US (CA): 200,000 flower stems for CCFC in 2016

"As we roll into the new year, it’s important to look back and take stock of what was accomplished in 2016," CCFC CEO Kasey Cronquist writes. "One of the efforts we put forth every year that’s easily overlooked is what our farms provide to the CCFC in order to support industry events, community projects and promotion opportunities. In the office, we call these our 'procurement projects.' These are the projects that require us to reach out, organize, request and collect flowers from our farms to send to an event, project or promotional opportunity. No small task.

"Some of our contributions reflect years of tradition, like the Society of American Florists Sylvia Cup Competition or the Cal Poly Universities Rose Float. Other efforts help to encourage college students to consider floriculture as a career. In 2016, we were proud to have the opportunity to work with the Certified American Grown program and the Congressional Club to provide flowers for the last First Lady’s Luncheon for Michelle Obama."

"The contribution of these flowers really helped raise the profile of our farms and California Grown Flowers and to encourage future support for our farmers and their flowers. It also helps offset our annual promotion budget; using flowers to help us accomplish projects and provide support for events that we could not otherwise afford. It’s a win-win when all of the pieces can come together for these different opportunities throughout the year."

"This year, we had 29 farms provide over 200,000 stems of flowers for 46 different projects. The wholesale value of these flowers was almost $70,000."

Read more at Field Position