Now that the petals of valentines have wilted and everyone has caught their breath, it’s time to see what really happened.
Every grower, importer, wholesaler, bouquet maker and florist have their own unique stories to tell but based on some feedback I received the Holiday was “Ok” to “Good”.
One importer put it this way:
“Overall it was a good holiday. We had very few transportation challenges so for the most part we were able to fill all of our pre-books on the desired dates. As has been the custom over the last 5 years there was very little open market activity which makes it that much more important to presell as much as possible prior to the holiday.”
Another said:
“Fidget cold weather, big snow storm in Northwest, Government shut down, Trade war with China, Trump’s unpredictably is playing into consumer psyche, people are not spending money on non-life survival stuff. Then, we have excess production from big rose farms in Ecuador, they hold prices high, rotate products for many days, then try to sell to wholesalers cheap.”
One California Grower said:
“We are hearing mixed reports, some good some bad but nothing spectacular. We had a good holiday meaning we are on budget. The heavy rains in California affected last minute business.”
A Northeast wholesaler said:
“Holiday was showing great promise but slowed down in the last three days. Classify as a little disappointing with a lot of product in the marketplace at the end with a fight to sell the roses”
A poll I an running here on Flowersandcents.com indicated that results were consistent with most saying Ok to Good. Please vote in the poll! (Vote Here).
Overall here in Miami it is estimated that overall volume was down 5-10%.
As we have discussed more flowers traveled via sea container than ever. An estimated 200 left South American bound for the East coast and around 60 direct to Los Angeles.
What’s next?
World Floral Expo in Dallas. Flowersandcents.com will be attending this show and hope to see you there. Then!
Flowersandcents.com and HPP exhibitions are once again preparing to host a few qualified floral buyers for the IFTEX show in Nairobi Kenya on June 5,6,7, 2019. If you are interested in attending we offer a very attractive tour package. Please contact me if you are interested.
Williee@flowersandcents.com
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