At Flora Fresh Inc., an employee-owned wholesale florist in Sacramento County, employee Mai Chang trims flower stems to fill Valentine’s Day orders. Record sales are projected for Feb. 14.
Valentine’s Day brings sales and trials for flower farms
By Caleb Hampton The stars are aligned for a good Valentine’s Day for the floral sector. With the holiday falling on a Wednesday and clear skies forecast for most regions in the U.S., flower retailers were preparing for a busy Feb. 14. “This is going to be a strong holiday,” Camron King, CEO and ambassador for Certified American Grown, an organiza- tion that advocates for U.S. cut flower farm- ers, said last week. “Because it is a midweek holiday, a lot of folks send their loved ones flowers to celebrate versus maybe going out of town for the weekend.” Two separate consumer data analyses projected record Valentine’s Day flower sales this year. They were conducted by the market research firm Prince & Prince Inc. and the data analytics platform Statista. “We’re always busy before Valentine’s Day,” said Sherry Sanbo, owner of Golden State Floral, a wholesale florist in Yolo County. Last week, employees there trimmed stems and assembled bouquets for stores across the region. The holiday typically trails only Mother’s Day in flower sales. To get all her orders filled, Sanbo said she doubled her work- force during the two weeks preceding Valentine’s Day. “Everybody is working real hard,” she said.
For California cut flower farmers, the winter holiday brought a welcome boost in demand alongside renewed frustration. For two years running, dark skies and stormy weather have impacted flower crops grown in the state for Valentine’s Day. A powerful storm that swept through Southern California last week ruined some field-grown flowers and prevented har- vest crews from picking crops meant for Valentine’s Day. “We had multiple days of rain leading into the holiday, which limited the oppor- tunities we may have had,” said Michael Mellano, CEO of Mellano & Co., which grows flowers in San Diego County and supplies wholesalers across the country. “There’s some revenue loss for us and some loss in paychecks for employees who would normally be harvesting that crop.” Greg Staby, buyer for Flora Fresh Inc., an employee-owned wholesale florist in Sacramento County, said farmers the com- pany sources from reported flooded fields and crop losses in Ventura County. “When it’s cold and wet, that doesn’t really help a lot of the stuff in fields,” he said. Fields of snapdragons, lilies, green mist and Queen Anne’s lace were flooded or damaged by wind. “Some of the products from Southern California are very difficult See FLOWERS, Page 4
February 14, 2024 Ag Alert 3
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