When it comes to cold chain management, your floral wholesaler is the middle link that holds both the grower and the retailer together. Wholesalers work together with growers in places like South America and all over the world to make certain that as the flowers travel from the field to the airport and onto their warehouses, the cold chain is kept intact by cooling the flowers (except tropicals) to the proper temperatures of 33-35 F (0-3 C).
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Your floral wholesaler works hard to make sure your flowers stay at the proper temperature as they travel from the grower to your shop.
Illustrations by Matt Johnson
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After all, it’s in the wholesaler’s best interest to provide you, the retailer, with only the finest of flowers that will live long after you’ve sold them in your shop.
For the last instalment of our series on cold chain management, Canadian Florist spoke to wholesalers across Canada to see what they were doing to keep the flowers cool before they reach your shop.
At The Flower Group in Calgary, Alta., owner Jay Watson says cold chain management is very important to the company because the travel time for their flowers can vary anywhere from two to five days. Watson says that when they receive the flowers “we can pretty much tell when opening the boxes if there’s been a problem with heat. As soon as the product is heated, it spoils its life.” The trucking companies that The Flower Group uses employ systems in their trucks that read the temperature of the flower boxes. The temperature readers record the highest temperature that the box reached during its journey. “We have the choice to either receive the product or send it back.” They open the product as soon as it arrives to determine the condition of the flowers.
The coolers at The Flower Group are also fitted with temperature alarms that sound if the temperature changes within two degrees.
Westbrook Floral in Grimsby is another wholesaler working hard to keep the chain connected. Rik Reinink is in charge of fresh product procurement at Westbrook Floral. The wholesaler imports their flowers from South America, Israel and other farms from around the world. When flowers arrive at Westbrook Floral, the company’s shipping docks are all pressurized so when trucks are unloading, cold air isn’t lost and in the summer, hot air can’t get in.
To keep the cold chain in check, Westbrook Floral performs random, weekly checks with its trucking companies to monitor the temperature of the flowers during the shipments. The truck temperatures are recorded every half hour. “If we see a jump, then we definitely hold them accountable,” Reinink says, although the wholesaler sees few instances of temperature increases.
A similar test is conducted by Marsolais Entreprises Inc. in Montreal. Jean-Francois Marsolais says the company also performs randomized checks with a temperature recorder to pinpoint any fluctuations. The company buys directly from farms in South America and works with brokers at the farm who ensure the flowers are properly chilled. The wholesaler randomly installs temperature recorders as soon as the flowers pass through the grower’s post-harvest care process. The recorder tracks both the temperature and the time as the flowers travel from the farm to Miami International Airport and eventually on to Marsolais trucks. Using the time, Marsolais can track exactly where the flowers were exposed to heat if a temperature increase occurs. “This is so we immediately know where the problem is,” says Marsolais.
Cold chain management is also followed at grower auctions in Canada. At the United Flower Growers Auction in Burnaby, B.C., chief executive officer Bob Pringle says the auction doesn’t get involved in the transportation to and from the auction, but whenever possible, they try to deal with trucking companies that understand the needs of the floral industry and the importance of keeping the flowers at the right temperatures.
The auction also serves as a gathering place for different sectors of the floral industry. Pringle says that UFG “facilitates lots of meetings and discussions” and the topic of cold chain management does come up from time to time.
Jouke Sypkes, general manager of Ontario Flower Growers in Mississauga, Ont. says the cold chain practices at OFG are openly visible for those attending the auction. Flowers (except tropicals) are stored in an 18,000-square-foot cooler as soon as the product arrives at the auction. Anything that doesn’t sell on the auction floor is placed right back in the cooler. When it comes to receiving and shipping out products, Sypkes says a “vast majority of our product comes in air-conditioned or refrigerated trucks.”
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