“A huge swing in demand for temperature-controlled capacity is not something many logistics companies could tackle,” said Mike Moyski, vice president, temperature-controlled and flatbed, C.H. Robinson. “We are proud of our ability to quickly scale to meet our customers’ needs and reduce complexities that can lead to delays. With florals, the clock on freshness runs down quickly.”
The full journey of a Mother’s Day bouquet goes like this:
- Temperature-Controlled Air: Direct from the field, florals are delivered to one of C.H. Robinson’s Latin America facilities where experts are on the ground to support airfreight capacity from Latin America directly to Miami. Once picked, the flowers are immediately cooled to 34 degrees to prevent them from blooming and will remain at that temperature throughout the full journey.
- Refrigerated-Warehouse Processing: Once the florals depart Latin America, they are transported to a 50,000 sq ft. temp-controlled warehouse strategically located at the Miami International Airport. With 90 percent of all florals traveling through Miami, C.H. Robinson operates as the only freight forwarder with ramp access at MIA, allowing for swift transportation to keep floral costs down and freshness up. At the inbound processing facilities, the stems go through customs, agricultural inspection and are quickly moved to C.H. Robinson’s floral facility where they undergo labeling, air-cooling and consolidation before shipping to their final destination.
- Temperature-Controlled Surface Transportation: After packaging, the florals are loaded from tarmac to truck where C.H. Robinson leverages its relationships with over 7,500 retail customers combined with its temperature-controlled network – the largest in North America - to distribute the flowers to locations across the nation.
- Enjoy: With approximately 23 million flowers sold on Mother's Day, C.H. Robinson's end-to-end floral logistics solution ensures retailers’ shelves are stocked, helping to celebrate mothers around the world.
Jose Rossignoli, president of Robinson Fresh, a division of C.H. Robinson, said, “Last year floral sales surged to $8 billion in the U.S. - up 48 percent since 2018. As the sector continues to expand, C.H. Robinson is excited to leverage our temp-controlled air, consolidation, and surface transportation expertise and scale to support that growth and our customers’ growth.”
