Monday, February 4, 2008
Maybe I shouldn't have eaten the pork sandwich.
Last night was our first big night, and we received over 900 full boxes. Of course, every one else is receiving big volumes, so it was very busy inside the coolers at the freight forwarder.Unfortunately, I got food poisoning and at around 10pm I started vomiting, and decided to retire. It was a rough night, but all part of the Ecuadorian experience!
As you can see, the fast food here is a bit different from the States.
However, due to careful planning by Peter, and my constant reminders to the growers, in some cases haranguing them, almost all cargo arrived on time, and all the flowers had been sent to UPS' coolers at the airport, ready to load into the plane in the morning.
However, due to careful planning by Peter, and my constant reminders to the growers, in some cases haranguing them, almost all cargo arrived on time, and all the flowers had been sent to UPS' coolers at the airport, ready to load into the plane in the morning. Overall I feel we have a very good quality product coming to Mayesh, especially given the fact that a lot of our regular growers do not pinch* too many roses for Valentine's Day anymore.
Peter, our Rose Buyer, was able to find alternative growers to supply us with plenty of red roses.
Around six in the evening the trucks start arriving from the farms, loaded with boxes for different clients. The freight forwarders receive the cargo and prepare them for each customer. Since the tightening of regulations by Homeland Security, all labels, invoices and paperwork have to be meticulously prepared, and this complicates matters somewhat. However, our freight forwarder "Flowercargo" does an excellent job of this, so that by 9:00 pm th
e first tractor trailer is on the way to UPS, followed shortly by a second.
e first tractor trailer is on the way to UPS, followed shortly by a second.Incidentally, this custom's paperwork is serious business, and Peter just entertained Homeland Security for an hour and a half in our Miami office for a discrepancy in a shipment ofrom over a year ago! He cleared up the matter, but evidently all the T's must be crossed and I's dotted.
As the cargo comes in I randomly select boxes and check them for quality, freshness and so forth, as well as other details such no
ting growers who do not fill boxes correctly, or are cutting roses too tight or too open.
ting growers who do not fill boxes correctly, or are cutting roses too tight or too open.It is cold inside the coolers, and cold outside. I was feeling really bad, and went to bed.
* A quick note for some of you who may not know: A "pinch" in rose vernacular means to cut back the rose plants in order to have a crop about three months in the future. The plants are cut down in size and will produce on about three or four stems. Thus for Valentine's Day, the roses are pinched at the beginning of November, in order to have a large "flush" to fulfill demand. That is why at Christmas there is often a shortage of red, because the reds are pinched, and therefore are not flowering. As you can see open prodcution is sacrificed for a large crop later, when prices are higher.
The drawback to this is that after Valentine's Day there are no roses, and the next time the plants flower they have a second flush, often at a time when the roses are of lower value.
Many growers have stopped pinching in order to have even production year round, as the stress to the rose plants caused by the pinch is also considerable, and the peaks and valleys of prodcution are undesirable.
# posted by Mayesh International @ 5:26 AM 
