Floral parties should reach across the aisle
Floral parties should reach across the aisle
While the state of the world this summer seems to be — as usual — one of volatility, and the 2016 presidential race begins to ramp up, where does the floral industry stand? What is the political climate within the industry?
This romantic arrangement in a pastel color palette features roses, tulips, lilacs, grape hyacinth, bouvardia, stock and plumosa. (Photo courtesy of the Society of American Florists)Though there is still strong competition between domestic and international flower growers to promote the advantages of their products in the marketplace, the rhetoric seems to have softened noticeably. Guest writer Dean Rule offers some wise advice in his article on the current state of the floral industry when he asserts, “It is time for us to concentrate on building the market and not fighting within the industry.” Amen.
In this Floral Marketing issue, Kasey Cronquist reflects on the one-year anniversary of the Certified American Grown program; Debra Prinzing writes about locally grown flowers and the partnership between Seattle-area growers and Northwest grocery chains; Jose Azout describes the growing of garden roses in South America; and we have a story about a project to ship Ethiopian roses to North America overnight in a well-coordinated transportation program.
And speaking of roses, this edition features our second annual focus on roses and we have articles by experts in various sectors of the industry, including a supermarket floral director, floral merchandisers, growers, a designer and a scientist. In addition, we preview and recap various flower shows and conventions, and cover other relevant industry news.
See you next month when we’ll feature floral hardgoods.
