In This Issue ...

1. Board Election Results & New Officers
2. 2019 Fun 'N Sun Dates Announced!
3. CaliFlora 2017
4. World Floral Expo 2018
5. Fun 'N Sun Photos and Videos
6. 2018 Membership Directory Ad Space Available
7. Featured New Members of the Month
8. Transportation
9. 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].

SAVE THE DATES: 

2018 World Floral Expo
March 20 - 22, 2018
Chicago (Rosemont), IL

2018 AIFD National Symposium "Discover"
June 30 - July 4
Washington D.C.

2019 Fun 'N Sun Convention
July 24 - 27
Santa Barbara, 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.

Board Election Results & New Officers

Thanks to those 69 Floral Members who cast ballots in the recent board election voting – we easily met the 65-vote quorum threshold to reach  qualified results.  The four incumbents were overwhelmingly re-elected.  The results ranged from 72% to 82% of the ballots across the four candidates.  There were also two write-in candidates. The directors elected to 3-year terms are:

• Joost Bongaerts
• Mike Franzoia
• Robert Kitayama
• Marc Robinson

At the December quarterly board meeting, the board installed the new officers for the coming year: 

• Ben Dobbe, President
• Frank Biddle, Vice President
• Marc Robinson, Treasurer

Passing of the Gavel

Ben Dobbe (right) leads the board in thanking Mike Mooney (left) for his energy and passion over the past two years as Board President.  Ben noted that during Mike's tenure, membership grew at a steady pace, industry relations grew even stronger, promotional programs expanded, and his term was topped off with an extremely successful Fun 'N Sun in San Diego this past August. 

Mark Your Calendar! 2019 Fun ‘N Sun Dates Announced!

CalFlowers is excited to announce the dates and place for Fun ‘N Sun 2019.  The Convention will be held in Santa Barbara, California July 24 – 27, at the The Fess Parker, soon to be renamed the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.

We will have more information available after the new year and look forward to seeing you all again in Santa Barbara!

 CaliFlora 2017 

The California State Floral Association's (CSFA) annual event - "CaliFlora 2017 – CALIFORNIA STYLING” was hosted by the International Floral Trade Center on November 4-5 in Carlsbad, CA.

Saturday was filled with hands-on education classes featuring instructors, Anthony Alvarez AIFD, CCF, EMC, Noel Tribbey, AIFD and Sandy Villa AIFD, CFD, CCF.  The California Certified Florist (CCF) exam was held throughout the day on Saturday.

The twelfth annual CSFA student design competition was held on Saturday evening with Debbie Alvarez, AIFD, CCF, Camarillo ROP & Floral Phenomenon, as Commentator. The student competition was Sponsored by the California Cut Flower Commission.

Sunday morning kicked off with the 2017 Top Ten Design Competition Sponsored by CalFlowers. David Root, Pacific Events Productions, is this year’s Top Ten and People’s Choice Winner. David will be invited to represent CSFA in the Society of American Florists Sylvia Cup Competition in 2018. Congratulations to David and all those who competed in this year's Top Ten design competition!

Click Here to read the full story.

World Floral Expo 2018

We're pleased to announce that WFE 2018 is happening in Chicago, IL from March 20 - 22, 2018 and HPP Exhibitions is once again offering extremely attractive pricing for CalFlowers members to exhibit at next year's show.  It would be hard to find a better opportunity to reach Midwest and Atlantic Coast customers than WFE in Chicago.

For more information visit:  WFE 2018

Fun 'N Sun Photos and Videos

There were several hundred pictures that captured the beauty and activities of the 2017 Fun ‘N Sun Convention. These are available for download or for purchase on hardcopy media and other products. Also, there are 7 short videos (about 3 minutes each) of floral designers talking about designing with California products.  We hope you enjoy!

Click Here to view the photo book

Click Here to view the videos

2018 Membership Directory Advertising Space Available

Why should I advertise in the 2018 Membership Directory?

• Advertising space starting as low as $100.00.
• As a valued CalFlowers member, you are entitled to take a 10% discount off of the appropriate Ad rates when you submit your Insertion Order by 1-15-18.
• Provides year-long exposure to nearly 700 members, including wholesalers and large volume buyers nationwide.
• The directory is a vital source used on a daily basis by companies seeking information essential to their operations.
• Your advertising dollars go directly to producing and publishing the highest quality product for the membership.

Click Here for more information on how to advertise.  If you have any questions please contact Linda Long - [email protected].

 Featured New Members of the Month

Onings Holland

Onings Holland is a renowned exporter of bulbs and tubers. The Onings family business was established over 65 years ago and enjoys a strong reputation for quality and reliability. Besides being a top supplier of lily bulbs, Onings Holland is also a valued supplier of other bulbs and tubers such as tulips, irises, freesias, hyacinths, gladioli, and a wide range of miscellaneous bulbs for both growers as well as dry sale purposes. The company sources the bulbs and tubers from carefully selected growers from around the world.

Before the product finds its way to customers in over 50 countries, the bulbs are strictly inspected at the facilities in Poeldijk, Netherlands. A PO-bulb stands for high quality and is the best start for top quality end results.

Click Here for more information about Onings Holland.

Rumhora Greens LLC

Rumhora Greens LLC was established in 2014 in the United States, and their main office in Colombia was established in 2003. Rumhora is a greens and flower grower in Colombia. Their products are imported and distributed through their office in Ecuador and the USA.

Rumhora Greens is the Colombian company with the largest logistic capacity for the production and commercialization of fresh ornamental foliage cut for the florists market and gaps, with an exportable supply exceeding one million stems monthly, during all seasons, with more than 20 species of excellent quality foliages produced by Florverde Sustainable Flowers certified farms and in process of Rainforest certification.

"We don't want to become your greens and flowers supplier but we want to become your partner in your business here in USA, Colombia and Ecuador."

Click Here to learn more about Rumhora Greens LLC.

Pictured above from left to right: Jesus R. Rubio,
Sandra L. Bermeo, Carlos E. Castro, and Benjamin Castro  

Transportation  

1. As the New Year approaches, our transportation carriers typically have rate changes in store taking effect January 1.  We wanted to let members know to expect an email this week with summaries outlining these changes for 2018. These new program updates will also be available on our website before the end of the year.
2. For those members using FedEx who expect to ship large volumes over the Christmas holidays, we strongly encourage daily communication with your local FedEx operations terminal.  FedEx will be very busy during this time, so effective communication regarding expected shipping volumes will be critical.  Please note, FedEx is not charging additional fees for the 2017 holiday shipping season.
3. Just a reminder that GSO does offer 3^rd Party Billing, it just needs to be set up in advance with GSO. There are a couple of ways to do it, so we would recommend shippers contact GSO directly and let them know you want to set-up a remote (3^rd party) shipper.  They can take it from there and explain how it can work.  If you have any questions, please contact Chris Johnson at [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 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 November 2017, 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