In This Issue ...

1. 2016 - 2017 Dues Going Out Electronically
2. The Value of Membership
3. Memorial Day Flowers
4. Transportation Updates
5. 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

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 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.

 2016 - 2017 Dues Going Out Electronically

Just as flower growers, shippers, and retailers invest in new processes to be more efficient, so too does CalFlowers make investments to improve internal efficiency and increase productivity so more of your dues dollars can be used to invest in our mission: 

Strengthen member businesses through logistics, education and promotion to grow the use and enjoyment of cut flowers.

Read / download the Frequently Asked Questions document

After reading the FAQs document, if you have questions, you can email Linda Long at [email protected], or you can call the HQ Office at (831) 479-4912. 

Thank you for renewing your dues, preferably online but however works best for you!

The Value of Membership

Is there value to CalFlowers membership beyond shipping discounts?

Absolutely! Of course, benefiting from some of the best shipping rates in the floral industry makes the membership value proposition easy to justify each year. Many CalFlowers members earn their annual dues back with one shipment. For these shipping discounts, we are all grateful to our shipping partners – especially FedEx and OnTrac whose shipping programs generate important non-dues revenue to the Association.

But, let’s not forget those hard-to-quantify benefits that come with membership, like presenting affordable opportunities to exhibit at industry trade shows such as World Floral Expo and Fun ‘N Sun every other year. And the collaborative relationships cultivated with California State Floral Association, CCFC, SAF, AFIF, WF&FSA and Asocolflores to promote floral holidays like International Women’s Day and Memorial Day. CalFlowers is also represented at industry events like SAF and WF&FSA annual meetings and supports selective governmental advocacy initiatives at the state and federal levels.

These initiatives are designed to maintain and increase awareness of California’s amazing variety of commercial cut flowers. They are also designed to expand the U.S. market for ornamental flowers. It’s a tall task for an organization that is more experienced at business-to-business marketing than business-to-consumer marketing, but that doesn’t make promoting flower consumption to more Americans more often any less the right challenge to take on.

So, when you renew your membership this year, keep in mind that there’s more to it than just getting shipping discounts. Of course, let’s not forget the important benefit that comes from being part of the family of other businesses working for a healthy and robust market for cut flowers in the United States.

Flowers for the Remembered and the Remembering – Memorial Day

CalFlowers is once again a proud sponsor of the Memorial Day Flowers project – 2016 is our second year as a sponsor.  There’s a difference this year, however.  For the first time since this project was launched in 2011 at Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) just outside Washington, D.C., the Memorial Day Flower Foundation is sponsoring projects at other National Cemeteries on Memorial Day in addition to ANC.  This year, a CalFlowers team is coordinating the distribution of 2,000 roses and 500 bouquets on Memorial Day at the San Francisco National Cemetery located in The Presidio of San Francisco.  CalFlowers has also been instrumental in supporting the project at the National Cemetery in Phoenix, AZ.

Memorial Day Flowers is the initiative of The Memorial Day Flower Foundation with broad industry support by a diverse group of growers, shippers, and wholesalers from Colombia, Ecuador and the United States.  CalFlowers joins WF&FSA, ASOCOLFLORES, and EXPOFLORES as major association sponsors. The success and growth of this project is the result of a simple goal:  to express respect and honor to those who gave their lives in service to our country, and to their families for their support and sacrifices.  What better way to show this respect than flowers for the remembered and the remembering?

Foundation Executive Director Ramiro Peñaherrera is grateful for the CalFlowers Sponsorship: "Memorial Day Flowers has always been ecumenical; we invite all associations and links in the flower supply chain to be part of this effort.  CalFlowers is now part of the Foundation's advisory board. This year at ANC, Google, TD Bank, SunTrust Bank, and several other non-floral companies are sponsors. Pinnacle West Energy is the major sponsor at Arizona National Cemetery. Our near future goal is for local business to sponsor, and pay for, roses and bouquets.  The National Cemetery Administration has asked us to help bring the ‘Decoration Day’ meaning back to Memorial Day. It's wonderful to see that many of us can put aside perceived/imagined differences to honor those who served."

In addition to all the national sponsors (see list), we’d like to acknowledge those CalFlowers members who contributed product and or service to support the projects at Arlington, San Francisco and Arizona National Cemeteries:

• Mike Mooney (CalFlowers Board President), his wife Robin and their children for being CalFlowers’ official representatives at ANC this Memorial Day weekend;
• Ocean View Flowers for their donation of 500 mixed California bouquets for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors at ANC. T.A.P.S. Helps children who have lost one or both parents in the recent conflicts. Each child will receive an Ocean View bouquet to place on the headstone of the parent.
• Holland America Flowers for their donation of approximately 2,000 mixed California bouquets for all three cemeteries for volunteers and family members. Each volunteer will receive a bouquet.
• Mt Eden Floral Company for processing and delivering roses and bouquets to San Francisco National Cemetery; and
• Mayesh Whiolesale Florist for their sponsorship and on-the-ground support for the project at the Arizona National Cemetery in Phoenix.

Finally, "Thank You" to the Memorial Day Flower Foundation itself for conceiving this great program and for its year-round promotion and advocacy of the power of flowers to express what words alone cannot.

Transportation

1. We are pleased to announce your FedEx Express Discounts just got better and just in time for Mother's Day.  We have just signed a new contract that improves members FedEx Express discounts to 69.2% (up from 66.5%).  Also other services such as 2 day and Express Saver will significantly improve as well.  Our special DIM factor of 250 and other fee waivers stay intact. Additionally, in January when FedEx raises their rates typically around 5%, we will only have a 3.5% increase which will further enhance our discount.  For more info, look for our email announcement or visit our website at www.cafgs.org.

2. Delta Airlines has renewed their “all in” flower rates for our membership.  These rates are very competitive and offer the value of including Fuel and Security surcharges.  For a copy of Delta Airlines Cargo rates, please visit our website (www.cafgs.org) or contact me ([email protected]) directly for your copy.

3. Beginning May 1^st, Alaska Airlines Cargo will no longer offer “General” rates for perishables.  They are converting this rate structure to ”Priority Perishable” status in an effort to improve service. Pricing will be slightly higher but will come with a higher boarding priority on their aircraft. These new rates are available on our website or members can contact me ([email protected]) for more information.

4. In OnTrac news, we want to thank our member shippers for taking the time to fill out and return the OnTrac survey.  Response from members was huge. Currently we are analyzing the results and sharing it with OnTrac.  It’s this kind of feedback that is so important to a program and its participants.  Look for more information coming soon.

5. 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 call to inquire.

6. For members wanting to take advantage of our new American Airlines shipping rates, be sure to email me your PAL number ([email protected]).  We will then link your company to the pricing plan.  For members who do not currently have an AA PAL number, please visit www.aacargo.com to get started.

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

New Members

In April 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