glass, Thumbies, Parting Stone, cremation jewelry of all types, cremation tattoos and items such as placement in a memorial area such as Better Place Forests.

 

It’s really hard to get an idea of how much is spent in the United States on Death Care — which would include services, caskets, vaults, cemetery property and the like.  There are some thoughts that this number is between $16 and $24 billion annually.  But at this point in time it is even harder to try to get a number on what is the amount that is spent on post-cremation products.

 

I have no idea. . . . but I can tell you, it is a growing number.

 

It’s funny how I get reminded of our business and how we can help people. . . even when we have been out of the business for awhile.  For instance this past Saturday I had breakfast with four other high school classmates. . . . A couple of the classmates had parents die recently and one of those told me that she had cremated her parents and buried the cremated remains in a cemetery with a marker(s).  She was comfortable with that decision and told me she would be visiting her mom on Sunday — Mother’s Day — at the cemetery.

 

Unfortunately, that same classmate has in the past couple of years had a daughter that died also.  Her cremated remains have been placed in an urn which rests in the classmate’s home.  The classmate is searching for something that is more personal than an urn.  We visited and I told her of some of the options now available from our profession.  I’m expecting that she will find a product that fits her need — she just needed to know that they were available.

 

The discussion with my classmate brought me to the point of thinking about the human condition as it relates to loss and remembrance.  It is there in all of us, but what fits for one of us more than likely will not fit for all of us.  Thus, the number of product options available can only be a strength for our profession in general because each of us grieves and remembers differently.

 

So, I decided this weekend that I’m glad there are a “crazy amount” of vendors in this space.  Let’s just hope that every family (or the many individuals that make up a family) can find the post-cremation product(s) that will allow them to heal in their own unique capacity.

 

FWIW (For What It’s Worth)  —  Funeral Director Daily has four sponsors who offer services or products in the “Post-Cremation” market.  If you are interested in what they have available just click on their name below. . . I’m guessing that they not only provide Funeral Director Daily free of charge to readers, but being affiliated with their product at your funeral home will be a wise financial choice for you:

 

• Better Place Forests
• Wilbert
• Crowne Vault
• Titan — Click to urns

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Undertaken:  The Next Generation of Funeral Directors (Podcast).  North Carolina Public Radio (NC)
• Cashflows partners with National Association of Funeral Directors.  IBIS Intelligence – Global FinTech.  (Great Britain)
• Revolutionizing Last Goodbyes:  How technology is transforming funeral planning and execution.  Medium

 

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,581 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily:

“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”