More Americans, enjoying more flowers, more often...

Volume III, Issue 10 

October 2017

In This Issue ...

  1. SAF's Moran Retires
  2. Harvey Relief
  3. Petal It Forward 2017
  4. CalFlowers Attends Proflora
  5. Featured New Member of the Month
  6. Transportation Updates
  7. 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:

WF&FSA Floral Distribution Conference
October 18 - 20, 2017
Miami, FL

CaliFlora 2017
November 4 - 5, 2017
International Floral Trade Center

Carlsbad, CA


 

SAVE THE DATE: 

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


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.


 

Peter Moran – Thanks and Best Wishes

The Society of American Florists (SAF) announced that Peter Moran, chief executive officer for the past 26 years, will retire effective November 1 of this year; he served as SAF's executive vice president since 1985 before taking the top post.

Unfortunately, the cancellation of this year's SAF Annual Conference took away the opportunity to thank and pay tribute to Peter for his many contributions to SAF and the floral industry.  However, not to let this opportunity pass, Asocolflores president, Augusto Solano, asked Peter to step onto the main stage during the Proflora opening ceremony in Bogota on October 5 to permit an overflow crowd to acknowledge Peter and present him with a token of appreciation.

We would also like to congratulate Kate Penn on her appointment as Moran's successor.  Kate has been with SAF almost as long as Peter, joining SAF in 1987 as a writer and editor.  According to SAF President Martin Meskers, AAF, of Oregon Flowers, Inc. (and CalFlowers member): "Kate has spent much of her career at SAF listening to our members and translating what she hears into content as well as new initiatives that meet member needs."

Best wishes to you both!


Hurricane Harvey Relief – Rebuilding

Thanks to the generosity of many in the industry, the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund has received just over $45,000 in donations to date. However, requests for assistance have already well surpassed the donations collected.  Further contributions to the Hurricane Harvey Relef Fund will make an enormous difference to get floral businesses in southeast Texas back in operation, supplying flowers to their patrons, and hastening the pace back to some sense of “life as usual,” which of course should include flowers!

If you haven't made a donation yet, please consider doing so today.


Petal It Forward 2017

On October 11, 2017 Dramm & Echter, in partnership with the Society of American Florists (SAF), hit the streets to hand out bouquets of flowers to strangers to brighten up their week as part of the ‘Petal it Forward’ campaign. The recipients were given two bouquets and encouraged to continue spreading the love by gifting their second bouquet to someone that crossed their path that day. With the help of Fox Point Farms, San Diego Plant & Flower, Wafex USA, CalFlowers, Ernst Benary of America, Major Market Fallbrook, and others, we handed out over 4,000 flowers. We joined more than 450 florists and growers across the country to ‘Petal It Forward.’

This random-acts-of-kindness effort is in response to the release of data by SAF showing the positive emotional benefits of flowers. SAF surveyed 2,500 people throughout the U.S. and their findings illustrate the impact of flowers. The results reveal the many benefits of flowers, including their positive effects on one’s emotions. These results back up previous research studies on flowers conducted by Rutgers, Harvard, and Texas A&M. (See www.aboutflowers.com/research for more information on the university studies.)

After receiving their flowers, recipients were asked to spread the happiness by gifting the extra flower bouquet, and sharing their response on social media using #petalitforward. 

For more information on the benefits of flowers, visit www.aboutflowers.com and www.aboutflowersblog.com

Click Here for a full recap.


CalFlowers Attends Proflora

by: Michael LoBue, CEO

Proflora 2017 was held in Bogotá, Colombia on October 4 - 6. 

Of course, many CalFlowers members have attended Asocolflores' Proflora event in Colombia in years past, but this is the first formal attendance by association staff, as well as my first visit to Colombia.  I learned a great deal, but probably what those who've attended Proflora in the past already knew.  Colombia grows many varieties of commercial cut flowers, not just the big three (e.g., roses, mums, and carnations); the commercial flower farms are generally indistinguishable from flower farms I've visited in California, and the people are wonderfully hospitable (everyone I met, whether they were part of the floral industry or not).  

Read more...


Featured New Members of the Month

Delta Trak

DeltaTrak, Inc. has over 28 years of experience specializing in cold chain management, environmental monitoring, and ethylene control. They provide in-transit data loggers, ethylene absorbers, as well as temperature and humidity monitoring systems to the floral industry. Delta Trak's products offer post-harvest handling solutions to maximize freshness, quality and shelf life from the field to the store, and can be used in greenhouses, pre-coolers, cold storage facilities, transport vehicles, and retail display cases.

Air Repair Ethylene Absorbers dramatically reduce harmful levels of ethylene to help extend shelf life and maintain quality of flowers, therefore reducing shrink. Ideal for any type of transport, the FlashLink Mini PDF In-Transit Logger is a compact, single-use temperature recorder with a built in USB connector and on-board software. This plug and play logger is convenient for receivers to quickly and easily download recorded trip history without using special reading devices or installing software. PDF reports are automatically created when the logger is plugged into the USB port of a PC or tablet, and files can be saved, printed, and shared via email.

Click Here to learn more about DeltaTrak’s Floral Solutions.


United Denver Orchid Corp.

Frank and Phoenix are the owners of United Denver Orchid Corp., and they opened their nursery in 2006 and have been running their family owned company ever since. They have flowers blooming year-round in their 55,000 sq. ft. nursery that is located in Berthoud, CO. It is the largest nursery in Colorado.

Their headquarters in Taiwan has also set up a tissue culture research center to research and develop the best protocol for Phalaenopsis mericlone tissue culture.  United Denver Orchid Corp. strives to minimize the chance of mutations and eliminate virus problems.  They have more than 400 different varieties of Phalaenopsis so far. Not only do they produce high quality mericlones stably, but they also continue to research and develop more than 10 new Phalaenopsis varieties each year.

The major services provided by United Denver Orchid Corp. include:

  • Research and develop the production of virus-free healthy mericlones - in Taiwan
  • Mericlone propagation - in Taiwan
  • Small, medium, and large plants production
  • Blooming plants production
  • Cut flowers

While they serve many parts of Northern Colorado through wholesale, United Devnver Orchid Corp. wanted to be able to provide their hobbyist plants through their retail website.

Click Here to learn more about United Denver Orchid Corp.


Transportation  

  1. We wanted to remind members that FedEx has an excellent “HOLD AT LOCATION” (hold for pick-up) option that shippers can take advantage of when shipping Express.  By checking the box Hold at LOCATION, when booking, FedEx will hold your package at their nearest FedEx office that you designate.  This service can help save on Residential fees and provide secure storage to name a few.  Click here for more details.  If you have any questions or comments, please contact Chris Johnson, [email protected] for assistance.
  2.  We wanted to pass on to members some across-the-board temporary changes FedEx has in store for all shippers during the 2017 Holiday Shipping period.  From Nov 20, 2017 through Dec 24, 2017, FedEx will increase their Holiday surcharges for Express and Ground.  Please visit www.fedex.com/us/shipping-rates/surcharges-and-fees.html for all the details.
  3. Just a reminder that GSO does offer 3rd Party Billing. It just needs to be set up in advance with GSO. There are a couple of ways to do this, so we would recommend shippers contact GSO directly and let them know you want to set-up a remote (3rd party) shipper.  They can take it from there and explain how works.  If you have any questions, please contact Chris Johnson directly 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 September 2017, we were pleased to welcome the following new CalFlowers members:

Associate Floral
First Choice Floral
Dallas, TX

Pikes Peak of Dallas
Dallas, TX

Associate Grower
D.S. Cole Growers

Loudon, NH

United Denver Orchid Corp.
Berthoud, CO

 

Associate Service
Delta Trak Inc.
Pleasanton, CA

Floral
Coastal Paradise Nursery
Salinas, CA

Point West Flower Market Wholesale
Windsor, CA

Sky Flowers, Inc.
Burbank, CA

 

1500 41st Avenue, Suite 240 Capitola, CA 95010 | www.cafgs.org 

Ph. 831-479-4912 | Fax 831-479-4914