In This Issue ...

1. Member Meeting Registration Is Open
2. 2016 California State Fair - A Success
3. Transportation Updates
4. New Members

Going Social ...

Members, please follow us on Instagram @CalifFlowers and hashtag #CalFlowers. Watch for event or news-specific hashtags.  And we welcome your photos! Please share with Michael LoBue at [email protected].

Upcoming Events

2016 Member Meetings:

8/9/16 Hyatt Regency   Monterey, Monterey, CA

8/16/16 Park Hyatt Aviara, Carlsbad, CA

8/18/16 Fess Parker, Santa Barbara, CA

2017 Fun 'N Sun:

August 9 - 12, 2017 Park Hyatt Aviara, Carlsbad, CA 

CalFlowers News

Our goal is to communicate on a monthly basis with the membership and interested parties about recent past and upcoming events, program updates, and general information about how CalFlowers is engaging in the industry on behalf of the membership.

Member Meeting Registration Is Open  

Online registration is now open for our two remaining Member Meetings in August.  If you would like to attend the meeting in Monterey you can register on-site on August 9th at the Hyatt Regency.

Meet old friends, make new friends, and join the discussion about the California floral industry at a member meeting near you. 

CalFlowers strives to create opportunities for open dialogue among members and to help your businesses thrive.  Attend one of these meetings to learn about our plans for 2016-17.

Click Here to download the registration form or follow the instructions below to register online.

Below is a tentative itinerary for each of the meetings.  Round table topics will be announced soon.

To register for these meetings, click on the appropriate meeting link and then simply follow the instructions below. The price for each meeting is $25 for early bird and $35 at the door.

Please note that registering requires logging in to the CalFlowers website.  If you've forgotten your username and/or password, you can retrieve them using your e-mail address (the e-mail address at which you have received this e-mail notification).

To register yourself:

1. After you've logged in, you will see a page with the member meeting location and date.  Click on the Register Yourself button.
2. On the registration page, the contact info that we have on file for you will automatically be populated into the fields.  Please complete any missing information.  Note that any changes you make to your contact info here will automatically be updated/saved in our database.  Fields marked with a red star are required.
3. Once you have entered your contact info, click Next at the bottom of the page, below the Cancellation Policy.
4. Verify your contact info on the Summary page.  If you need to make any changes, click Previous to go back to the registration page.  Click Next to go to the secure payment page.
5. On the Payment page, enter your credit card info and verify / update the billing address.
6. Click Submit Payment to complete your registration.  You will see a Confirmation page, and that same information will be e-mailed to you for your records.

1. After you've logged in, you'll see a page with the member meeting location and date.  Click on the Register Linked Profile button.
2. From the drop-down list, select the person you would like to register.
3. On the registration page, the contact info that we have on file for the registrant will automatically be populated into the fields.  Please complete any missing information.  Note that any changes you make to the registrant's contact info here will automatically be updated/saved in our database.  Fields marked with a red star are required.
4. Once you have entered the registrant's contact info, click Next at the bottom of the page, below the Cancellation Policy.
5. Verify the contact info on the Summary page.  If you need to make any changes, click Previous to go back to the registration page.  Click Next to go to the secure payment page.
6. On the Payment page, enter your credit card info and verify / update the billing address.
7. Click Submit Payment to complete your registration.  You will see a Confirmation page, and that same information will be e-mailed to you for your records.

2016 California State Fair - A Huge Success

For 17 days beautiful CA GROWN flowers were showcased in the California State Floral Association (CSFA) exhibit aptly named the CA GROWN Floral Shop. Nearly every exhibit in County Building B proudly displayed an arrangement created by our talented
designers.     

Floral arrangements of all shapes and sizes displayed in the CA GROWN Floral Shop enticed fair-goers with their beauty and fragrance. Crowds were drawn in by the flowers overflowing from the shop and the designers who brought floral design to life every day of the fair. 

The California State Floral Association (CSFA) gave away arrangements every day to surrounding exhibits to guide fair-goers toward the CA GROWN Floral Shop. People literally stopped to smell the roses (and lilies and dianthus and sunflowers)! On the last day of the fair, designers created personalized bouquets for those who stopped by which ensured that their fair memories will forever be filled with the thought of CA GROWN Flowers.

Flowers took over the fair on Sunday July 17^th, which was declared Flower Day at the State Fair for the second year in a row!  Flower Day kicked off with a Student Design Qualifying Competition in the morning. Lucia Fuentes, Hamilton High School, took the first place honor in the student competition.      

Partnering with California Agriculture in the Classroom, the Children’s Floral Design Showcase featured 19 students ranging in age from 6 to 10.  Each of the budding floral designers made their own arrangement from a “surprise package” and each student received a gold ribbon and a gift bag of California Grown information provided by California Agriculture in the Classroom. The audience was delighted with this new addition to our competition line-up.

The Top Ten Qualifying Design Competition was held in the afternoon.  These brilliant designers captivated the audience which filled County Building B to overflowing. The 1^st place winner, Nooria Kandahari, Relles Florist, will be eligible to compete in CSFA’s Top Ten Design competition during CaliFlora 2016 in November at the LA Flower Market. 

Accents By Sage Floral Design, Morningside Florist and The Big Bang competed in the Tablescape competition with Morningside Florist, Accents By Sage Floral Design and The Big Bang winning 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place respectively.  The winning design was determined by audience participation during the Farm-to-Fork Edible Flower Cooking Competition. All competitions featured CA GROWN flowers.

Lucia Fuentes, Hamilton High School, was the Student Floral Design winner.  Nooria Kandahari, Relles Florist, won the Top Ten Qualifying Design competition.

To close out Flower Day, there was a Farm-to-Fork Edible Flower Cooking Competition featuring three local chefs who highlighted hibiscus, nasturtium and monarda (bee balm). The hibiscus ceviche dish created by David Fujimura with Taste Restaurant in Plymouth took first place in the competition! Chef David incorporated fresh and dried hibiscus petals and impressed the judges with his creativity with flowers. Chef Christopher Barnum, Executive Chef and Co-owner of Localis cooked prime rib served atop nasturtium chimichurri and risotto. Chef Mike Lim, Chef at Volcano Union Inn, served lamb marinated in fresh bee balm (monarda) leaves to infuse it with a minty flavor over a corn and mushroom succotash.

An enormous thank you to Allan and Millie Nishita, CSFA State Fair Chair, Marty Espe, and everyone at Flora Fresh Inc.  Special thanks also to Cal Flowers, AAMSI, CSFA Board members and countless volunteers for helping to make the day a tremendous success. 

Karen Genoud AIFD, CCF, Tonya Mitchell AIFD, Rachel Salmen and Jeff Clary from the Flower Shop Fair Oakes created beautiful designs which adorned an antique truck displayed in front of the CA GROWN Floral Shop.  This made for a great photo op!

Not only were visitors to the California State Fair this year given a new appreciation for flowers, any extra donated floral product was given to The Petal Connection, a 100% volunteer 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to connect beautiful floral bouquets to local hospice patients and seniors in need of a little joy!

A tremendous vote of thanks to every California flower farmer for making the CA Grown Floral Shop a successful outreach event!  YOU made this event happen and we are grateful to each and every one of you for donating your beautiful California grown flowers for the entire 17 day run of the Fair:

A&M Flower Growers Inc. - Accent Décor - California Pajarosa Floral - CallaCo - Eufloria Flowers - Ever-Bloom Inc. - Flora Fresh Inc. - Floral Resources Sacramento - Glad-A-Way Gardens - Green Valley Floral Inc. - Greenwell Floral Company - Gringo Ventures LLC - Hilltop Flowers Inc. - Holland America Flowers, LLC - Joseph & Sons, Inc. - Koch California Ltd. - Maximum Nursery Inc. - Mellano & Co. - Myriad Flowers International - Natal Moules - O&J Growers - Ocean View Flowers - Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers - Smithers Oasis-Floralife - The Sun Valley Group - West Flower Inc.

American Grown Sponsor - Scenic Place Peonies       

Transportation

1. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to start getting familiar with our CalFlowers website (www.cafgs.org).  There is a wealth of information there that can answer many of the questions you have regarding transportation or anything else your association is doing.  Rates, program info, contacts and events are just a few examples of what is available to members.  It’s easy too, just login with your username and password and that’s it.  If you need help logging in or forgot your password, please contact our office for assistance.
2. As you may have seen, CalFlowers has recently launched the FedEx IPD program.  This program is tailored to our wholesale members and allows fast 3 day airport to door import of product from Colombia and Ecuador. Our program offers excellent rates and a special two box minimum.  Other special waivers apply and members just need to contact Chris Johnson to inquire  760-533-5580 or [email protected]
3. We want to remind our shippers using FedEx that we have available Premier Customer Service to our membership.  This elevated level of customer service is able assist members with additional services not available at the general 800 number.  To use our special team of agents simply call 800-GO-FEDEX and press the 9 key.  After entering your FedEx account number, they will be there to assist on a wide variety of requests.  

NOTE: Transportation Rate information and documents are now 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 only.

To access the Members Only site, simply login using the Member Login button in the top-right corner of our website.  

Click Here if you don't know or don't remember your username and/or password.  This document will help you login. 

New Members

In July 2016, we were pleased to welcome the following new CalFlowers members:

1500 41st Avenue, Suite 240 Capitola, CA 95010 | www.cafgs.org | Ph. 831-479-4912 | Fax 831-479-4914