WF&FSA netWORK, 1-8-08 Issue

WF&FSA's Free Electronic Newsletter

1-8-08


Direct2florist.com and WF&FSA Join Forces to Support
Traditional Retail Florists
The profitability of traditional retail florists has been decimated by an over abundance of discounted orders and an increasing number of consumers going to the internet to purchase flowers.

Wholesalers, through WF&FSA, are taking action and investing in a program to help retail florists receive orders that are not discounted and to make them competitive on the Internet. The retail florist remains the key customer base for wholesale florists in the United States and Canada.

What is Direct2florist.com?

• Internet Order Generator - Consumers worldwide place orders directly with a traditional local florist.
• Instant E-Commerce Any florist can be up and running in minutes.
• 100% Value on Every Order - Orders are not discounted.
• 100% Control - Each florist uploads their own products, sets their own prices and selects their own delivery area.

Founded by former British florist John Stirling and his son Simon, Direct2florist.com has been operating successfully for nearly a year. WF&FSA will manage the program in the United States and Canada.

"WF&FSA sees Direct2florist.com as an opportunity to help traditional retail florists," said Dave Garcia, WF&FSA President and President of the Pete Garcia Company in Atlanta, GA. "The fate of floral wholesalers is closely tied to that of the traditional retail florist. Direct2florist.com will have an impact on the profitability of retail florists. The risk to the retail florist is minimal and the potential gain is tremendous."

Direct2florist.com does not replace what florists are already doing. It is designed to supplement and enhance their current marketing efforts.

Consumer promotion will be industry guided.

Consumers will pay a nominal transaction fee with each order. The money from the transaction fees will run the operation and will be plowed into consumer promotion. The consumer promotion will be designed to drive more consumers to the site and to traditional local florists.

Cost to the retail florist is minimal. There is an annual membership fee. The introductory offer is $200 a year which is less than $17 a month. The 12 month membership does not start until the florist receives their first order.

Signing up is easy and straightforward. Florists can have their page up and running in minutes. Only traditional florists will be allowed to participate.

Learn more and play an active role in bringing Direct2florist.com to your customers by attending the WF&FSA Convention & Floral Expo, March 5-7, 2008, Tampa, FL.

Want to see how the program is working in England? Click here and enter "Bolton" to search.

Direct your questions and comments about Direct2florist.com to Jim Wanko at jwanko@wffsa.org

Action Steps for Wholesalers in Support of Direct2florist.com

1. Educate yourself about D2F.
   
2. Educate your sales people about D2F.
3. Introduce the opinion leaders among your customers to D2F. Meet with them individually or bring them in as a small group.
4. Distribute printed material provided by WF&FSA.
5. Put D2F stickers provided by WF&FSA on your trucks and vans.
6. Put up D2F window stickers and banners in your wholesale house.
7. Put D2F stickers on your boxes.
8. Link to D2F from your website. If you do nothing else, do this.

Add a Flower Gallery to Your Website
WF&FSA has created a Flower Gallery and a year long subscription for 2008 costs just $300.

The Flower Gallery is:

• Generic and non-competitive.
• Effortless - automatically updated monthly.
• Unique - flower photos and information are provided by breeders worldwide.
• Features over 2,200 varieties currently on the site. New varieties are added monthly.
• Flowers can be searched by flower type, color, or variety name.

You can personalize the Flower Gallery with your company name and logo for an additional $100. In most cases we get you up and running in less than 48 hours!

Hook up today! Contact Ken Hess at khess@wffsa.org or call 888-289-3372.

WF&FSA Thanks Recent President's Club Contributors
WF&FSA like to recognize the most recent contributors to the President's Club, which supports the Wholesale Marketing Campaign. Denver Wholesale Florists and Carbone Floral Distributors each made Platinum Level ($1,000 +) contributions. Other recent contributors include Georgia State Floral Distributors, Resendiz Brothers Protea Growers and Associated Wholesale Florist.

All President's Club members receive recognition at WF&FSA events and a mention on the WF&FSA website. In addition, Platinum Level contributors will have their logo and link placed on the WF&FSA website. To make your contribution today, AWSLinkToForm[17,5]

AFIF Seeks Changes in Flower Clearing Process
Concerns regarding delays in the agriculture inspections of flowers are a main focus for the Association of Floral Importers of Florida (AFIF), according to Christine Boldt, AFIF Executive Vice President. AFIF wrote a letter to the Border Patrol & Customs Service (CBP) in Washington D.C. to express concern about the delays in getting flowers cleared though Miami.

"The Deputy Assistant Commission from the Office of Field Operations flew to Miami in December 2007 to meet with AFIF," said Boldt. "The Deputy Assistant also visited flower clearing facilities to view the process, ask questions, offer suggestions and make recommendations for change. He was able to see first hand the problems and inefficiencies."

The outcome of these meetings was the creation of a joint task force including CBP, USDA, AFIF, airlines, etc., to re-evaluate and streamline the flower clearing process. The Deputy Assistant Commissioner assured AFIF that the technology aspect of the process was going to be his personal project. The Director of Trade Operations for Miami said that he was very unhappy with the processes that currently exist and is looking forward to working with AFIF to make the appropriate changes.

AFIF is committed to working for its members to ensure the free flow of imported flowers into the U.S.

Ecuador Hikes Private Sector Wages by 17.6%
Ecuador decided to hike the minimum salary for private sector workers by 17.6 % starting January 1, 2008. The increase, which will set the minimum wage at $200 per month, is one of the largest since Ecuador adopted the U.S. dollar as its national currency in 2000. The government made the decision after business owners and workers failed to reach an agreement. Ecuador expects to register inflation between 2.7 and 3.2 percent in 2008.

Violence Disrupting Flower Exports to the European Market
Rioting in parts of Kenya is restricting flower supplies to key markets in Europe, including the Dutch auctions.

A spokeswoman at FloraHolland, the leading Dutch auction house, told the Business Daily that between 5-10 per cent of its normal supplies from Kenya were not reaching the airport. She added that so far, "it is not an enormous impact on the auction" but that buyers would be keeping a close eye on the situation in coming weeks.

Tulips by Sea from Holland
An estimated 9% of the tulips exported from the Netherlands to the USA is by sea freight . Maersk Line (ML) spoke to FloraCulture International (FCI) about their interpretation of the logistical opportunities for this export product.

Internet Flower Sales Growth Maybe Limited
Bill Strauss, chief executive of Liberty Media's Provide Commerce unit, the parent company of ProFlowers.com, said, "We're not seeing the growth we saw years ago, but we're not shrinking. One reason for the category's comparatively slow growth is that florists were among the earliest online merchants, and high growth figures are impossible to sustain beyond a few years. And although flower sales are generally immune to macroeconomic conditions." He also commented that non-floral gifts could be suppressing flower sales. "Maybe in these tough times with the economy, people are looking for things that may be a little more utilitarian," Mr. Strauss said.

Michael Burgess, a company vice president, said that Teleflora, which operates a network of websites for independent florists, saw sales increase, but the overall growth obscured some important details. According to the New York Times , he said sales for less expensive items increased significantly, while sales for items ranging from $60 to $100 have dropped.

Some Tenants of San Francisco Flower Mart Being Evicted
About 30 tenants at the San Francisco Flower Mart are being evicted as part of a plan by Academy of Art University to buy a section of the San Francisco Flower Mart and convert it into sculpture studio space.

The San Francisco Flower Mart is a partnership owned by both the California Flower Market, Inc. and the San Francisco Flower Growers Association, Inc. Only the San Francisco Flower Growers Association property is under contract to the Academy of Art University.

The notice from the property owners, dated Christmas Eve, asked the floral businesses to vacate their stalls and shops by Feb. 29 instead of the previous deadline of April 30.

Carlsbad to Keep its Floral Trade Center Through March 2009
The San Diego International Floral Trade Center, the region's only wholesale floral trade center, is expected to stay put at least until spring 2009. The building's landlords have delayed their plans to replace the center with an office building complex, and they are in the process of renewing the leases for 35 floral business tenants.

Green Glo Products Announces Agreement with Crowning Glory
Green Glo Products announces it is now the distributor of Crowning Glory. Distribution is exclusively through wholesale florists. All products are represented by the Pete Garcia Company, Atlanta, GA.

Dole Florverde Certified
Dole Fresh Flowers has received the Florverde Certification at its farm operations in Colombia. The Florverde Certification represents that its certified members grow their flowers in compliance with environmental, social, labor and occupational health and safety standards. In order to receive the Florverde certification, participating farms must comply with all compulsory standards and codes of conduct, including operational and social guidelines. Certification is verified by an independent third party, SGS, an international audit company based in Switzerland.

Tech Tip from William Armellini, Greenleaf Sourcing
Ever lose a document that you know you have some where in your computer? Well I did that and it was an important, not easily duplicated document so I was determined to find it.

Since I knew I had created a word document, I went to the most obvious place. I opened Word and selected "file" before anything. Normally the last three items you accessed or created are listed there. This normally is a great way to get right to it. But it was not there. I assumed I had not saved it but still hoped I had.

My next option was to use the search feature from the Start menu. This works great if you remember what you named the file. However if you are not even sure you saved it remembering the name is unlikely.

I discovered something I had never noticed before - the date range in the search function. The "when it was modified" option was the perfect solution since I did know when I created it. I entered my date ranges and voil, the file was found. I guess the moral of this tech tip is to read the options presented.