Expanded grower tours and education sessions, a golf tournament on a championship course, distinguished service awards, a floral fashion show and the world’s largest display of California flowers and greenery under one roof are highlights of the biennial Fun ‘N Sun Weekend sponsored by NORCAL, the California association of flower growers and shippers. This year’s show runs July 17-20 at Fess Parker’s DoubleTree Resort only 30 steps from the beach in Santa Barbara,... Read more

More than 200 veterans or national cemeteries will have the graves of military veterans decorated with roses on Memorial Day, May 27, through the Memorial Day Flowers Program. Ramiro Peñaherrera, head of the Flowers for Kids program and a director of the new nonprofit foundation sponsoring the Memorial Day project, told The Produce News as of late April that about 170 floral retail operations had already signed up. The program began last year when 50,000 roses... Read more

Nevado Roses in Ecuador opened a new I Love Roses luxury rose shop in the new airport near Quito, Ecuador, in a ceremony on April 15. The shop in the tax-free departures area of the International Departures Hall in the newly inaugurated Mariscal Antonio Jose de Sucre International Airport will carry a variety of rose products, the company stated in a news release. In addition to fresh roses in bunches, the shop will sell preserved roses, and products made with... Read more

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved nearly $3.3 million to fund critical floral and nursery industry research projects in 2013 through the 2008 farm bill pest and disease program. This includes several projects of direct benefit to greenhouse and nursery growers, according to a news release from the Society of American Florists. One project of particular importance to the greenhouse and nursery industry, awarded the full $159,000 request, would fund... Read more

After months of intense negotiations, a bipartisan group of eight U.S. Senators announced a sweeping immigration bill April 18 that includes a guest worker visa program vital to the floral and agricultural industries. The 844-page bill is designed to secure the border, allow foreign workers into the country while requiring employers to verify their legal status, and put 11 million people here illegally on a path to citizenship. The news conference unveiling the... Read more

Independent garden center owners and managers were told by retail specialists that unless they change they probably will go out of business. “The future of many independent retail garden centers is an economic improbability,” was the glum prediction of Sid Raisch at a two-day forum Jan. 30-31 in Nashville, TN, sponsored by OFA, an association of horticultural professionals. Mr. Raisch pointed out that the average sale per customer at North American independent... Read more

An expected crowd of more than 1,200 will hear Joe Theismann, former star quarterback for the Washington Redskins pro football team, deliver the keynote address for the Southern California Expo of the Fresh Produce & Floral Council on July 17 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. A capacity crowd of more than 250 exhibitors is also expected; they would occupy all 195 exhibitor booth spaces on the show floor, said Carissa Mace, head of the council, in an interview.... Read more

Proflora, the biennial Colombian flower show, will feature exhibits, farm tours, a golf tourney, opening ceremony with the president of Colombia welcoming attendees, grower and breeder competitions, and a noted closing party. The show will be held Oct. 2-4 at the Corferias convention center in Bogotá, Columbia. This 2011 show was held in expanded quarters in a new pavilion at Conferias, where most events and all exhibits could be housed under one roof. The new... Read more

The three partners who have been chosen to negotiate a contract to build-out and manage a perishables center at O’Hare airport in Chicago met with Chicago city officials April 3 and expect to open the new facility in June or July, one of the partners, Shlomo Danieli of Blooming of Beloit, told The Produce News April 19. “We believe we could be in operation in two weeks once we have the contract and budget in place,” Mr. Danieli said, noting that a final meeting... Read more

I recently returned from an inspiring few days at the FireSky Resort & Spa in lovely Scottsdale, AZ. I took part in the Produce Marketing Association Foundation’s Women’s Fresh Perspectives Conference on April 21-23, sponsored by the PMA Foundation for Industry Talent in partnership with the Simmons College School of Management in Boston. It was the conference’s inaugural outing. A total of 176 women from across the produce and floral industry were in full... Read more

Supermarket floral execs are making big plans for Mother’s Day May 12. At Price Chopper in the Northeast, Jon Strom expects sales to grow aggressively at its Central Market Florist departments. “Some of the growth will come from cut-flower sales, including a Magnificent Mom 18-stem rose bouquet,” he told The Produce News in an interview. Mr. Strom is vice president for new business development at Price Chopper. “We continue to hold our Build a Bouquet workshops... Read more

Twelve education sessions, including a keynote address on “Leapfrogging” as an innovation strategy; a light-hearted Iron Designer contest using mystery items to create floral arrangements in a feverish race against the clock and other designers; a new products showcase including a combination flower vase and greeting card, an LED candle lantern and evergreen centerpiece, and a “Sweet Treats” combination of flowers and confections. Add an expected 2,000 attendees... Read more

The biggest floral day of all, Mother’s Day, awaits, and summer trade shows abound. The floral industry breathes a sigh of relief following the frenzy of Mother’s Day, and thoughts turn to trade shows. The IFE show in June is one of the larger supermarket floral shows of the year. It is followed by a pair of California events — the Southern California Expo of the Fresh Produce & Floral Council in Anaheim and, hard on its heels, the biennial NORCAL Sun ‘N Fun... Read more

Oren Shapiro had a booth along one of the main aisles of the World Floral Expo at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, and handled a steady stream of interested buyers at the show. Mr. Shapiro, president of Mrs. Bloom’s (Thai) Direct, pronounced himself satisfied with the foot traffic and the interest shown by buyers. “It was a great show for us,” he summarized. Robert Ilsink, a director of Interplant Roses in Holland, was not unhappy with the show,... Read more

NEW YORK — Dick van Raamsdonk was only 24 when he staged his first flower trade show, in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1985. He was calm, with nerves of steel. It was when he came to his home country of Holland to put on his second show that he got stage fright. “I was very nervous about opening a flower show in Holland, my native country,” he said at the World Floral Expo, here, almost 200 shows and three decades later. “At home, I rushed to get dressed for the opening,... Read more

NEW YORK — New products such as green orchids and spray roses 100 or more to the stem in startling new colors and double-sized blossoms were introduced at the World Floral Expo, here, March 13-15. Arie Van Vugt, president of Plainview Growers in Pompton Plains, NJ, is one of three growers in the United States licensed to use a patented Dutch infusion technology to produce brightly colored orchids. A blue orchid came out about three years ago; lavender, two years... Read more

Easter floral sales have been in a downward spiral since the recession began, but perked up in 2010 and should show further improvement this year when sales figures for March 31 are available, according to the consumer research firm Prince & Prince. Still, the 2010 rebound did not return sales to pre-recession levels, the study released Feb. 28 showed that Easter has lost one-third of its “purchasing power” since 1966. And there are warning signs that floral... Read more

Soren Kaplan, author of Leapfrogging, will be the keynote speaker at the International Floriculture Expo on June 20, according to a news release from the show organizers, Diversified Business Communications Inc. Leapfrogging received the 2013 Axiom Best Business Book Award. The annual IFE show, now on a five-year run at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, FL, will run June 18-21 (education sessions June 18-19; exhibits, June 19-21) and offer a sixth... Read more

The annual Great Lakes Floral Expo in Grand Rapids, MI, drew 500 floral professionals to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel March 1-3 for a bevy of awards, designer contests, five main stage presentations, seven hands-on workshops, nine business sessions and a tour of four area floral businesses. The Olympic-themed expo drew growers, wholesalers and florists from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. Bob Patterson, president of the Michigan Floral Association,... Read more

John H. Dane, who began work as chief executive officer at NORCAL on Aug. 6, 2012, has left the organization after about seven months. The board president of the California association of flower growers and shippers, Patricia Mullen of Mayesh Wholesale Florists in Los Angeles, told The Produce News in a phone interview March 21 that the organization would begin a search process to replace Mr. Dane. A notice about Mr. Dane’s departure was sent to board members on... Read more