ASCFG conference proves to be a fount of valuable information
I returned home to my farm in California following an exhilarating three days of learning, furious note-taking, networking and information sharing at the annual Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers conference Oct. 19-22 in Wilmington, DE. This year’s event drew over 300 participants including growers, florists, designers and educators and I know I’m not alone when I say that the knowledge and insight I’ve gained about how to be a successful flower farmer and grow my business are proving to be invaluable.
TPIE Jan. 21-23 in Fort Lauderdale
The Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition takes place Jan. 21-23 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Under the banner, “Inspire. Innovate. Create.” TPIE always jumpstarts the new year with one of the bigger business venues in the plant industry and 2015 will be no exception as TPIE offers opportunities to inspire new thinking, innovate with new products and create new partnerships.
Christmas and Hanukkah floral facts; last-minute sales and marketing tips
What is the No. 1 floral-buying holiday, based on consumer purchases of fresh flowers and plants for holidays at all outlets? Most people assume it’s either Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day but it’s actually Christmas/Hanukkah, according to data collected by Synovate eNation’s national online poll, IPSOS-Insight Floral Trends Consumer Tracking Study and Paul Ecke Ranch.
‘Tis the season — of preparing
Even though we celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas this month, the countdown has begun for another critical floral holiday — it’s only 75 days until Valentine’s Day. Are you preparing?
Abate Fetel pears feted at New York gastronomic event
The legendary pear of Italy's Emilia-Romagna region was the star of a tasting event for produce professionals that took place Nov. 13 at Eataly NYC in New York.
Labor strife threatens West Coast ports
With tense negotiations continuing between dockworkers and West Coast ports, drivers from a handful of Southern California drayage companies set up picket lines at those firms causing some disruptions at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Pretty Lady and Pink Lady get together for holiday party recipe
What happens when two great things get together? Something extraordinary — and in this case, also delicious.
Pretty Lady grapes and Pink Lady apples are partnering in a special seasonal promotion featuring a new holiday recipe.
Retail View: Bins offer merchandising opportunities
When Sunkist’s director of retail merchandising, Julie DeWolf, came from a consumer product group company to the nation’s largest citrus marketer, she was surprised that retail display bins weren’t in the firm’s marketing arsenal.
On the consumer products side, it was a well-developed and well-used strategy. “They offer an excellent opportunity to get a display in a secondary location,” she said.
Family focus and atmosphere is at the heart of Atlanta-based Nickey Gregory Co. corporate culture
Nickey Gregory is a Georgia Bulldog, through and through. Make no mistake about it — he bleeds red and black. But he’d never let state rivalries get in the way of good business. That’s why when he saw a chance to get into the Miami market in 2011, roughly a decade after he founded the Nickey Gregory Co. on the Atlanta State Farmers Market, he jumped at it.
Murakami touts size, quality of its 2014 Spanish Sweets
Drawing on generations of experience farming and shipping onions in Idaho-Eastern Oregon’s Treasure Valley, Murakami Produce is providing the marketplace with both excellent size and quality in Spanish Sweets this year.
Murakami Produce General Manager Grant Kitamura said in early November that although the region had seen challenges during the growing season, “the onions came in in good shape, and we do have excellent size and quality as well as manageable supplies. We always have big onions, and this year we have a full range of sizes from mediums up to super colossals.”