When Floral Marketing in The Produce News asked me write an outlook for 2015 from a California flower grower’s perspective, I jumped at the opportunity. Kitayama Bros., located in Watsonville, CA, sees huge possibilities this year because we are Northern California farmers with close proximity and ties to the most technologically advanced and wealthy market in the world — the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area. There are so many opportunities locally and nationally. Our challenge is picking the right ones.

2013 and 2014 have been two of our best years in over two decades and 2015 should see the demand for our flowers continuing to grow. We will increase our gerbera daisy, Asiatic lily, mini calla and gardenia programs, while Oriental lilies, lisianthus and snapdragons will remain the same, with a greater focus on matching production to market demand. Of course there are challenges, namely water and labor, but handling challenges is something we accept as part of the privilege to grow flowers in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. Two of my personal goals for 2015 are:

Bring back the California carnation. This year the last American carnation grower will retire, and then there will be none. Once upon a time Kitayama Bros. was the largest carnation grower in the U.S. It is time to bring back a locally grown, open-cut California carnation.

Grow more California flower growers. Look at the label on your next clamshell of strawberries or raspberries and you will see “Product of Watsonville, CA.” All the good growers in the Pajaro and Salinas valleys have moved to berries. I can’t blame them — there was a period where it was difficult to make money on flowers. But right now, I believe good flower growers can be as profitable as good berry growers. There is a need for more flower growers because there is demand and a healthy industry requires a critical mass to support transportation, research, growing and packaging supplies and all the other support needs for good growing and selling.

This year I will be the president of CalFlowers and our main focus is to bring buyers to Fun ‘N Sun in Monterey, CA, July 29-Aug. 1. For those of you who haven’t been to California in a while, did you know California supplies the second most flowers for the United States? Give it up to Colombia, they are No. 1 by a mile, but who knew California was ahead of Ecuador? Then again, where else are you going to get the array of unique flowers and greens that excite your customers? These are not your father’s California flower growers. We survived the 1990s and early 2000s, and today’s California flower farmers are both stronger and more innovative than in years past. Come see what we’re growing. And while you are here, play a round of golf at Pebble Beach, shop in Carmel, watch a whale in Monterey Bay and drink some local wine from the Santa Lucia Highlands.

Robert Kitayama is chief executive officer and president at Kitayama Bros. in Watsonville, CA. He can be contacted at [email protected].