Written by: Yvonne Ashton
2/5/2012 5:40 PM 

Author:  David Dahlson (written Saturday, 1/4/2012)

Today Mayesh’s first big load of roses for Valentine’s Day 2012 flew out of Quito and into Miami. Sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning they will clear USDA inspection and be trucked to the Mayesh warehouse at Miami airport. From thence the roses and other flowers will be dispatched to locations nationwide. This evening roses are starting to arrive for the second large consignment of roses for the holiday. Tomorrow I expect that 4 tons of roses for Mayesh will be loaded into the UPS 767.

Trucks are now lined up at Cargo agencies around the Quito airport; lines which will continue to ebb and flow through out the night and into tomorrow morning. The backlog of roses is almost cleared up at LanChile Aircargo but trucks are spending upwards of 12 hours waiting to unload.

Employees at the farms are working vey long hours in order to fill orders, often using the harvest of today to complete the orders. This means more delays as the roses need to hydrate at least four hours, although a 24 hour pulse is really what is required, and thus cannot be packed until they are stable. In general the supply of roses appears to be tight, although farms that have been delayed due to weather problems are starting to increase production. Towards the end of next week, most probably there will be an abundant supply of roses but from a logistical perspective it is too late to be of any use for the Valentine’s holiday.

In point if fact all the conditions are ripe for a hectic holiday, with rose shortages due to all the problems that I have outlined these past few days. And yet it is incredibly tranquil and smooth holiday, and where Mayesh Wholesale Florist is concerned, with very little drama. Perhaps with years of experience under our belt, the whole crazy event is now second nature to us. Mayesh has invested a lot of money over the years to ensure expeditious delivery of flowers from not just Ecuador, but the four corners of the world to our customers, and it shows in the quality results. Even as Miami importers are swimming in roses with dubious characteristics due to an early onslaught of Colombian flowers, Mayesh like other seasoned wholesalers, is focused on execution and fulfillment of fresh flowers for their clientele, not just for the holiday but throughout the year.

Still, even as the cacophony rages around the Quito airport, I for one feel the holiday is subdued and I guess I miss those crazy days of yore. But then again perhaps I miss being 35 years old too!

So what have we learned? For this veteran of the flower business with over thirty years invested in the trade, while experience is valuable, there are times like tonight when I feel as though the more I know the less I know.