Yesterday, another episode of Mornings with Mayesh was organized and it was the first episode with flower growers. Chad Nelson of Eufloria Flowers and Martin Meskers of Oregon Flowers joined Patrick Dahlson and Yvonne Ashton of Mayesh to discuss the changes happening in our floral industry
Oregon Flower is based in Aurora and mainly grows bulb flowers, 52 weeks a year. Their slogan is "Flowers grown with a Dutch touch" as he and his wife are originally from the Netherlands. 40 years ago, they moved to the US and started Oregon Flowers in 1985. It is a real family business as the kids are going to join the business.
Eufloria is based in Nipomo, California. They started in 1984 with mini carnations and shifted to growing all kind of roses (162 varieties) in 1994 which they supply throughout the US.
In the live chat, which has been posted in Mayes Blog and on Youtube, they answer the questions of the participants who joined the blog. Below the replay and see this link for all the questions asked.
A lot was discussed in this almost 1 hour video, but below a short overview.
Sales plummeted
Eufloria decided (on March 18) to close the operations and focus on maintaining the plants and propagating the ones they know that are gonna be strong sellers when they get through this. Their sales were down by 90 percent, but are starting to picking up a little. they are able to sell a bit to farmers markets.
At Oregon Flowers, however, they made the decision to continue. "It's risky, because we've put everything on the line. We need to keep things moving - keep planting, taking care of the plants, selling them and if not compositing it. It is hard, but we have to." They sell most of their flowers to wholesale florists and and most of them are closed. "The one positive thing is that we can sell more and more to specialty grocery stores." We have some sales but nothing near to what we used to have." Things are a bit better as they were - sales were 90 percent down in the beginning and now Martin estimates it is still around 70 or 80 percent down.
Getting them to the customer - challenge
And even if the demand is there and if the customers are open, it is still a challenge to get your product there, Chad and Martin point out. "The airlines we use are also slowing down or cutting out flights", Martin says.
Mayes offers shipping solution
Last Sunday, Mayesh opened their LAX shipping department with a varied but limited menu of California Flowers, most shown in this video below.
"We will also have a very limited staff. We will ship orders via FedEx and GSO; a ground carrier servicing California, Arizona, and Nevada. We will also offer curbside pick-up at the LAX location", Patrick said in the announcement.
"We recognize that demand may be minimal. But by offering curbside pick-up and shipping, we can support those customers who can still deliver flowers, our growers, and the idea that flowers matter. Conducting business in this manner will minimize person-to-person contact and keep us compliant with current regulations."
Opportunities when getting out of this
Patrick, Chad and Martin all believe that there will be tons of opportunities when they get through this. At Eufloria, for example they are propagating the varieties of which they expect good sales. "We're all in this together, all fighting the same battle", they say. When it ends, they don't know when, but they're sure there will be opportunities waiting for them.
Sending the best products
Of course, when there is an opportunity to sell, they grab it with both hands. In response to a question of one of the participants, regarding if wholesaler quality flowers are now being sold at the supermarket Martin says that he will sell the best flowers to everyone right now as they are happy with any sales.
Reset
They are also all thinking there is going to be a reset. All are (and have to be) optimists and hope for some government financial support. When looking at production, logistics all the way to the consumer, they expect there is going to be a reset in many different ways. It is gonna be a different world.
Click here for the video and all the questions and register for the next episode.