The recent freeze in Colombia has caused uncertainty in the market place for
Valentine’s Day, and will likely have an impact on the supply of flowers from
Colombia in the short term. The true extent of the damage takes time to be
clearly visible. Not all suppliers in Colombia will be affected.
The supply of floral products being worldwide today, there are many things that
can disrupt the supply chain. It can be economic problems, political problems,
terrorism or the case of this Valentine’s Day – weather.
Floral wholesale distributors are the most reliable source of flowers in a
crisis because they have a vested interest in the local markets. In this time of
possible crisis, retail florists will be turning to their wholesale distributor
for answers and reassurance that they will have flowers for the upcoming
holiday.
There are plenty of fine quality roses available in the world markets that can
be accessed by knowledgeable floral wholesale distributors. There may be spot
shortages of certain varieties, but that should be isolated.
Wholesale distributor’s larger volumes require that they use a variety of
sources and thus they maintain ongoing relationships with multiple suppliers of
the same flower varieties. Consequently, if one source does not have
availability they have alternative sources who they have established
relationships with to provide additional availability. The other result is that
their higher volume provides them a preferred’ status with their suppliers and
they are more likely to receive flowers that are in tight supply. With the
connections and experience that wholesale distributors have, they will be able
to offer retail florist the reassurance they are looking for.
Wholesale distributors maintain relationships with suppliers from diverse
geographic areas in order to offer seasonal availabilities of flowers. These
relationships can pay great dividends when production from a particular
geographic region is interrupted and products need to be sourced from other
parts of the world, wholesale distributors may use, Guatemala, Ecuador, Costa
Rica in addition to Colombia.
The freeze does not only affect the number of flowers available it also puts a
strain on the cutters and the graders. The cutters will have to take more time
in selecting the flowers they cut and the graders will have to take more care in
their grading. This extra time that is needed comes at a time when speed is
important. The chances of a few bad buds slipping through the process are a
distinct possibility. Wholesale distributors are aware of these potential
problems and will be prepared to workout any issues with their florists.
With possible shortages wholesale distributors need orders as soon as possible,
so they can be sure to cover their customers. Ordering early will help. Even
though it is harder today for retail florists to know what they will need, they
must place orders as soon as possible to be sure that they will have with they
need.
Wholesalers give customers the most “direct” purchase and logistic path for the
freshest flowers. Wholesalers have many shipments arriving to insure you get the
freshest possible flowers. Wholesalers are EXPERTS in the business of buying and
delivering.
