|
In This Issue ...
- Have You Reserved Your Space!
- Join CalFlowers Today and Blossom Your Business
- Upcoming Membership Dues Renewal
- 2Plant Opens New Cooling Facility in Watsonville, CA
- International Women's Day Marketing Campaign for Florists
- Seedling Cultivation Survey: Potential Role of Plasma Activated Water for Seedling Protection
- Member Spotlight: McCullough Flower Farm
- Transportation Updates
- Welcome New CalFlowers Members
2024 Dates
PHS Philadelphia Flower Show
Pennsylvania Convention Center
March 2 – 10, 2024
Philadelphia, PA
WF&FSA Floral Distribution Conference
The Doral (Registration starts in fall)
March 3 – 6, 2024
Miami, FL
WUMFA Annual Conference
Flower Power
Radisson Hotel & Conference Center
March 15 – 17, 2024
Green Bay, WI
FFA Convention
March 21- 24, 2024
Sacramento, CA
FloriExpo
Cultivating the Floral Community
June 5 – 7, 2024
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Texas Floral Forum
Omni La Mansion on the Riverwalk
June 21 - 23, 2024
|San Antonio, TX
Slow Flowers Summit
Banff Centre for the Arts
June 23-25, 2024
Banff, Alberta, Canada
2024 AIFD “Emerge”
July 2 – 6, 2024
Orlando, FL
California State Fair
July 12 – 28, 2024
Sacramento, CA
WF&FSA DevX 2024
July 23 - 26, 2024
San Francisco, CA
SAF’s Annual Convention
JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa
August 6 – 9, 2024
Aventura, FL
2024 Fun 'N Sun Floral Convention
Omni La Costa Resort & Spa
September 4 - 7
Carlsbad, CA
IFPA
October 17 - 19, 2024
Atlanta, GA
2024 Texas Floral Showcase
The Petroleum Club
October 17, 2024
Midland, TX
2024 Texas Floral Showcase
Shady Villa Event Center and Hotel
November 2, 2024
Salado, TX
Latest Legislation
Updates:
Click Here to read the latest Legislative updates.
Is a cooperative effort to get more Americans enjoying more flowers, more often. From upscale florists, farmers markets or grocery stores — as long as people are bringing home flowers regularly, that’s good enough for us.
We want everyone to experience the impact of flowers on a daily basis. They’re a beautiful, natural dose of feel-good, so why should they be reserved for special occasions?
Even the most modest bouquet of flowers can have all sorts of positive short and long term effects on how we feel — in other words, it’s that flower feeling.
Click Here and request access to all of the FREE Assets That Flower Feeling has to offer.
FLOWERS.
SELF CARE MADE EASY.
Self care has become a lot of work. You gotta pamper, practice mindfulness, balance life and work, and be awesome at all of them. Flowers on the other hand are self care made easy. They won't replace working out or eating well. But they're a spiritual tune-up. So treat yourself to a little off-the-shelf self care.
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
Our goal is to communicate with our members and interested parties on a monthly basis about recent, past, and upcoming events, program updates, and general information about CalFlowers engagement in the industry on behalf of the membership.
If you have an announcement or story you think our members should see, contact Monnaie Pepin, Director of Communications, Events and Administration.
2024 - 2025
Membership Directory Available Online
To purchase additional printed copies of the 2024 - 2025 Membership Directory please Contact Jordan Richardson.
For Members Only Access
Click Here for a quick reference guide on how to log into the members only site.
CalFlowers
Social Media
Show That You Are A Proud Member of CalFlowers!
CalFlowers Members in good standing are now welcome and encouraged to use the CalFlowers logo to show that they are proud members of the Association. Read the full logo policy, suggested uses, and download the logo by visiting the CalFlowers membership portal and selecting “Marketing Tools” on the dropdown menu:
https://cafgs.memberclicks.
net/marketing-tools
|
Have You Reserved Your Space?
 We are excited to announce that we have just a few more spots available for our 2024 Fun 'N Sun Flower Fair:
- 1 single booth
- 1 double booth
- 8 tabletops
If you are interested in exhibiting, reserve your space today before we are all sold out!
Thank you to our members who have signed up to exhibit.
Click Here to sign up or to see a list of our
2024 Flower Fair Exhibitors.
For more information contact Monnaie Pepin: (831) 610-4826
Join CalFlowers Today and Blossom Your Business
Are you a flower grower, retailer, wholesaler, or part of a floral business? If you haven't joined CalFlowers, now is the perfect time! Apply by March 31, 2024, and save $50 on your application fee.
As a member, you'll gain access to exclusive benefits:
- Shipping: Save 78% on FedEx Priority Overnight® & Standard Overnight®.
- Networking: Forge invaluable connections with over 885 industry leaders.
- Services: Receive discounts on services that better your business.
- Promotional Support: Amplify your reach to our network of over 10k people.
Don't miss out on this chance to grow your business and connect with industry leaders. Explore membership options today by visiting cafgs.org or contact us at [email protected].
Upcoming Membership Dues Renewal
Members, we hope you’ve been enjoying updated FedEx shipping rates and savings on credit card processing, printing services, and more. As members you’ve given back to the floral community in numerous ways, and we appreciate you!
Renewal notices with dues invoices will be distributed in early April. All member businesses will need to renew their memberships by May 31, 2024. We strongly encourage members to renew their memberships early and pay their invoices online. In doing so, members will maintain their benefits and reduce the potential of mail fraud.
2Plant Opens New Cooling Facility in Watsonville, CA
 This week 2Plant is opening its new cooling facility in Watsonville, California! From this location they will service their customers on the West coast for most of their Flower bulb and perennial needs. 2Plant is known for their exclusive Lily Looks, Heritage Calla line and perennial assortment that is sold to the professional wholesale flower grower. Besides potted items, this year they have added several bulb items for cut flower growers as well.
“With this state-of-the-art facility we will be able to store and supply quality flower bulbs and perennials to all of our clients in an efficient and affordable way says Robin van der Schaaf “who is their West Coast Sales Manager. (Pictured Right)
2Plant is shipping Lilies, Dahlias and Callas this year from these coolers, and they might possibly add additional products as well. In the last month, the equipment for the coolers have been replaced and upgraded so we are excited about our quality products being stored and shipped from this new location.
For more information please visit: www.2plant.com or contact Robin van der Schaaf: [email protected].
International Women's Day Marketing Campaign for Florists
March 8th is International Women’s Day and it is an excellent opportunity to express our gratitude to mentors, teachers, friends, family, and all the influential women in our lives.
By providing florists with a comprehensive and well-structured marketing plan, complete with all necessary creative materials and guidelines for an effective campaign, we are fostering local growth that has the potential to create enduring effects on a nationwide level!
Our IWD marketing strategy for florists is complete with ready-to-use creative materials, email templates, social media packets, press releases, and step-by-step guidance. Florists can employ these tools in their original form or customize them for their brand.
Seedling Cultivation Survey: Potential Role of Plasma Activated Water for Seedling Protection
The objective of this survey is to determine commercial issues in young plant production to assist researchers at UC Davis, University of Minnesota, and Cornell University develop relevant solutions for greenhouse/nursery crops based on Plasma Activated Water treatments. The survey will take about 5 minutes to complete. All of your responses will be anonymized, and nothing will ever be attributed to you. A summary of the anonymized findings may be shared with the scientific community in the future.
We know your time is valuable and you are very busy. As a thank you, everyone who completes the survey will be entered in a drawing to win one of five $100 USD Amazon or Visa gift cards.
Click Here to take the survey.
For more information please contact:
Nicholas Kaczmar
Research Support Specialist II
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cornell University
(315) 569-7041 or via email at: [email protected]
Member Spotlight: McCullough Flower Farm
 McCullough Flower Farm is located on an eighth-generation family farm in Sharpsville, PA. They specialize in dried florals, winter tulips, year-round lilies, and garden roses. The farm offers bouquet subscriptions, on-farm events and workshops, and nationwide shipping for certain flowers.
"It's a privilege to care for the same land that's been worked by my family for so long, and to provide flowers for my local community (and beyond, thanks to the shipping capabilities provided by CalFlowers)"- Owner of McCullough Flower Farm, Justine.
Click Here to learn more about McCullough Flower Farm.
Facebook | Instagram
 
Transportation
If you missed our latest announcement, we have secured new FedEx Freight (pallet) rates which are now available to the membership. Our new offering boasts 89% discount for LTL Domestic Priority and LTL Domestic Economy, plus a number of surcharge discounts adding extra value to these exceptional rates. Since FedEx Freight is a separate division of FedEx, members will need to contact me, Chris Johnson directly to be linked, but the process is simple. So, if highly discounted Door to Door pallet rates interest you, we can help.
And speaking of new agreements, for those that haven’t heard, we signed a new historic agreement with FedEx vastly improving our program discounts and overall value package. Here are some highlights:
- Priority Overnight and Standard Overnight discounts rise to 78%.
- Ground Discounts rise to 55%.
- FedEx Home Delivery discounts rise to 40%.
- New for 24 is FedEx One Rate. Deep discounts as high as 45%.
- Yearly GRI cap will be 5% in upcoming years.
- Flat-Rate Pricing is retained as well as Money Back Guarantee and no minimums.
- Dramatic Surcharge improvements such as:
- Fuel Surcharge 15%
- Residential 50%
- Delivery Area Sur 35%
- Declared Value 25%
- Demand (peak) 25%
- Saturday PU/DEL 100%
- And many more…
All these improvements and many more have automatically been loaded into your FedEx account. There is nothing to do but enjoy the savings!
The 2024 CalFlowers FedEx Program Summary and Rates are now up on our website. Please visit cafgs.org for more information.
A few other reminders:
- For those wanting to know who your FedEx representative is, or if you want to be contacted by FedEx, please email me your FedEx account number and I will respond with information on your FedEx contact. It’s always a good practice to establish a relationship with your FedEx representative. They can be an asset when needed.
- You can have your shipments held at your nearby FedEx Office instead being delivered to your door. Having shipments held at your local FedEx office can help with temperature management since your boxes will be stored in a temperature-controlled office rather riding in a truck all morning. It’s also true that you can drop off your shipments at your local FedEx office. This can be advantage for some parts of the country where having your packages standing by in FedEx office is preferable to being in a truck for hours.
- As we know, keeping an eye on the weather, nationally as well as locally is important, and a great way of doing that is by routinely checking the “Service Alerts” section of the FedEx website each morning for the latest updates. Here you will find the most current alerts and service disruption alerts updated each day.
- Find the latest news from FedEx here.
For those members looking for good general information on Surcharges and Claims, the following information can be helpful.
This first resource offers information regarding surcharges and fees. Keep in mind that the CalFlowers program offers members MANY surcharge and fee reductions that are significantly lower than these standard surcharges, however it’s still a good reference point and has some clear definitions on what each fee/surcharge is. If you would like a summary of your program surcharge / fee discounts and waivers, please check our website or email Chris Johnson ([email protected]) for a copy.
The second resource is very helpful when you need to file a claim for damaged or lost product. Keep in mind, a product claim is different from our Money Back Guarantee, which applies to shipping charges and is handled differently. Product claims are more involved and can be confusing, but this resource helps navigate the process.
To all our new members who are just starting with FedEx shipping, they have a helpful “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 via email: [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. Failure to stay current with FedEx risks your account being delinked from the program. For more information on this issue, please contact Chris Johnson, Dir. of Transportation [email protected]
To obtain your invoice details and payment options, please contact FedEx Customer Service.
New for 2024 are exclusive GLS Ground rates. Now members have the option to ship Priority or Ground when shipping on GLS. The main difference is the time of day the delivery takes place and some product guarantees. For typical floral shipments, Priority with a morning to noon delivery time is the solution. For more hardy products or hard goods, GLS Ground can be an excellent choice. No matter what service is selected, our CalFlowers GLS program is an outstanding value offering consistent on-time service.
The CalFlowers GLS program is one of our popular, most value-priced offerings, with discounts well 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].
GLS has been very receptive to our requests for program improvements. They have added the following features to our program for members to utilize when shipping Priority.
- GLS will now honor product claims. Yes, if GLS is at fault (acts of God, not included) and the product arrives damaged, significantly late, or just missing, members now can file a claim. We highly recommend member shippers to indicate the correct Declared Value to be covered.
- GLS will credit (100%) of the shipping costs if your shipment is not delivered on the day promised. Bad weather is excluded. Members will need to request this within 48 hours at [email protected].
- GLS has given our account access to a special premium team of Customer Service agents. This high-level group was designed for fast response and problem solving. Please contact Chris Johnson for access to this important resource.
- GLS has a new revamped website. Check it out at https://www.gls-us.com. Additionally, I recommend trying this handy Delivery Rates & Times Calculator to view delivery dates and estimated time of arrival.
Airlines:
For our members shipping cargo on airlines, we’d like to remind you that just we had a significant update to our Alaska Air Cargo program. We are pleased to add the state of Alaska to our discounts! Now members in Alaska can ship OUTBOUND nationwide, from any major airport in Alaska (serviced by Alaska Airlines), for super discounted Express rates. Member shippers just need a CID number and to sign up with us.
Additionally, we added SEA and PDX to our program. Now the Pacific Northwest can ship to California at our highly discounted Express rates. Again, members just need a CID number and to sign-up.
Did you know Alaska Airlines is the largest airline operator out of San Diego. They have 67 daily flights to 33 non-stop destinations.
For the latest in Alaska Cargo News, Check out this https://www.alaskaaircargoconnections.com/.
Here is also a handy link for commonly asked questions: https://www.alaskacargo.com/faqs.
For members wanting to get in touch with our Alaska Air Cargo Regional Sales Manager, California, Mike Narowski can be reached 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.
Welcome New CalFlowers Members
We are pleased to welcome the following new CalFlowers members from February 8 - March 1, 2024:
|
