Tunnel vision anyone? Discard it, ASAP. After traveling more than 150,000 air miles in 2011, visiting trade shows and all parts of our industry here and abroad, I conclude that some sectors have bottomed out and are on the way back up. Some, however, are not. Let’s look at who is going to bask in the light in 2012 and who will still be in the dark.

The mass market

My 2011 prediction was that “the wholesale model is very alive for those that have a sound growth strategy, a willingness to adapt and partner, the proper capital to feed the business and the passion for our industry.” It appears to have been mostly correct.

I think many wholesale companies do have a sound strategy for growth, have adapted and partnered with growers and suppliers, plus have intense passion for our industry.

After having spent almost 20 years in the floral industry, the last nine of which were in supermarket floral, I now have a position in Price Chopper where I look at the entire store and all of our customers. I will point out a few trends that are happening in the entire store and how they can affect floral holiday sales in supermarkets.

The California Cut Flower Commission has come up empty-handed in its bid for $10 million in federal funds for a consolidated flower shipping facility in Central California near Oxnard. The commission had applied for a federal grant under the Department of Transportation’s stimulus program, called Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER.

The TIGER program is now in its third year and typically has drawn applications seeking 40 times the amount of funding available.

People moving into leadership roles in the industry, striking new products and innovative merchandising techniques, remedies for the economic doldrums and coverage of the major conferences and trade shows — those were among our 2011 floral headlines.

We continued to show the faces behind the flowers with profiles of industry leaders such as Joep Paternostre, we traced the history leading to the 30-year anniversary of Temkin International and told how C.H. Robinson carefully prepared to begin floral transport and logistics.

A year ago, I predicted that 2011 would bring recovery but that the flower industry would continue to see challenging times. Twelve months later, it sure looks like that is about where we are.

Looking at a few specific flowers, demand for tulips continues to increase, particularly fall tulips grown from Southern Hemisphere bulbs. The number of U.S. Iris growers continued to shrink in 2011. An increasing number of customers recognize the longer vase life of the Telstar variety.