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Transporting and distributingfresh cut flowers

The extreme perishability of

fresh cut flowers dictates that

proper care and handling of the

product be practiced during every

step of the distribution chain.

Growers, importers, shippers and

wholesalers each deal with this

task in a different but effective

manner.

by Jean Adamczak

Fresh cut flowers must

be moved as quickly aspossible from grower toconsumer to ensure a

healthy, long-lasting product. There are four main

groups of people involvedin the distribution of cut

flowers: growers, wholesalers/shippers, retailersand consumers. (See related story on page 78.)When discussing the cutflower distribution channels

as they relate to retail florists, the roles of growers,importers, shippers andwholesalers are the most

important.

Growers

Retail florists purchasefresh cut flowers from fourdifferent types of growers:local growers, growers whodouble as wholesalers,grower-shippers or foreignproducers. (See chart onpage 78.) Whether foreignor domestic, a grower'smain responsibility is toproduce healthy floral products. The major U.S. cutflower growers are based inCalifornia, Florida and Col-

MARCH1988

orado, according to the1986 FTD Flower BusinessFact Book. Based on the

U.S. Department of Agriculture's Floriculture Cropsreport, the value of domestically produced cut flowersreached nearly $364 millionin 1985, boosting cut flowerproduction into the ranks ofbig business.

No one knows better thanLaVerne Busmire what a

big business cut flowerproduction is. As vice president of production at PajaroValley Greenhouses, Wat-sonville, Calif., Busmire isresponsible for the production of more than 20 varieties of flowers, including al-stroemena, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, irisesand tulips. Pajaro Valleyannually ships more than 10million cut roses to custom

ers throughout the country.Busmire said, adding thatroses are one of the mostdifficult products to shipsuccessfully.

"You have lo keep roses

at a nice, constant, coldtemperature . " ne explained. "You can t let tn«mheat up or they n blow op©"

on you. You can't let themget too wet or soggy orthey'll develop botrytis."Busmire's solution for

keeping roses at a constanttemperature during shipping is pre-cooling themand including ice in insulated shipping boxes.Sometimes, though, hisshipping problems are notas easily remedied.

"The main problem werun into when shippingproduct is delays in gettingflowers to the customer,

usually caused by transportation problems, such asbad weather," Busmire observed. "Of course, theseare things we have no control over. If an airplane isgrounded in Los Angelesbecause of fog, there's nota darn thing we can do toget the product out."

Most of Pajaro Valley'sproduct is grown andshipped from its 1 million-square-foot greenhouse inWatsonville. Other production facilities are located inthe Southern California

towns of Nipomo and Vista.Refrigerated semi-trailerstransport most of the cutflowers to the company'swarehouses in Knoxville,Tenn., and Atlanta. Sometimes, though, it's necessary to get a shipment to acustomer as soon as pos

sible. That's when Busmireturns to Federal Express oranother overnight deliveryservice.

"Generally, the boxes areput into a refrigerated truckfor transport, but if they'regoing to be shipped FederalExpress, they are picked upat the greenhouse by Federal Express and taken to awaiting Federal Expressplane at the airport," he explained. "Federal Express

is being used a lot now fortransporting fresh flowersbecause it's guaranteed 24-hour delivery."

To get flowers from thegreenhouse in Watsonvilleto anywhere in the continental U.S. takes an aver

age of two days, Busmirenoted, less if Federal Express is used. The key factor in shipping product fromthe grower is to constantlykeep product at the propertemperature and humiditylevels and to avoid any kindof transport delays, heopined.

Importers

Bringing cut flowers thatare grown in other countries into the United States

is a controversial issueamong many retail florists.We will forego passingjudgement on this issue andconcentrate on the role im

porters play in the cutflower distribution processas it pertains to retail florists.

Importers are responsible for picking up and temporarily storing productbrought in from other countries. Because of the perishability of the product, allcut flowers are imported byairplane and stored in importers' coolers located inlarge warehouses at ornear airport facilities.

Like flower production,importing cut flowers is alsoa big business. Accordingto the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Departmentof Commerce, cut flowerswere imported from 68countries in 1985, accounting for approximately $221million in customs value.

Approximately 60 percentof all U.S. flower imports

73

i £ m he main problem we run into when

T shipping product is delays in

getting flowers to the customer, usually

caused by transportation problems, such

as bad weather."

—LaVerne Busmire, grower

originated in Colombia in1985, the Department ofCommerce said. Carnations, mini carnations,roses, pompons and al-stroemeria are some of theflowers imported from Colombia. These flowers areshipped via commercial orair freight airlines to Miami,which is the nearest U.S.port of entry for Colombianimports.

Unfortunately, cut flowers are not the only itemsbeing imported from Colombia. Every year, largequantities of contrabanddrugs like cocaine, heroinand marijuana are transported across U.S. borders.In an effort to stem drugsmuggling and enforce regulations governing the importation of products toAmerica, all shipments entering this country are inspected by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)and U.S. Customs Serviceofficials. Such inspectionscan be time-consuming andcostly to importers, saidWendy Yannis, administrator for the Association ofFloral Importers, Miami.

"Once a shipment landsin Miami, it has to gothrough two clearances,"Yannis explained. "Customs has to inspect it forany contraband and theUSDA inspects it for insects. Customs officialsrandomly select boxes fromeach pallet coming off theplane. They push longprobes through the sidesand tops of the boxes tocheck for contraband sub

stances, particularly cocaine. If the probe comesout of a box clean, that'sthe end of the [customs]inspection. If a probe findsa substance, the shipment

74

is seized, the plane isseized and it becomes quitecomplicated after that. Theshipment will not be released until a thorough investigation is completed."

The USDA also randomlyselects boxes for inspection, opening a box, takingflowers out of it and holdingthem up to the light to checkfor insects and evidence ofdisease, Yannis said. Theclearing time for bothinspections is about two

D.C.. ordered customs officials to inspect every boxcoming in and that canreally cause some delays.The average clearing process through customs isabout two hours per shipment, but when there's 100percent inspection the timeincreases to four to sixhours. Importers have beenvery flexible in these cases,adjusting their sellingschedules to accommodatethe delays."

Cut flowers are imported into the United States from all over theworld by commercial air carriers and freight airlines. This American Airlines 747 LuxuryLiner can carry up to 30,000 pounds offreight. Asystem of electric liftsand rollersis capable of loadingand unloading 14 steel igloo containers in approximately 40 minutes.

hours per plane, she said,but occasionally the government cracks down on

imports and inspects 100percent of every shipmententering the country. Thiscan spell trouble for importers waiting to get perishable product off the planesand into coolers. Such a

disciplinary measure wastaken in January.

"In that instance, thecrackdown happened to benationwide, but it also happened to us about fouryears ago." Yannis related.

Officials in Washington,

Once the inspections arecompleted, two things canhappen, Yannis said. Theflowers can be picked upand transferred to the importer's semi-trailer andtaken back to the importingfirm's coolers. Or, importbrokers will send theirtrucks over, pick up theflowers and take them back

to the broker's coolers, ifthe importer doesn't havethe proper cooling facilities.Once the product is in thecooler and it's not alreadyearmarked for delivery towholesalers, buyers will be

found and the product willbe shipped to wholesalersand retailers.

With about 40 Florida importing companies as members, Yannis said the Association of Floral Importersworks closely with customsofficials in coordinatingshipment inspections. "Wework very closely with customs officials on all of theinspections that are conducted year-round," shesaid. "We have establishedan excellent relationshipwith our federal legislatorsand we visit them in Washington, D.C., a couple oftimes a year to let themknow how we're doing andto request their assistanceif it's needed."

Keep on truckin*

The next link in the cutflower distribution chain isthe shipper who transfersthe product from importersand import brokers and distributes it nationally. One ofthe largest trucking operations catering to the floralindustry is Armellini Express Lines, Inc. At Armelli-ni's headquarters in Stuart,Fla., a 44-door terminalconstantly buzzes with activity as employes workaround-the-clock transporting approximately 100,000boxes of flowers per week,60,000 of which are imports, according to SeniorVice President William Armellini.

"We transport about 60to 70 percent of the freshcut flowers imported intothe United States from Cen

tral and South America,"Armellini said. "We also

transport a similar percentage of the domestic flowers

Continued on 76

FLORIST

Because of the perishability of the

product, all cut flowers are

imported via airplane and stored in

importers' coolers at or near airportfacilities.

Continued from 74

grown in the state of Florida." Additionally, the company ships flowers fromMichigan, Illinois, John F.Kennedy Airport in NewYork, an area stretchingfrom New Jersey to NorthCarolina, and from variousregional growers andwholesalers.

The shipments are transported in 18-wheel semitrailers controlled by teamsof two drivers who deliveraround-the-clock. Becausemany of the deliveries aremade to wholesale after-

Wholesalers receive and process large quantities of cutflowers, breaking bulk and repackaging the flowers intobunches for delivery to retailflorists.

hours, a lock-box system isused, Armelini said.

"We literallyhave a key toevery store we deliver tosince most of the deliveriesare made when the shopisn't open," he explained.

76

"We just go in the wholesale house, back the truckin, open the door, pat the[guard] dog-on the head,turn the alarm off, deliverthe flowers, sign our bill andleave."

The biggest problemshippers run into is trying tomeet schedules, Armellinisaid. "Because of the perishability of the product,everything happens veryrapidly, so we're trying toreceive all the product, getit loaded and get it to itsdestination when thewholesaler wants it," he related. "In my case, that'smy biggest problem: meeting the schedules and delivery times of wholesalers."

To facilitate meeting numerous deadlines andschedules, Armellini Express Lines operates threemajor warehouses in Florida as well as regional operations on Florida's westcoast. The company alsomaintains terminals in Chicago, New York and NewJersey, employing a total of700 people.

The wholesaler

Wholesalers comprisethe last link in the cut flowerdistribution chain, acting asmiddlemen between retailers and growers. Wholesalers purchase productoutright from growers and/or shippers, and store product for retailers.

"We break bulk," explained Nate Cooper, general manager, FlowerTransfer, Inc. (FTI), Sewell,N.J., an affiliate of Delaware Valley Wholesale Florist. "A wholesaler doesnothing to the product butcreate an orderly market

and break bulk. We buy bythe box and generally sellby the bunch.

"We will get a product inour warehouse in boxes or,depending on the product,by the bunch, and generally

HBHflHHi

"In most cases, the product stays in the box," heexplained. "Some productsneed to come out of the boximmediately. The older theproduct, the more likely it isyou'll see it jarred up [put in

Employes at a grower in the Netherlands process gerberas forshipment to retailers around the world. Growers are the first linkin a cut flower distribution chain including importers, shippers,wholesalers and retailers.

the retailer does not need afull box of each product.What they need is a couplebunches of chrysanthemums, a couple bunches ofroses, and so on. We breakbulk and give them whatthey need."

Delaware Valley and FTIoperate out of the largestone-house wholesale operation in the country, witha total of 105,000 squarefeet under one roof, Coopersaid. Every day the firm receives flowers from aroundthe world. When flowershipments arrive at thewarehouse, they're loggedin and, in most instances,put in a storage cooler,Cooper said.

water]. Most product staysin the box it was transported in until it's picked bythe picker and repacked ina similar box, this time inthe quantity and mix the retailer purchased."

Within a 65 mile radius ofthe warehouse, shippingtime is usually one to threehours and no more than 10,Cooper said. "We probablyhave the easiest time packing product," he said. "Because of our short deliverytime, we don't have to protect the product as well asthe grower or shipper does.They have to protect theproduct against the elements."

Continued on 78

FLORIST

.

6( e transport about 60 to 70percent of the fresh cut flowersW

imported into the United States from

Central and South America."

—William Armellini, shipper

Continued from 76

"Our packers are taughtright off how to pack: heavier, heartier product at thebottom; fragile product atthe top. Paper is put in theboxes to keep the producttight and snug it up. So,there's an art to packingand part of the art is gettingas much into the box as youcan without harming theproduct. We pack more toprotect the product from jiggling around during ship-

. ment.

"In the summer, the flowers are put into an unheatedbox, in the winter they'reput in a heated box,"Cooper continued. "Thereare some wholesalers thatblow insulation inside theirdelivery vehicles to protectagainst extreme heat orcold. We just ordered 23trucks equipped with temperature maintenanceequipment so you can setthe thermostat at 38 degrees F. and the truck willmaintain that temperaturein the cargo area. If It needsheat, it'll give heat; if itneeds to be cooled, it'll givecool air."

Perhaps the most important factor wholesalersmust attend to is their product's source, especiallyaround peak holiday times.

"Around holiday time, anugly word comes into play— storage,'' Cooperpointed out. "The growerwill probably back up product, the shipper will back upproduct and many times thewholesaler will end up having to store product nearholidays. Does it harm theproduct? In some cases,no; in other cases, yes. Youhave to know who you'rebuying from, you've got totrust them as to how long

78

Cut flower distribution channels

FOREIGN

PRODUCERS

LOCAL GROWER

GROWER WHOLESALERRETAIL-

WHOLESALE

SHIPPERCOMMISSION

& MERCHANT

WHOLESALER

IMPORT

BROKERS

' r

RETAIL

FLORISTMASS

MARKETER

CONSUMER

ORIGINAL SOURCE TEXT THE US FLORICULTURE INDUSTRY

the product has beenstored or in transit and gofrom there."

End of the chain

The chain of distributionfor cut flowers is complex,involving millions of workers and generating millionsof dollars in annual revenuefor those involved. Advances in transportationand packaging have helpedincrease the availability ofproduct from both foreignand domestic growers. Importers, working cooperatively with U.S. Customsofficials and USDA in

spectors, help ensure product brought into the countryis healthy and meets rigorous government standards.Wholesale florists are a vitallink in the distribution chain,trying to keep both growersand retailers happy.

Each of these groups is

responsible for carrying outa number of specific tasks,which are made more difficult by the perishability offresh cut flowers. To guar-antee healthy productreaches consumers, consistent care and handling is

an essential part of the distribution process and mustbe practiced by all involved,from grower to retailer.Consumer dissatisfactionwith a floral product reflectson and affects the entire floral industry. D

The travels and travails offresh cut flowers

Anyone who has ever suffered the slightest jet lagcan relate to the need forrest and a cool drink. Thesame is true for cut flowers,many of which are in transitfor days before reachingtheir final destinations. Because they're such a perishable product, consistentcare and handling must beobserved by those involvedin the cut flower distribution

chain: growers, whole

salers/shippers, retailersand consumers. (See related story on page 73.)

Whether foreign or domestic, a grower's functionis to produce healthy product for the market. Becausegrowers are the first link Inthe distribution chain,proper harvesting and post-harvesting techniques mustbe adhered to strictly.

Cut flowers are har-Continued on 80

FLORIST