Headlines

Labor Crisis Is Front and Center

Months after failing to pass comprehensive immigration reform, Capitol Hill lawmakers are revisiting the issue, hoping to pass narrower, more focused legislation such as AgJOBS. The AgJOBS bill (supported by SAF) provides a mechanism for agricultural workers to earn citizenship and also overhauls the broken H-2A guest-worker program.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has promised he will schedule time for a vote on AgJOBS this fall, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has become a vocal champion of the bill, according to Jeanne Ramsay, SAF’s senior director of government relations. In addition, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-7-Minn.), has said he will hold hearings on the bill this fall.

The labor crisis in agriculture has made it into the mainstream media almost every day, and “both lawmakers and the public are seeing first hand there isn’t enough native-born labor to do seasonal agricultural work,” Ramsay says. A New York Times article recently reported that some growers have begun to grow crops in Mexico, as labor there comes without the threat of immigration problems. In July, Sen. Feinstein displayed a map on the Senate floor showing more than 46,000 acres that American growers are cultivating in the Mexican states of Guanajuato and Baja California, states the Times. View a slide show on the challenges of one California farmer.

Jim Lehrer’s Online NewsHour also recently featured a report on Colorado growers’ struggle with the worsening labor situation.

SAF sent out an Action Alert last week asking members to write their members of Congress and encourage them to support the AgJOBS legislation.

“One reason the Senate failed to pass immigration reform earlier this year was because opponents overwhelmed Senate offices with e-mails and faxes,” Ramsay says. “Those same opponents are now focusing their attention on AgJOBS.”

Ramsay says SAF will send several Action Alerts during the upcoming weeks. “We strongly encourage you to contact your senators and representatives — even if you have already done so.”

For more information, contact Jeanne Ramsay at jramsay@safnow.org; (800) 336-4743.

Esmeralda Opens Live Market to Retailers Online

Esmeralda Farms, Inc., is now offering retailers a chance to view and purchase their products, without cutting the wholesaler out of the chain.

The Miami-based distributor recently beta tested an online ordering feature, Esmeralda Direct, where retailers can see and buy from Esmeralda’s live, open-market inventory — but at prices listed by their wholesalers. The product is shipped in refrigerated trucks to the wholesaler, who delivers it to the retailer, says Mark Dubner, sales manager for Esmeralda, which grows all of its flowers on its own farms, in Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Peru.

After setting up an account through their wholesaler, retailers can order direct from Esmeralda’s live inventory. Wholesalers then bill the retailers.

“Wholesalers are in charge of all the logistics, all the billing and all the account maintenance,” Dubner says.

Mike Hurley, president of Oklahoma Flower Market, a wholesaler in Oklahoma City and a customer of Esmeralda, says even though the online feature is still in its infancy, he expects more customers to use it. The Oklahoma Flower Market is informing its retail customers about it through direct-mail and telemarketing efforts.

“The customers really like it. It’s easy to navigate and it’s delivered through the cold-chain and that’s important,” Hurley says.

The new online-buying system was beta tested in selected markets at the beginning of August 2007 and will be rolled out to retailers nationwide this month. So far, according to Dubner, more than 400 retailers have signed up for accounts and approximately 50 have already made purchases.

“Wholesalers like it because it reduces risk,” Dubner says, because everything shipped to the wholesalers has already been purchased. “Retailers like it because they can see everything that we have available.”

 
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Web Site Paints Retail Florists in Negative Light

Cutting out the retailer is the goal of the recently launched Web site, Wholesale-Wedding-Flowers.com. This site claims to provide a wide array of flowers that are shipped directly from the importer to brides-to-be, so they can create their own “perfect” wedding arrangements.

SAF sent a letter to Wholesale-Wedding-Flowers.com on Sept. 10 responding to a series of negative floral references on the Web site.

The site features a variety of links supporting the company’s “direct to you” case, such as “Fresher Than Your Florist,” and “Straight From the Source.” Wholesale-Wedding-Flowers.com alleges its flowers are better because they “will be strikingly fresher than those you can purchase at any local florist” and that, unlike retail florists' products, their flowers haven’t been exposed to “harmful chemicals, rays of sun and car fumes ... left to sit in dirty water.”

SAF states in its letter: “These claims are unjustified and run a serious risk of giving customers an overall negative impression of flowers, regardless of where they are purchased ... SAF requests that you eliminate all references to florists, and promote your products and services on their own merits.”

Ironically enough, one piece of advice in a wedding checklist seems to contradict the site’s overall theme. Under the “6-12 Months Before the Wedding” section, brides are advised to book a florist, with no mention of do it yourself flowers.

SAF is the industry’s “watchdog” for negative references to flowers. Spot a negative ad? E-mail jstromann@safnow.org, or fax print ads to (703) 836-8705.

 
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Newsmakers

SAF/FPO Study Puts S.C. Residents in a Good Mood

Myrtle Beach residents in need of an emotional lift may be infusing their home with flowers, as a result of a recent article, “Style flowers to elevate spirits” published in the Myrtle Beach Sun-News.

The article is featured at the top of the Sept. 15 Sun News' Home & Garden section and cites the Home Ecology of Flowers Study, commissioned by the Society of American Florists and Flower Promotion Organization: “According to a Harvard Medical School study, people are more compassionate toward each other, there’s less worry and anxiety, and homeowners feel more energetic and happier when fresh flowers are displayed in the house. … It further showed participants placed bouquets in kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms, where they spent the most time, with many reporting they liked seeing them when they first rise in the morning.”
 
The study information prefaced floral design tips from Scott Johnson, a floral designer at Community Florist, who says he had sent a press release about him being named the 2007 S.C. Designer of the Year by the South Carolina Florists Association. The newspaper also features Johnson in the sidebar, “6 vases, 6 ways,” and in an online video called “Step-by-step instructions on arranging a floral vase.”

“Of course we’re thrilled for the coverage of the Harvard research,” says Jennifer Sparks, SAF’s vice president of marketing. “But this is also a great example of a smart shop generating positive publicity. Send news releases to local media outlets and even to garden clubs and civics groups to tout your shop’s good news as well as the benefits of flowers. Smart public relations will keep your shop top-of-mind when people think about flowers.”

SAF members can access a library of customizable press releases, including one on the Home Ecology of Flowers Study.

The Home Ecology of Flowers program is a result of the SAF/FPO Alliance. The program was launched in October 2006 and continues to garner valuable media coverage with total consumer impressions of nearly 157 million to date, including articles in nine national magazines such as Redbook, Family Circle, AARP Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping and Prevention. To keep the momentum going, in October, the SAF/FPO Alliance will release the Home Ecology of Flowers II program, focusing on the part of the study that showed people want to see flowers first thing in the morning to boost moods. This PR campaign targets the print media nationwide and features tips on using flowers to brighten the kitchen.

 
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Gerbera Gets Dressed Up

One of Terra Nigra's new blooms.

A new variety of gerbera puts the stem, not the bloom, at center stage. Twelve years in the works, Gerfolia® makes its debut next month at breeder Terra Nigra's facilities in Kedelstaart, The Netherlands.

The bloom looks like a standard gerbera, but it has foliage attached to the stems.

"We look at all kinds of things in our breeding program," says Christa Boerlage of breeder Terra Nigra, which also introduced the miniature gerbera, Germini®, and the full-petaled Gerrondo®. She points out that, while the sleek stem of the gerbera is its signature trait, the original gerberas had foliage. "So we're actually taking it back a step, closer to nature."

"I love it!" says Tina Stoecker, AIFD, PFCI, of Designs of the Times Florist in Melbourne, Fla., who saw a photo of Gerfolia®. "Mainly because it has a more organic feel to it, as opposed to the sleek contemporary look of regular gerbera." Stoecker says she suspects the addition of foliage to the already striking flower "can only add to its perceived value."

Limited testing indicates that vase life, stem length and production in the greenhouse are comparable to standard gerberas. "We'll internationally test the product with a few growers to get more result and feedback," Boerlage says. Plants will be sold in limited quantities early next year, she adds, so buyers will see the product on the market in the fall of 2008.

--Kate F. Penn
kpenn@safnow.org

 
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Life at Work

Study Shows Workers’ Loyalty Decreasing

More than one-third of full-time and part-time U.S. workers aren’t committed to their organization and are likely to leave their jobs within two years, a new study shows.

Nearly 36 percent of 3,000 workers surveyed at organizations with at least 50 workers are considered “high-risk” employees, according to the Walker Loyalty Report for the Workplace, as reported by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

The report identified four types of workers — truly loyal, accessible, trapped and high-risk, and found that high-risk employees are at an all-time high, while truly loyal workers remained about the same as in 2005, at 34 percent.

Chris Woolard, senior consultant for Walker Information, told SHRM that employers should be concerned with the results, noting that loyalty affects employee behavior and workplace results.

“Employers are faced with a situation where the number of employees causing a negative drain on the organization outweighs those who are working to positively support it,” Woolard says.

Woolard points out that there are a number of factors that can combat this problem: provide training and advancement opportunities, treat employees fairly and include them in on bigger-picture, strategic discussions.

Need tips on motivating employees? Check out “Light Employees’ Fires” and “Won’t You Stay?” previously published in Floral Management.

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Trends and Tips

1-800-Flowers “Gives Love” to Facebook Users

Yet another sign of the ever-expanding role of online social networking in marketing: 1-800-Flowers.com is letting Facebook users garner loyalty points for sending virtual flowers to their friends.

1-800-Flowers recently partnered with Loyalty Lab, a company that develops loyalty programs, to create a Facebook application, called “Gimme Love,” that enables the retailer to reward members of its Fresh Rewards loyalty program for referring their friends. Facebook members who aren’t members of the loyalty program become one by adding the “Gimme Love” application — and can send virtual flowers to any friends, who then add the Gimme Love application, which automatically makes them a Fresh Rewards member. The more friends you refer to the Gimme Love application, the more Fresh Rewards points you receive.

The two companies are also developing a way for the user to purchase real versions of the virtual flowers to earn more points or discounts on purchases.

This is not the first time 1-800-Flowers has ventured into the “virtual world” of gift giving. In July 1-800-Flowers announced it had opened up a virtual greenhouse in Second Life, an online, three-dimensional community.

“We want our brand to be where our customers are, which is why we were the first floral brand on Second Life and why we’re the first multi-channel specialty retailer to link our loyalty program to Facebook,” Monica Woo, president, consumer floral brand, 1-800-Flowers, said in a press release.

Flowers Take to the New York City Streets

One of New York's crafty cabs.

New York City recently unveiled a sea of flowers, in the form of colorfully hand-painted and weatherproofed adhesives, which permeate throughout the city via taxi cabs.

Throughout the fall the yellow taxi cabs will feature the colorful flower art on their trunk, hood, and rooftop, created by physically disabled and seriously ill children. It’s part of a public arts project sponsored by the New York City government and a nonprofit group called Portraits of Hope.

Why flowers? According to the Web site, the program’s aim is to brighten the lives of children and adults, and  “the flower is the universal icon of joy, life, beauty, hope, inspiration and healing — the heart of the Portraits of Hope message.”

This display isn’t a first for the Portraits of Hope’s flower art project. Children’s flower artwork has appeared everywhere from on planes and blimps to boats and NASCAR racecars, to name a few.

Mark Your Calendars

What's Coming Up ...

• SAF's Congressional Action Days: Feb. 25-26, 2008, in Washington, D.C. 
• SAF's Pest Management Conference: Feb. 28-March 1, 2008, in Atlanta.

Regular Features

Product Spotlight: The Changing Floriculture Industry: A Statistical Overview, Fourth Edition

SAF makes it easy to stay on top of the most current industry trends and information with The Changing Floriculture Industry: A Statistical Overview (fourth edition). This updated and expanded version tracks industry sales, production levels and trends for each segment of the industry. It contains more than 60 information-packed pages filled with charts, maps and tables — twice the data of the previous edition — plus a new chapter on the floral consumer.

A research firm would charge you thousands of dollars for a statistical overview of the floral industry with this level of detail, but SAF members pay only $49.95. For $19.95, members can also purchase a CD-ROM containing "PowerPoint-ready" images of all the report's charts and graphs. Call SAF Member Services at (800) 336-4743 if you have questions or if you would like to purchase this powerful new tool. Non-members, please call for pricing. Access the executive summary.

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org

 
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Correction

In the Aug. 29 issue of SAF’s Wednesday E-Brief, we reported that Arlene Sorensen, AAF, retired president of Lincoln Wholesale, was the only female to ever serve as president of WF&FSA. In fact, while Sorensen was the first female to serve as president from 2000-2001, Wanda Weder, AAF, of Highland Supply Corp., in Highland, Ill.,  served as president of WF&FSA from 2005-2006.

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Bloggers in Minority Among Florists

Almost 78 percent of readers responding to the previous week's e-poll say they do not have a blog. Twenty-two percent say they do.

--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org

 
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Indoor Displays Dominate Halloween

About three quarters (73 percent) of retail florists used indoor signage, posters or displays to market Halloween merchandise to their customers last year. Three other marketing vehicles were used by at least a third of responding florists: Web site promotions (38 percent), statement stuffers or mailers (36 percent), and outdoor signage (36 percent). The least used technique was direct mail, used by only one in ten florists. Almost half the shops reported promoting the holiday to their customers, while just over a third offered Halloween specials.

Marketing Vehicles Used To Promote Halloween Sales

Source: SAF Halloween Online Survey of Retail Florists. Based on 380 responses (9.9 response rate), 2006.

--Ira Silvergleit
isilvergleit@safnow.org

 
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