Expoflores held its 15th biennial international flower trade show, Agriflor 2014, Oct. 1-4 in Quito, Ecuador. The fair was held in the CEMEXPO Exhibition Center and was filled with beautiful flowers from the first booth to the last one. A sea of roses could be seen if you looked down any of the aisles.

On Oct. 1 there was an official opening ceremony, which included remarks from several dignitaries, and then the doors of the hall were opened and the fair began. There were over 200 exhibiting companies and more than 3,000 visitors representing some 37 countries.

Balloons have the power to put a smile on anyone’s face. They are also a profit powerhouse for retailers — a billion-dollar industry worldwide. By adding balloons to existing floral offerings, supermarkets can capitalize on this service-driven category and maximize each sale.

Balloons have a high profit margin and high impact, making them a perfect add-on item to increase the value of floral arrangements. They are even more profitable when sold as a coordinated bouquet that has a higher perceived value, which affects the price that someone is willing to pay.

MINNEAPOLIS — Koehler & Dramm’s Institute of Floristry, here, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year under the direction of Ardith Beveridge, its director and one of its instructors.

Beveridge told The Produce News that the institute is the only school in the United States that is part of a wholesale florist.

“Being located in a wholesale floral facility allows students to have experience with a much greater variety of flowers and practical experience with the dynamics of the supply chain,” Beveridge said.

We all know that balloons are an easy, low-cost way to increase add-on sales or to add value to existing products in the floral department. The initial start-up costs are relatively low, and the training needed by the floral staff to inflate and maintain balloons is minimal. Still, we often hear from our customers who are not maximizing their efforts and who ask us, “What can my store do to improve balloon sales?”

Following are a few suggestions accumulated over the last 30-plus years.

Great Day Group in Sun Valley, ID, announced in a news release the acquisition of Continental Floral Greens, headquartered in San Antonio, TX, and one of the country’s older and larger suppliers of decorative greenery, flowers and hard goods. With the completion of the acquisition, the current company will make a subtle, but significant name change to Continental Floral LLC.

ANAHEIM, CA — As the promotional arm of the largest worldwide supplier of avocados, Avocados from Mexico faces a challenge of devising programs to move a crop of fruit that eclipses 1 billion pounds annually.