In This Issue ...

1. Member Meeting Highlights
2. Selling Color Palettes Instead of Specific Varieties
3. The Floral Source Hosted Its Inaugural Retreat
4. The Passing of Ismael Jr. Resendiz
5. Transportation
6. Welcome New CalFlowers Members

Upcoming Events:

September 2021

SAF Orlando
September 21-23
Loews Royal Pacific Resort
Orlando, FL

November 2021

California State Floral Association Presents:
CaliFlora 2021
November 6 & 7
Carlsbad Floral Trade Center
Carlsbad, CA

2022 SAVE THE DATE

Fun 'N Sun
"All About Flowers"
Aug. 29 - Sept. 1, 2022
Hotel del Coronado
Coronado, CA

Click Here to Rediscover the California legend - Hotel del Coronado.

World Floral Expo 2022
TBD
New York, NY

Latest Legislation
Updates:

Click Here to read the latest Legislative updates.

August
Flowers of The Month:

THE GLADIOLUS AND THE POPPY

August’s bright, showy flowers capture the essence of sunny, late summer days! Learn the meanings behind August’s two birth flowers. 

THE GLADIOLUS

The gladiolus, or ‘sword lily,’ represents remembrance, calm, integrity, and infatuation.

Gladiolus indicates that the heart is being “pierced with love.”  

THE POPPY

The other August flower is the poppy:

• A red poppy signifies pleasure; 
• A white poppy is given for consolation; and, 
• A yellow poppy wishes wealth and success.

CalFlowers
Featured
"New Member" Spotlights

To see all of our past Featured "New Member" Spotlight stories Click Here.

If your company would like to be a featured "New Member", please contact Monnaie Pepin for more details.

Past CalFlowers Newsletters 

Click Here to view past CalFlowers Newsletters now available on our website.

CalFlowers News

Member Meeting Highlights

Dear CalFlowers Members,

If I didn’t get the opportunity to thank you in person for attending our Member Appreciation Event in San Diego, please let me do so now.  It was an absolute pleasure to see so many members attend the event, including locals from San Diego and visitors from as far away as New Jersey.  Something we all took for granted just 18 months ago – mixing and mingling with our industry friends and peers – took center stage both at the business meeting and afterwards at the beautiful Petco Park.  Truly a good time was had by all.

Those who attended were fortunate to hear, in detail, about some of CalFlowers most important industry outreach programs.  J Schwanke, host of Life in Bloom on PBS, explained how his show places flowers in an incredibly positive and accessible light, and is broadcast into 10’s of millions of American homes.  Ramiro Penaherrera and Bernardo Beate explained the raw, emotional power of Memorial Day Flower Foundation’s efforts to place a flower on the gravesite of our fallen American heroes at National cemeteries.  President Frank Biddle outlined numerous other programs, such as educational supports for state floral associations, CalFlowers scholarships, and legislative initiatives.

Equally impactful was the “soft launch” of CalFlowers’ upcoming direct-to-consumer marketing initiative, to be launched in January 2022.  Imani Jackson and Andrea Repass from Designory in Los Angeles assisted in presenting in great detail the marketing concept and how CalFlowers plans to engage with over 60 million social media users with our message, “Flowers.  Self care made easy” and our consumer-facing brand #ThatFlowerFeeling.  Members from across numerous industry segments asked great questions about the concept, the rollout, and what this marketing program means for the future of direct marketing in our industry.  The mood after the presentation was one of great excitement and enthusiasm. (Pictured above: Jeanne Boes, CalFlowers Marketing Chair and Joost Bongaerts board director)

After that, with the crack of the bat in the air and the electric atmosphere at Petco Park, members and their families enjoyed a special night in the iconic Western Metal Building.  It was a predictably gorgeous night in the San Diego Gaslamp District and just a great opportunity to reconnect and share optimism for what the future holds for our industry. (Pictured left: Corina, Marlene & Julie Ortiz and Virginia Pantoja)

Now it’s time to turn our focus to the ever-popular Fun ‘N Sun convention upcoming in August 2022 at the fabulous Hotel del Coronado.  Save the Date for this important industry event, which is destined to be the most exciting and well-attended in the history of this great networking conference.  We look forward to seeing you at the “Hotel Del”, and to supporting your business growth and development as we all look forward to a very bright future!

Steve Dionne

Executive Director

Selling Color Palettes Instead of Specific Varieties

With events returning, wedding flowers are currently in high demand. “As a result, flexibility is important and when certain varieties are not available, we offer substitutions. Therefore, selling color palettes instead of specific varieties has been a good way to avoid disappointments,” says Joost Bongaerts, Owner of Florabundance, (pictured above) a boutique wholesale flower company located in California. In this article, Bongaerts shares how they cope with the high demand for wedding flowers, the influence of the increasing costs, and his aim to make America more floral-minded.

Wedding flowers in high demand
Florabundance is a certified American Grown wholesaler, based in Carpinteria (CA), and supplies florists, flower markets, floral designers, special event companies, and other professionals in the floral industry all over the country. As weddings and other events are happening again, business has been very busy. “And from what we hear from our customers, next year is going to remain busy. Many weddings that were supposed to happen in 2020 have been postponed to now. So even though weddings have been scaled down in size, with less people being allowed to attend, many weddings are taking place and a lot of flowers are being used. Some of the wedding florists we supply are already booked for 2022.”

Click Here to read the full article by Floral Daily.

The Floral Source Hosts Its Inaugural Retreat

Floral retreat attracts designers, farmer florists to learn about domestic sourcing and sustainable design.

The Floral Source hosted its inaugural retreat in Aptos, California, the second week of August. Like many events, the retreat that was originally planned for March 2020 had to be rescheduled due to COVID-19. (Pictured from left to right Jennifer Reed, Blair Lynn and Kelly Shore)

At the long-awaited event, 20 floral designers and farmer florists from all across the country –  from Alaska to Philadelphia and everywhere in between – joined Kelly Shore, owner of The Floral Source and Petals by the Shore, for three-and-a-half multi-sensory days that included touring flower farms, learning more about year-round domestic sourcing, sharing business best practices and creating with the seasonal California grown products they witnessed growing and being harvested.

It was the first time 99% of these attendees had ever seen where their flowers come from outside their local region, and their first opportunity to meet the flower farmers and farm teams behind the blooms and greens. The participants were committed designers and farmer florists seeking to learn more about how to source local and American-grown botanicals 365 days a year, and craving more accessibility to these products for their businesses. During the pandemic, many had made the shift to sourcing with more intention and supporting not only their local farms, but the farms that sustain us year-round.

The retreat empowered these designers with the knowledge of seasonality in California 12 months a year. They also developed a deeper understanding of what  they can source on their shoulder months when their local farms are off-crop or don’t grow the volume or specific botanicals they’re seeking.

Retreat participants toured four commercial flower farms and two small local family farms, including Pajarosa, CamFlor, Kitayama Brothers, Green Valley Flowers, Laurel Canyon Farm and Star Sight Farm.

The full experience included a botanical couture beach party in Santa Cruz, a hanging installation and foam-free mechanics session, a bouquet and centerpiece workshop and a styled photo shoot with two teams creating large installations. The retreat ended with an open-air, candlelit farm-to-table dinner at the host venue, Sand Rock Farm.

The goal of The Floral Source, launched in October 2019, originally was to connect the U.S. design community to America's flower farmers through education and on-farm workshops and retreats. When COVID-19 changed the course of the entire industry, Shore pivoted her focus to creating more direct access to these farms' products, and eventually morphed into a full-time drop-ship wholesaler in spring 2021.

This is just the first of many retreats that The Floral Source will host. Coming up next is a retreat at Scenic Place Peonies in Homer, Alaska, in July 2022. Learn more at thefloralsource.com. 

The Passing of Ismael Jr. Resendiz

It is with heavy hearts we inform you that Ismael Sr. ‘Mel’ and Amparo Resendiz’s son, Ismael Jr, has passed away.

Ismael Sr. ‘Mel’ and Amparo wish to express their appreciation for all the prayers and kindness they’ve received over their son, Ismael Jr’s, recent passing.  The entire Resendiz family and team here on the farm are grateful for the support and comfort received during this difficult time.

Below are details regarding Jr.’s Memorial Service, Funeral and Celebration of Life:  

Memorial Service

Date:  Friday, August 27, 2021
Time: 9:00 am

Place:  
St. Martha Catholic Church
37200 Whitewood Road
Murrieta, CA 92563

Funeral

Date:  Friday, August 27, 2021
Time: 10:30 am

Place:
Murrieta Valley Cemetery
42800 Ivy Street
Murrieta, CA 92562

Celebration of Life

Date:  Friday, August 27, 2021
Time: 1:00 pm

Place:
Harveston Lake House
29005 Lakehouse Road
Temecula, CA 92591

Transportation

Our overnight carriers are still struggling with record volumes and this challenging time is expected to continue in the near-term future.  With that, we recommend looking carefully at the service level you choose when evaluating delivery time options with our carriers.  We strongly suggest choosing the highest priority service available as this will give your shipment the highest level of service available that delivers earlier, as this helps to keep your customers expectations in line with the current environment.

FedEx has released a statement outlining the steps they are taking to help alleviate the backlog and delays in their system. 
Click Here for more information.

As is normally the case in August, hot weather can be an issue.  We recommend checking with FedEx for any Service Alerts that can affect shipping:  https://www.fedex.com/en-us/service-alerts.html.  These Service Alerts are issued daily and can be helpful in managing your expectations during inclement weather

For those members wanting to reference the latest Surcharges and Fees for 2021, we have posted this information on our website or members can CLICK HERE.  You will find a handy summary of what to expect for the year.  Remember, CalFlowers members have many significant discounts off of these surcharges which add excellent value to our program.  For a list our surcharge discounts, please refer to the FedEx Program Summary on our website

For qualifying members wanting to contact their local FedEx representative, feel free to contact me and I will put you in touch with the right person.  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.  

To all our new members who are just starting with FedEx shipping, they have 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 needing FedEx Tech Support, this phone number takes your right into the department (877) 339-2774.  They can help with many tech related issues including guidance regarding on-line shipping platforms.

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 is also reporting very strong member volumes at this time which can effect on-time deliveries in some areas.  With the heat of summer with us, using extra cooling measures in your boxes is a good idea and we highly recommend doing so.

The good news here is that even though GLS has not officially re-instated their Money Back Guarantee (shipping costs) they HAVE amended that policy for CalFlowers members.  Our agreement with GLS now states that they will credit shipping costs to member shippers if the shipment is not delivered on the scheduled day of delivery.  Members will need to request this within 48 hours by contacting customer service.

The CalFlowers GLS program is one of our fastest growing, most value-priced offerings, with discounts over 70% off standard rates.  GLS offers later pick-ups and earlier deliveries while providing express door-to-door services covering 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].   

Please use the Delivery Rates & Times Calculator to view delivery dates and estimated.

The Money-Back-Guarantee is still currently suspended at GLS.  We hope this will be re-instated soon. We are monitoring the situation closely and will post updates as appropriate.

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.

Changes to Our Service Guarantee
The Money-Back Service Guarantee on OnTrac is still suspended.

For more information on OnTrac, please contact Chris Johnson at [email protected].

Airlines: 

If you have been taking advantage of our new CalFlowers/Alaska Airlines shipping program, you know this offering really delivers when it comes to value.  Our program offers excellent pricing to many areas of the country from California, while adding a few new destinations such as Seattle, Portland and Anchorage. Check out all the program details on our website.

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.

For those members looking for airline service to Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton out of LAX and SFO, consider Air Canada Cargo.  Our discounted pricing offers good value and frequent service.  For more information on these new rates from Air Canada, visit our website or contact me anytime at [email protected].

As a reminder, JetBlue offers CalFlowers members exceptional express prices out of LAX / SFO to Boston, New York, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Puerto Rico and now NEWARK (EWR). 

These new rates are some of the best that we’ve see in some time.  For more information, please contact Chris Johnson at [email protected] or Mark Friedenthal at JetBlue Cargo (310) 490-2659.

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.

Welcome New CalFlowers Members

We are pleased to welcome the following new CalFlowers members from July 20 through August 24, 2021:

www.cafgs.org 

Ph. 831-479-4912 | Fax 831-479-4914