A major power outage hit Spain and Portugal on Monday afternoon, abruptly shutting down daily activities and creating widespread disruptions in logistics, communications, and operations. The impact on the flower businesses? Verdnatura, the largest flower wholesaler in both countries, reports that it has managed to maintain operations with minimal disruption, thanks to its generators and solar panels. However, smaller wholesalers and unprepared businesses suffered more serious disruptions. "And with Mother's Day ahead, it's not the best timing, but it would have been much worse if it had happened at the end of this week," says Paco Rico Martínez, Communication and Marketing Manager at Verdnatura.
For Verdnatura, the outage meant reorganizing their entire logistics network. "As there was no internet connection or phone line working, the lack of communication made it impossible for agencies and logistics companies to reach their drivers. Many couldn't return to their home bases," he says.
Despite the challenges, Rico confirmed that all orders left their facilities on time yesterday. Although some delays were reported today due to traffic chaos in some cities, he expects to complete all deliveries by the end of the day or tomorrow, with only minor delays.
Cooling may be another issue, but according to Rico, it mainly affected smaller wholesalers and unprepared businesses. "We avoided these pitfalls by relying on our own backup power systems, including industrial generators and a massive solar array covering more than 15,000 square meters. We've kept our facilities fully powered throughout the crisis."
And what about the growers and their greenhouses? "As far as I know, greenhouses here in Spain were largely unaffected due to built-in emergency gasoline-powered generators and the relatively short duration of the outage. Additionally, the mild southern Spanish climate helped prevent spoilage."
Although flower shipments from South America were briefly delayed, Rico expects to resolve those issues today.
According to him, it could have been much worse if it had happened at the end of the week. "Mother's Day is an important floral holiday in both Portugal and Spain. We had Sant Jordi last week, which is important mainly in Catalonia, but Mother's Day is much bigger. Luckily, there's still time to recover and fulfill all the demands."
All in all, Rico emphasizes that while the situation was disruptive, it occurred at a manageable time. "For us, it wasn't very serious overall, but we're keeping our fingers crossed," he adds with a thoughtful smile.
For more information:
Paco Rico Martinez
Verdnatura
Email: [email protected]
+34637835595
www.verdnatura.es