In This Issue ...

1. World Floral Expo
2. Women's Day
3. 2016 Membership Directory Goes To Press
4. Memorial Day Flowers
5. Transportation Updates
6. 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

Women's Day
March 8, 2016

World Floral Expo
March 9 - 11, 2016
Los Angeles, CA

IFE
June 20 - 22, 2016
Chicago, IL

AIFD
July 3 - 7, 2016
Orange County, CA

Save The Dates

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 communi-cate 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.

World Floral Expo Returns to California

Great exhibit spaces are still available in the CalFlowers Floral Pavillion, although the early commitments are encouraging that the Pavillion space will be sold out by show-time.  The show's promoter, HPP, has made 11,000 square feet of exhibit space available for CalFlowers members - growers and non-growers - at very attractive exhibitor rates.  As of this newsletter, nearly 50% of the space has already been reserved!  However, there are plenty of excellent booth spaces still available -- actually, there isn't a bad location in the pavillion that has been reserved exclusively for CalFlowers members.

You might also like to know that while attendee registration is trailing a little bit versus last year at this time, it's very encouraging to see that the number of companies pre-registered at this time is up an impressive 48%!  Last year at this time, pre-registered attendees were from 89 companies vs. the 132 companies this year! 

For more information about special exhibit pricing, a list of CalFlowers members already committed, and a floor plan click here!

Women's Day is gaining attention across many markets and CalFlowers, along with companion floral industry associations, is stepping up promotional activities.

Even if you're not directly involved in some of these projects, each CalFlowers member should be asking:  "What can we do to raise the visibility of flowers as a way to show love, honor & respect for women on March 8?"

Posters & Magnetic Truck Signage Asocolflores, CalFlowers, CCFC, SAF and WF&FSA will be distributing 10,000 posters to more than 45 supply chain members.  Association of Floral Importers of Florida (AFIF), instead of posters, will be distributing magnetic truck signs to ensure that consumers "get the message" while driving around their communities.

Giving Back Several members that we know will be donating portions of their Women's Day floral sales to local women's causes in their communities.  To draw attention to this, CalFlowers has placed an ad in the March issue of Florists' Review to promote the holiday and give a shout-out to ArizonaFamily Florist, Florabundance & Kitayama Brothers.  If you choose to do the same, please let us know and we'll recognize your generosity in the April issue of this newsletter.  (A big thanks to ArizonaFamily Florist for contributing the design and artwork for the ad.)

Metro Promotion As reported last month, we're expanding the very successful Women's Day promotion we did with Asocolflores in the Greater Phoenix market last year.  Those of you attending Fun 'N Sun 2015 may have listened to Brad Denham's presentation of last year's results.  Expect to see an increase in promotional activities right after Valentine's Day.

2016 Membership Directory Goes to Press

The spiral bound CalFlowers Membership Directory is now being printed on an annual basis, rather than every other year as in the past. This is because we found a printer who can offer their services at a very cost-effective rate. All members were recently contacted via email to review their profile information, and now we are going to press with the directory.

The directory is a valuable member resource filled with contact information for over 600 CalFlowers members who grow, wholesale, and retail flowers (and produce!). It also has information on floral organizations, California farm advisors and farm bureaus by county, and agricultural commissioners.

As usual, the directory also includes a section on Floral Product Availability by Member, as well as Floral Availability by Season, making it a valuable resource for all members seeking specific flower types.

We want to make a special shout out to all the companies that advertised in this years directory. Please review their ads in the directory and support their businesses.  Tell them you found them in the CalFlowers Membership Directory!

The directories are expected to ship in February 2016.

Memorial Day Flowers

Planning will begin shortly for the event at The Presidio National Cemetery.  We are also continuing to solicit for financial support from the community (from beyond the flower industry).  So, if you can think of potential donors, please contact Michael LoBue at:  [email protected].

We have also received interest to bring the program to the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, in Phoenix.  There are 43,672 interments there.  We're also looking for supporters for involving the National Cemetery at Mira Mar in San Diego County.

CalFlowers is a sponsor of the MDF project for many reasons.  First, there are many service men and women in our industry - so there's an abiding connection to the holiday itself.  Next, flowers are natural for this holiday, both in terms of symbolism of flowers as an expression of regard and condolensences, but also the direct benefits flowers generate for both those who give and those who receive flowers. 

CalFlowers will again sponsor the very successful Memorial Day Flower project at Arlington National Cemetery.  This project is supported by the Memorial Day Flower Foundation. Enjoy photos and videos of last year's event where 120,000 roses were placed on the headstones of Americas service men and women and California bouquets donated by Ocean Breeze were passed out to members of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

Transportation

1. The New CalFlowers American Airlines Cargo rates have been sent.  This new pricing program offers simple to use flat rates that include fuel and security fees all wrapped up in a very aggressive landed price.  We encourage you to take a look.  If you missed your copy please see our website (www.cafgs.org) or contact Chris Johnson for the details (760-533-5580).
2. We have also renewed our special promotional rates on Delta Airlines.  These new rates also feature all in pricing and are exclusive to our members.  Look for this renewal coming soon.
3. For our members shipping FedEx during the busy Valentines Day shipping period, please be sure be in contact with your courier or local terminal with any expected high volumes.  This will help them plan and more importantly, enable them to accept your shipments.  Failure to notify FedEx of unusually high shipping volumes increases the risk of shipments left behind due to capacity.
4. We are pleased to announce OnTrac has waived for our membership, 100% the Saturday Delivery Surcharge for the Saturday before Valentines Day, February, 13^th.  This is a big money saver for shippers.  Also members are encouraged to utilize OnTracs Special Account Desk.  Here CalFlowers members have a dedicated specialist that can help with a wide variety of special shipping needs.  Please call Carla Rodriguez at 800-334-5000 x 3152 or you can email Carla at [email protected]

In other OnTrac news, all shipping CalFlowers members should now be on-line booking with OnTrac.  WebOnTrac is an excellent tool that can help shippers with most everything they need when booking a shipment.  Using paper waybills adds complexity and risk to their digital system. WebOnTrac software even has provisions that can catch errors before they can be submitted.  If you are not using OnTrac's free booking software, we strongly recommend you do, and it's easy to start.  Just contact OnTrac for more info at 800-334-5000 or visit www.ontrac.com.

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 dont know or dont remember your username and/or password.  This document will help you login. 

New Members

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

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