Every good idea I’ve ever had, I’ve stolen from someone else,” announced a manager during his presentation at a sales meeting. I laughed along with the group, but it got me thinking about how often we re-create a wheel that’s already well greased and turning. Flower handling is a good example. In the past decade, many best practices and protocols have been developed with proven results, but too often, shops utilize handling methods based on urban legends rather than implementing proven protocols. What about stealing care and handling protocols from a competitor? Supermarket floral departments are places you can learn from.
Consider the facts. Supermarket chains have an advantage of volume purchasing. They have higher foot traffic than florists, but the playing field levels out when it comes to care and handling. Poor prep and sloppy handling bite into profits regardless of size.
Mass marketers know that controlling waste is critical to making money. Establishing specific handling protocols puts teeth into your waste control program. Start at point of purchase: is your supplier on top of temperature management? It’s tantamount to maximizing vase life. With every 10-degree increase in temperature on the front end, days of vase life are lost in the consumer’s home. Another shrink buster: ethylene exposure. Make sure you are receiving STS (silver thiosulphate) treated flowers when ordering e-sensitive varieties. Although ethylene gas is colourless and odourless, you may recognize the symptoms of exposure: white dendrobians shrivelling, turning a weird chartreuse colour; Asiatic lily buds falling off stems; florets of physostegia, aconitum and asclepias shattering off stems. Sensitive blooms need to be treated immediately after harvest (farm level) because damage from ethylene is irreversible but often doesn’t show up until several days down the chain.
Supermarkets are also regimented and have guidelines for important procedures. Protocols for processing means everyone handles flowers the same way, which takes out the guess work, saves labour hours and helps reduce shrink. Make temperature and correct solution use primary targets. Cooler set point is 1-4 C for everything except tropical blooms. Get and keep flowers cold to reduce development of condensation on blooms. Don’t rely solely on the wall thermostat; place a thermometer in a cooler bucket for a more accurate reading. Look at your coils – if they are covered with gobs of dust, your cooler is not running efficiently.
When it comes to solution preparation, it’s critical to mix according to manufacturers’ directions. Efficacy of the solution is all about the correct ratio of clarifiers, nutrients and acidifiers. Overdosing wastes money. Under-dosing results in a bacteria soup, fast. Properly mixed solutions are active for three to four days at room temp and five to six days in the cooler. One method to achieve correct dosing is attaching an injector system, which automatically mixes the concentrate with water. Develop a simple flow chart to avoid confusion. Use photos of various bucket sizes marked with a strip of masking tape that indicates the fill level and the corresponding amount of flower food needed.
Another protocol I recommend using when working on waste reduction with supermarkets is sanitation codes of practice (COP). Supermarkets are used to dealing with food and controlling contaminates and the floral area is no different. COPs focus on frequency and solution used to sanitize. Use a flower-specific cleaner rather than bleach to scrub away gunk and the greasy scum bacteria produce. Residual protection is another bonus of flower cleaners. Prepare a spray bottle with floral industry specific cleaner and spray choppers, cutters and worktables liberally during the day to prevent cross contamination. No need to rinse – the cleaner provides residual protection. Frequency is key in any sanitation program.
A final idea to steal from supermarkets focuses more on marketing than care and handling. It is the use of sign language. Price signage is tantamount, but how about signs with details on home care, vase life expectations and best display locations? Flower origin information also stimulates sales interest. Clever signage gives consumers ideas of how flowers articulate feelings they are struggling to put into words. At the 2009 Super Floral Show in Atlanta, Ga., Sun Valley Floral launched a campaign utilizing research data amassed on the emotional and health benefits of flowers. Created and developed by Ginny Wyche, sales manager at Sun Pacific Bouquet, division of Sun Valley Floral Group, these point of purchase materials and sleeve labels feature product information and one of three slogans: Feel Great! Feel Happy! Feel Better! This inspiration to convey the power of flowers was sparked from a cat treats label. When it comes to stealing ideas, keep your radar detector on high, give credit where credit is due, and have fun bending other people’s ideas to fit your inspiration.
Gayle Smith draws information from more than 30 years of floral industry experience. She currently works at the technical manager for Chrysal, USA.
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