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In This Issue ...
- CalFlowers Attends WF&FSA
- Thanks For Your Input on FedEx Office Offer
- "CaliFlora 2018" - A Blooming Success
- Featured New Members
- Transportation
- New Members
UPCOMING 2019 EVENTS:
World Floral Expo (WFE)
March 20 - 22, 2019
Venue: TBD
Dallas, TX
International Floral Expo (IFE)
June 18 - 20, 2019
Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami, FL
2019 Fun 'N Sun Convention
July 24 - 27, 2019
Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort
Santa Barbara, CA
SAF
September 18 - 21, 2019
Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island
Fernandina Beach, FL
Flower Of The Month:
The November birth flower is the chrysanthemum.
The chrysanthemum means compassion, friendship and secret love. This flower can be red, white or yellow. Chrysanthemums have been grown by the Chinese for over 2,000 years. This flower is also a symbol of the sun. Chrysanthemum was named after the Greek word which means gold flower.
The chrysanthemum blooms in late summer and fall. These flowers are native to Asia and Europe. There are over 30 species of the chyrsanthemum. It is the national flower of Japan and symbolizes the Japanese Emperor. In Europe the chrysanthemum is a symbol of death and is used for funerals or on graves. The chrysanthemum flower is actually a powerful antiseptic and antibiotic! It is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat high blood pressure and angina. It is a perennial flower that will come back year after year.
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.
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CalFlowers Attends WF&FSA
Once again, CalFlowers makes a strong showing at this year's WF&FSA Distributors Conference in Miami, FL between October 16 and 18, 2018. CalFlowers was one of four sponsors for the "Flowers Around the World Party", featuring the "Flowers the California Way" history boards display and samples of California floral products.
Chris Johnson - Director of Transportation (pictured below), Michael LoBue - CEO, Marni Serlin - FedEx representative supporting CalFlowers members for domestic shipping, and Paula Windyka - FedEx representative supporting the IPD program made a strong showing with a table-top display promoting CalFlowers and recruiting new members.
CalFlowers is also especially grateful to WF&FSA for providing meeting space for another meeting of the Flower Summit, which has been meeting at least once a year since its first meetng at WF&FSA's conference in 2014. Attending this year's Summit were representatives from:
- American Floral Endowment (AFE)
- Association of Flower Importers of Florida (AFIF)
- Asocolflores
- CalFlowers
- CCFC
- Expoflores
- SAF
- WF&FSA
The Flower Summit participating organizations have agreed to meet at least twice a year to explore collaborations to grow and improve the floral industry for everyone.
Thanks for Your Input on FedEx
Office Offer
Big thanks to the 139 members who participated in the FedEx survey and shared how your company uses print services. It was very helpful to understand your printing needs. Our contacts at FedEx Office are developing a special discount program for our members, and we will share the opportunity with you as soon as we receive it.
Here are the three members who were randomly selected to receive a $100 gift card:
Elaine Tanigawa
Jackson Durham Floral & Event Design
Dallas, TX
Chris Auville
Harmony Harvest Farm
Weyers Cave, VA
David Kesler
Floral Design Institute, Inc
Portland, OR
Keep your eye out for news from us about the new program.
"CaliFlora 2018" - A Blooming Success
 The California State Floral Association's (CSFA) annual event, "CaliFlora 2018" – “Bloomin’ Trends – Growers, Designers & Emerging Professionals” was hosted by the Carlsbad International Floral Trade Center on November 3-4 in Carlsbad, CA.
CalFlowers was the sponsor of the Top Ten event. The Top Ten Winners (pictured above, left to right): 3rd Place - Vic Castillo AIFD, CFD; 2nd Place - Mary Anne Mertz; Top Ten and People’s Choice Award Winner – Sambath Prom-Chiem AIFD, CFD, CCF.
Click here to read the full article.
Featured New Members
Oregon Flowers Inc.
 In the heart of the Willamette Valley, Oregon Flowers Inc. opened its greenhouse doors in 1985. Today, Oregon Flowers Inc. is a family run operation which produces cut flowers year-round for the American and Canadian market. Their main focus has always been to produce a top quality, consistent, and reliable product. Pictured from left to right: Landon Reese, Jacinth Reese, Kason Reese (baby), Kamari Reese, Helene Meskers, Martin Meskers, Tyler Meskers, and Megan Meskers.
 Today, Oregon Flowers Inc. continues this philosophy, and produces lilies, tulips, calla lilies, and numerous seasonal cut flowers for wholesalers across the United States and Canada. Oregon Flowers Inc., plants only new bulbs, imported directly from both the northern and southern hemispheres. This enables them to produce cut flowers year-round. Each bulb is carefully inspected to ensure premium quality and only the best are planted. Each bulb is used only once in order to produce the best possible flower; therefore, the bulbs are discarded, composted, and never re-used. This ensures strong quality flowers with a consistency that can be relied on.
Top of the line equipment is imported from The Netherlands, and state of the art forcing rooms, rooting rooms, and climate-controlled greenhouses are used to guarantee fresh cut flowers year-round. In addition to their greenhouse production, Oregon Flowers Inc. offers seasonal, soil grown tulips and calla lilies, plus a variety of field cut flowers and berries.
All cut flowers are shipped in custom boxes designed to maintain premium quality. Oregon Flowers Inc. ships daily via all major airlines, Federal Express, UPS, and also by ground in refrigerated trucks. The nursery of Oregon Flowers Inc. is in close proximity to Portland International Airport and Interstate 5, ideal for nationwide shipping.
Oregon Flowers Inc. assures consistent production, reliable service, and quality cut “Flowers grown with a Dutch touch.” Click here to visit their website.
Fresh Ideas Flower Company
 Fresh Ideas Flower Company is a family owned flower market that has been in business for 20 years. They send their own trucks to the flower growers on the coast to pick up flowers directly from the growers, so they can provide the freshest flowers possible.
During the last three years, Fresh Ideas Flower Company has been expanding their retail flower arrangement department, including their own website and fulfillment for 1-800-Flowers. This past April, Fresh Ideas Flower Company was one of three florists in the nation that were invited to the New York headquarters of 1-800-Flowers to help create new designs for their national website.
 Fresh Ideas Flower Company is a flower market that sells cut flowers wholesale and retail. Their customers include grocery stores, florists, produce distributors, and public individuals.
The Fresh Ideas Flower Company team of designers makes sure that every order is filled to full value - Best Stem Count Possible.
Click here to view their website.
Transportation
As a reminder, new shipping rates and program information for 2018 is up on the CalFlowers website. Members can use their login to access this information anytime. Rates on FedEx, GSO, OnTrac, and airlines can all be found as well as other handy information. For questions or comments on any of our programs, please contact Chris Johnson at (760) 533-5580 or [email protected].
With the new year approaching, shipping rates on many carriers typically get adjusted up. We should see some minor changes to FedEx, GSO, and OnTrac as we do every year. We will be sending information about these changes as we get them in December, so please keep an eye out for them. New program rates and information will also be posted on our website after January 1. If you have any questions, please contact Chris Johnson for assistance at (760) 533-5580 or [email protected].
 Also, as a reminder, if you are going to ship during the Christmas holiday periods, we recommend ordering your FedEx supplies now, as FedEx will not ship any supplies approaching the holiday. For Christmas, place your supply orders no later than November 30, as FedEx will not ship any supplies approaching the holiday.
For members wanting to learn more about the FedEx holiday schedule click HERE.
For information on the Holiday Money Back Guarantee policy, click HERE.
We’ve been seeing an increase of gifts packaged with flowers in FedEx shipments, so we want to remind member shippers that FedEx requires special documentation for the shipment of alcohol. If you have any questions about the documentation required, please contact FedEx at (800) GO-FEDEX.
 Recently, Golden State Overnight added UTAH to their network, and now GSO is expanding services to MONTANA. CalFlowers members now have access to Montana but realize this is a 2-day service. Visit gso.com for a handy map tool that can show you new transit times into Montana and neighboring states from YOUR location. If you have any questions, please contact Chris Johnson anytime at [email protected] and (760) 533-5580.
 OnTrac also has a very nice “Time and Transit Map” under Zip Tools on their website. This handy map loaded from YOUR zip code really helps understand OnTrac’s overnight commitment areas. To download your map, please visit https://www.ontrac.com/servicesareas.asp
Airlines:
Check out our updated airline contact website page, a handy reference offering contact information for our California Air Cargo representatives. Members, please visit www.cafgs.org for a copy of this list.
 If you haven’t yet heard about the new CalFlowers/Alaska Airlines shipping program, this exclusive offering is available now for CalFlowers members to take advantage of. These new Priority Rates are the best we have seen in years and with the Virgin merger completed, Alaska Airlines has an extensive network servicing major popular destinations all across the U.S. However, to get linked to this exceptional program, interested members must sign up. Please contact Chris Johnson at [email protected] or (760) 533-5580 to get started.
 For members shipping into Canada, we have a brand new member carrier who has put together some aggressive shipping rates. WestJet is Canada’s second largest airline, and we are pleased to have them as one of our newest airline partners. WestJet has extensive service throughout Canada, and these new rates promise to be an excellent option and value into Canada. Look for more details soon on WestJet.
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 log in 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 October 2018, we were pleased to welcome the following new CalFlowers members:
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