Are you rested and ready for the New Year? You better be, as the fresh-cut flower industry is now entering its busiest time of year – as the one-two-three punch of Valentine’s Day, International Women’s Day, and Mother’s Day is upon us. You can rest assured, the experts at our perishable shipping company are. We’ve been managing the handling and shipping needs of our vast network of fresh flower customers for more than 20 years now!
Valentine’s Day Planning Underway
For this day of lovers, which is different than most other holidays, consumers generally stick with long-stem reds, pinks, and sometimes whites – millions of them. With a roughly 24-day period from the grower to the end customer, the first round of activity leading up to Valentine’s Day on February 14 is here.
In fact, many wholesalers forward their price lists to retailers as soon as the day after Christmas. The next step, in about mid-January, is to send their supply lists to the South American flower growers, to ensure arrival starting the first few days of February. This is where Prime Fresh Handling steps in.
With the official shipping window for this first major flower-giving period of the year being Jan. 20 to about Feb. 8, Prime Fresh Handling and sister company Prime Logistics will be managing nearly 8 million kg of flower shipments each month out of both Colombia and Ecuador during the first two months of 2022. The successful handling of such an immense volume of product is a reflection of the deep dedication we have in bringing South America’s finest fresh flowers to U.S. wholesalers and retailers this time of year — and in fact to multiple customers around the world all throughout the year.
International Women’s Day
Following Valentine’s Day, our fresh flower shipping and logistics team basically has one week to recover before getting busy again. Next up is the peak period of production and distribution supporting International Women’s Day. With Ecuador serving as the primary source of flowers for this March 8 holiday each year, the efforts of our team in Quito and Amsterdam are crucial to advancing our shipping company’s winning strategies at meeting the demand of its valued customers.
In fact, the Ecuadorian flower market supplies more than 70 countries around the world with floriculture products. But when it comes to Women’s Day, Russia is the number one market.
On this day, people celebrate by delivering flowers to powerful women in their life, historically with the mimosa flower, a symbol of strength, sensibility, and sensitivity. White roses are also very popular.
Mother’s Day
And finally, it’s Mother’s Day on May 8, another hugely popular flower-giving holiday around the world. The peak period of activity preceding mum’s day is mid-April through about May 1. Accounting for one-fourth of the floral purchases made on any holiday, some call it the Super Bowl of flowers.
We call it another day at the office.
Well in excess of 20 million flowers from Colombia and Ecuador are planned to be cut, gathered, and shipped during the 2022 Valentine’s Day/Women’s Day season. We’re still assessing the anticipated volume for Mother’s Day, so as soon as we catch our collective breath, we’ll get back to you on that!
Frantically filling back-to-back freighters from nose to tail, day after day, it’s a pressure-packed experience that’s exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time. We are fortunate at Prime Fresh Handling and Prime Logistics to boast some of the best-qualified and seasoned experts in the flower industry. They work hard to keep our ground game running smoothly for our customers, year after year.
So ‘tis the season for flowers, flowers, and more flowers. Prime Fresh Handling and Prime Logistics are at your service and we wish you all the best.
