ASHEVILLE – A reader questions supermarkets’ tactics for picking fresh flowers for its retail stores. Got a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Interim Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.
Question: “During our most recent cold snap I made a visit to the grocery store. I’m always impressed with the continual supply of fresh flowers that major supermarkets always have. And of course, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner where roses seem to be the flower of choice. I know that in Mills River there are a lot of greenhouses, but I don’t think the flowers in our supermarkets come from there. What are the various sources for the flowers? Do they come from inside the United States or from overseas? From the time they are cut how long does it take for them to arrive in their various Asheville locations? What kind of increased volume is there during the Valentine’s holiday?”
Answer: Like any other products on the shelves, grocery stores work with multiple suppliers to stock their floral departments. In the case of flowers, they may come from various states in the U.S. or as far as Holland or South America.
Ingles Markets, Publix Super Markets and Whole Foods Market representatives provided an overview of how and where the companies get their freshest floral assortments year-round, even in the colder seasons.
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