We’re Still Going to Have “Fun ‘N Sun” but…
“2021 is shaping up to be a year full of changes and a timely opportunity to revamp our convention making it a whole new experience for all attendees. Our California based biennial event, “Fun 'N Sun” Floral Convention, is getting a fresh new look and name "All About the Flowers"!
CalFlowers Convention, "All About the Flowers" will provide plenty of fun in the sun. We will have some great educational sessions, hands-on-classes, farm tours, a flower fair, golf tournament, along with some exciting new changes. It’s a great opportunity to come and network in a beautiful setting at the world renown historic Hotel del Coronado in sunny San Diego.
CalFlowers Presents:
All About the Flowers
The Ultimate Floral Convention
Growers – Designers - Trends & More
August 25 - 28, 2021
Click Here to learn more.
Click Here to watch a short clip of the beautiful Hotel del Coronado.
For questions please contact:
Monnaie Pepin at (831) 479-4912 Ext. 4
2020/2021 Membership Dues
The 2020/2021 membership dues renewal reminder notifications were emailed out on August 16, and will be due on September 1, 2020 this year. We have given all of our members an extra 3 months to pay due to the COVID-19 shutdown.
You can pay with a credit card by clicking the "click here to view this invoice" link in the body of the email that you received on Sunday. If paying by check, make payments payable to CAFG&S and mail to our new address below, so that it is received by September 1st to retain your member benefits. These benefits include discounted transportation rates from FedEx, GLS, and OnTrac; your company listing in our online member directory; an invitation to the biennial CalFlowers convention; networking opportunities within the floral community, and much more. Look for your membership renewal email with a convenient link and instructions for how to pay your dues invoice using your credit card.
If you did not receive your dues renewal email, have problems logging in to our website, or have any questions or concerns, please contact Lani Conklin (831) 479-4912 Ext. 2 or via email at [email protected].
CalFlowers has a new mailing address. Please update your records to reflect the new payment mailing address:
First Advantage Business Solutions
Attn: CAFG&S/CalFlowers
10727 Paramount Blvd. Ste. 8
Downey, Ca. 90241
(Note: To ensure that you receive the dues renewal notification emails from CalFlowers, you can whitelist [email protected] by adding it to your list of Safe Senders. If you are not sure how to do this, please contact your company's technical support team.)
Giving to Grow – Virtual Mask-erade Fundraising Dinner
In light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, American Floral Endowment has transformed our Annual Fundraising Dinner into a Virtual Mask-erade. Supporters of the Endowment are in a unique position this year to do more for the industry from the safety of their homes. The Endowment’s work is ongoing and vital to the continued growth and development of the floral industry as we adapt to this new normal.
CalFlowers is a proud GOLD sponsor of AFE's 2020 event.
This year, AFE committed to funding over $800,000 in research initiatives, educational grants, scholarships, and internships. We’ve been serving the floral community for 59 years with 44 years of our annual fundraising dinner and we won’t let the coronavirus break our streak.
Click Here to register for this event.
Featured New Members
 Tropical Blooms is a Minority-owned Floral Importer & Wholesaler founded in 2014 in Miami, FL by Camilo Bueno & Massiel Romero whose operations are led by "Quality, Value & Service". They operate as a warehouse retail-wholesaler through a unique showcase-style, walk-in cooler shop that allows customers such as designers to see, grab, and therefore envision creations. This model has turned their shop into a creative outlet, as many customers are designing, thinking, and planning here as much as they are shopping. We believe this makes a seamless experience for the end-customer.
Click here to learn more about Tropical Blooms.
 Owners of Tropical Blooms,
Massiel Romero (left) and Camilo Bueno (right)
Kelly Shore is the owner and lead designer of Petals by the Shore, a wedding and event floral design business in the Washington, D.C., area since 2011. In 2019, she founded the Floral Source to celebrate community, connection and confidence in U.S. floral sourcing.
 She’s a proud supporter of America’s flower farmers and sources the blooms and foliage she uses in designs from throughout the United States 365 days a year. She believes that the origin of flowers matters!
Shore (pictured left) regularly works alongside flower farmers in her community to bridge the gap and strengthen relationships between floral designers and flower farmers. Her favorite moments in floral design are around being on farms among the flowers, seeing where they grow, how they grow and understanding the people who grow them. Shore feels those experiences strengthen her job as a floral storyteller and help her better serve clients.
Shore’s lush, colorful designs have been featured in Florists’ Review and Martha Stewart Weddings, among other national and local media. Her most recent passion project "A Year of American Grown bouquets" was featured in Florists Review in January and highlighted what grows in the U.S. 12 months a year.
Click Here to learn more about Kelly and Petals by the Shore.
 Florasource KC is a locally owned wholesale floral supplier serving the Kansas City metro area and beyond!! What’s more exciting is that they have veteran floral artists on staff that can help with ordering and designing concepts to offer the best options for any special order.
At Florasource KC they are passionate about their flowers. They love to keep up with industry trends, as well as advancements in the cut flower industry. Florasource KC firmly believes that seeing these processes and meeting the people behind the flowers helps them serve their customers even better. They love to share the journey of their flowers including farms, growers, families, designers, and educators who are instrumental in bringing beautiful products to Florasource KC.
Click here to learn more about Florasource KC.
Pictured Top left: Andrea Grist - Business Manager/Executive Floral Designer
Top right- Vicky Findley- Warehouse Manager/Resident Floral Guru
Bottom left- Rachel Stewart - Account Manager/ Social Media
Bottom right- Mariah Addison- Account Manager/ Quality Control
Transportation
As a reminder, current shipping rates and program information is on the CalFlowers Members' Only website. Members using their log-ins can access this information anytime. Rates on FedEx, GLS, OnTrac, and airlines can all be found, as well as other handy information. For questions or comments on any of our programs, please contact Chris Johnson for assistance at (760) 533-5580 or [email protected].
 To all of our new members who are just starting with FedEx shipping, FedEx has a nice “Customer Training” service that is available upon request. This service offers shippers direct one-on-one assistance from FedEx covering many of the questions new shippers may have. If you are interested in signing up, please contact Chris Johnson [email protected]. FedEx also has some excellent information for new shippers on their website. Visit https://www.fedex.com/en-us/get-started.html for a good summary of what FedEx offers.
For members wanting to contact their local FedEx representative, feel free to contact me and I will put you in touch. It’s always a good idea to establish a relationship with your local FedEx field representatives who can help out when you need them or have questions.
As a reminder, the Money Back Guarantee (MBG) is still suspended until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the very large shipping volumes resulting from it. Also, bear in mind, when the MBG is reinstated, shippers must make the request no later than 15 days from the invoice date. Requests after the 15 day time period will not be honored.
We also want to remind members that FedEx SameDay is also available to members who require SameDay delivery options. For more information, please contact Chris Johnson at [email protected]
We would also like to remind members to stay current with their FedEx Express shipping invoices. FedEx payment terms are 15 days. All members shipping on FedEx Express are expected to stay within the FedEx payment terms. To obtain your invoice details and payment options, please contact FedEx Customer Service.
For members who wish to move PALLETIZED freight on FedEx, CalFlowers can help direct you to customized solutions and pricing. FedEx Freight is an excellent option when your shipments call for pallets. Interested members should contact Chris Johnson at [email protected] for more information.
GLS has a nice company promotional video that is worth checking out. Visit https://youtu.be/nH_ZVFiXDdI to have a look.
The CalFlowers GLS program is one of our fastest growing, most value-priced offerings, with discounts over 70% off standard rates. GLS provides our members express door-to-door services to CA, AZ, NV, OR, WA, NM, UT and ID. Members who want to ship on GLS must sign up in advance. It’s easy and just takes a few minutes. Please contact Chris Johnson for more details at (760) 533-5580 or [email protected].
For members looking for service into Colorado, OnTrac offers 2 day service from California at no extra cost. Delivery areas are limited so be sure to check with OnTrac.
We know that OnTrac got their start in California and services every ZIP code within California, but did you know OnTrac also services seven other Western States? OnTrac has 2-day service into WA, OR, ID, NV, UT, AZ, and CO. And to help understand the service parameters, OnTrac has a very nice “Time and Transit Map” under Zip Tools on their website. This handy map loaded from YOUR zip code helps you understand OnTrac’s overnight commitment areas. To download your map, please visit: https://www.ontrac.com/servicesareas.asp.
Airlines:
In Airline news, for those members that missed our announcement, CalFlowers has put together a new program with JetBlue Cargo. JetBlue offers CalFlowers members exceptional express prices out of LAX to Boston, New York, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Puerto Rico. These new rates are some of the best we’ve see in some time. For more information, please contact Chris Johnson at [email protected] or Mark Friedenthal at JetBlue Blue Cargo (310) 490-2659.
Recently we added Air Canada Cargo rates to our transportation portfolio. Our discounted pricing offers good value to Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton out of LAX and SFO. For more information on these new rates from Air Canada, visit our website or contact me anytime at [email protected].
If you haven’t yet heard about the new CalFlowers/Alaska Airlines shipping program, this exclusive offer is now available for CalFlowers members.
Beginning immediately, Alaska Airlines has lowered the minimum charge from $75 to $50 per waybill. This improvement should significantly add more value to this already value packed shipping program.
The new Priority Rates are the best we have seen in years and with the Virgin merger completed, Alaska Airlines has an extensive network servicing major popular destinations all across the U.S. Our program works outbound and inbound out of SAN, LAX, and SFO. To take advantage of this exceptional program, interested members must sign up. Please contact Chris Johnson to get started at (760) 533-5580 or [email protected].
NOTE: Transportation Rate information and documents are viewable/downloadable as PDFs on the CalFlowers Members Only site. Please note that these documents are considered sensitive material and are available to the primary contacts for Ag Buddy, Associate Floral, Associate Grower, and Floral members.
New Members
We are pleased to welcome the following new CalFlowers members from July 17 - August 17:
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