*FLORAL & FOLIAGE MARKETING

Focus On Care And Handling*Beyond pinching pennies, floral retailers will want to emphasize to store levelpersonnel the value of following basic care and handling procedures, bye. shaunn alderman

When financiallywatching thebottom line to preventshrink and other elements

nibbling at floral department profits, where can

retailers turn to refresh their knowledge oncare and handling? The information age is nolonger new, but the expanse of available careand handling info for retailers and consumerscan be overwhelming. Nonetheless, retailerscannot afford to ignore valuable tips andsuggestions that can save money and helpmaintain their operations' reputation foroffering quality products.

While some chains may rely on vendor-generated care material, others seekdownloadable information from the Internet

that can be published in store trainingmanuals. Bill Schodowski, national sales

development with Delaware Valley FloralGroup (DVFG) headquartered in Sewell,NJ,is a long-time industry member with years ofwisdom. Schodowski travels extensively toindustry events, trade shows and floralhappenings where he is often a speaker. Additionally, he manages to distribute a frequentnewsletter through e-mail containing helpfulinformation. Care and handling suggestions -are consistendy included and often requestedby his customers and readers.

110 PRODUCE BUSINESS • MAY 2011

In a recent Care and Handling offeringabout roses, Schodowski mentions productquality, temperature control, cleanliness,flowerfood and proper hydration. He nutshells hissuggestions here: "Buy quality. Proper C&H(care and handling) only enhances goodquality product. Good C&Hdoes nothing forinferior quality product. Refrigerate. Storeproduct at 34-37° as a rule of thumb. Cleanbuckets, tables and tools. The most beautiful

flowers are negatively affected bydirty buckets,tools, etc. Use flower food correcdy. Measurecorrecdyand usetherightproduct fordie rightuse. Change with the times. In the 1980s, theindustry advocated warm water hydration asproduct was cut super tight. Now it's coldwater hydration as most product is cut as diebreeder recommends." Schowdoski quicklygives credit to industry experts: "In truth....allof my suggestions are things borrowed fromthe true expertslikeGeorge Staby[founder ofChain of Life Network, Pioneer, CA.], TerrilNell, [of the University of Florida inGainesville, FL], GaySmith [of Chrysal USAin Miami, FL] and my friends at Floralife [inWalterboro.SC]."

Consultant's View

Ted Johnson, owner of budandbranch

enterprises, a floral consultancy based in

Media, PA, has worked in the floral industryfor more than 25 years.He's been involvedonthe supplier/importer side as wellas retail andmass market organizations.Relatedto careandhandling, Johnson offers his observations:"Where are your stores placing plants andflowers both for display and duringunloading/and potting? On store visits,I haveseen the incoming pallets of boxed flowerssitting next to the front window,baking in thesun. And what happens if they don't finish thejob? The product, now nice and warm, isreturned to the cooler for the next staffpersonor for finishing tomorrow. Ouch!" Johnsonreminds retailers, "Temperature is the No. 1variable of display and subsequent customervase life.Encourage store personnel to keepasmuch product as they can in the back coolerwhile they are cutting and hydrating in thedepartment. Sure it is an extra step, but it isessential to managing shrink. This also is thetime to review with staff their wateringschedule of outdoor products as you experience those early hot days. Even experiencedstaff members can forget they now havea fewthousand dollarsof inventoryoutside."

Johnson continues, "Review how full stores

are filling shelves and especially buckets withproduct. The temptation is to fill eachshelfandbucket full once and for all to save time and

FlORAL & FOLIAGE MARKETING

What Do Consumers Want ToKnow About Care And Handling?

As a former florist and floral industry member for more than 30 years, the UpperMarlboro, MD-based Dottie Harrigan is fanatical about promoting flowers. Self-dubbed as The Flower Godmother, Harrigan believes the common industry goalshould be to, "sell more flowers to more people for more reasons — far more often."

Harrigan asserts retailers should strongly consider care and handling whenbuilding the floral category through customer loyalty. She says consumers in theUnited States often lack knowledge and confidence about flowers because they didnot grow up in a culture where having flowers in the home is an everydayhappening. In her distributed online publication, Blooms — Living with FlowersThroughout the Year, Harrigan includes this segment: "Flower lovers always askhow to care for their cut blooms: Can I cut with clippers or do I have to use a knife?Do I really have to cut all the stems under water? Should I put my arrangement inthe refrigerator at night? If I don't have flower food, can't I just add sugar, soda,bleach, pennies ... to the vase?" Retailers have most likely heard these same questions for years, but how are they answering them?

Written with whimsy and sincerity, Harrigan continues the section with a list of12 care and handling suggestions for consumers inviting flowers into their homes.Here are two shortened examples of her "edu-taining" style:

1. Can I take your wrap? Generally speaking, the packaging and wrappings thatcomes with flowers —whether they are shipped raw in a box, picked from a marketin bouquets, or designed and from the florist — are meant only to protect theflowers while in transport. Outer wrappings can hold heat and moisture too closeto your flowers, causing decay and shortening their vase life.

2. What can I get you to drink? Generally speaking, clean clear water — if youwouldn't drink it, don't expect your flowers to — is the most important thing youcan give your flowers to make them happy and promote long life."

Harrigan encourages retailers to log on to her www.flowerlovermagic.com siteand use the care and handling information in their efforts to educate their floralcustomers. "Mywish for retailers is for them to tap the information I'm offering andput their own spin on it."

space. However, a bucket's offering filled tootighdysustainsdamageas the flowers open andtake up water. A bucket that is too full alsoallows more damage as customers lift andreturn a product to the bucket.The damagedfoliage createdwill be prone to begin to decayin the water, only further acceleratingthe deterioration of the product."

The floral department can learn merchandising techniques from the producedepartment, according to Johnson, but hewarnsstacking plantsand flowers isnot a goodpractice because it can promote shrink. Heacknowledges proper merchandising as a stepin careandhandlingand wantsstorepersonnelto think of presentation in those terms.

California PerspectiveKasey Cronquist,CEO/ambassador of the

Santa Barbara-based California Cut Flower

Commission (CCFC),says,"The first step toproper careof flowers is purchasing flowers

112 PRODUCE BUSINESS MAY 20 11

that are as fresh from the farm as possibleand that have followed proper post-harvestand cold chain delivery. California flowersare best positioned to fulfill such qualityrequirements because they do not have to siton two tarmacs prior to being trucked totheir destination."

For retailers hosting cross-merchandisingevents promoting California Grown products,the CCFC encourages them to directconsumers to the commission's Web site. "We

hold a really strong library of floral productson the site," Cronquist mentions. He saysretailers seeking quality as a first step willwant to learn seasonality. "Retailers can seewhen the varieties are growing, who thefarmers are and the origin of the floral material." Cronquist believes this type ofinformation educates retailers so they don'tjust buy flowers based solely on price."Theylearn when buying floral material from California that we are logistically able to

ccDo not ship throughdistribution centers

(DCs) that havebanana ripeningrooms because

ethylene escapes"—George Staby,Ph.D., ChainLifeNetwork

accomplish what's necessary to providequality. It starts at the farm and our growersstrictly adhere to correct post-harvest practices including keeping the cold chain." TheCCFC credits the Flower Promotion Organization of Minnetonk, MN, for providing thecare and handling information that ispublished under the Flower Loverssection onthe site.

George Staby, Ph.D., founder of Chain ofLifeNetwork and co-founder and president ofPerishablesResearchOrganization, both basedin Pioneer, CA, is officially retired, butcontinues to organizeor leadprojectswhen thefloral industry needs his assistance. His firstcare and handling suggestion for retailers is to"order by variety not just by color." Stabyexplains, "When produce managers orderapples they do not say, 'Ship me 50 boxesof redapples.'Instead, they buy byvariety. Weseldomdo that in floral, but we should." He adds, "You

can be sure when Dole and Fresh Express sellthose bagged salads, retailers know what typesof lettuce are in the mixes. In floral, retailers

generally have no clue about flower varietynames in mixed bouquets."

Relating to his first suggestion, Staby'ssecond point for retailers is to "be aware ofethylene sensitivity and which flowerspecies/varieties are ethylene sensitive." Hecould — and has — spoken for an hour on thistopic, but believes it cannot be over emphasized to retailers concerned about offeringquality floral products while managing theirbudgets.Strengthening his stanceon awarenessabout ethylene sensitivity and never afraidofcontroversy, Staby suggests, "Do not shipthrough distribution centers (DCs) that havebanana ripening rooms because ethyleneescapes." However, Staby says this practice isokay if an anti-ethylene treatment procedure(such as administering MCP or STS) is astrictly followedroutine. Retailers will find thewww.chainoflifenetwork.orgsite offers information on ediylenesensitivityand in the FloralCrop Specifics section as well as FrequentlyAsked Questions and Post-harvest andMarketing Library Database. pb