Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Cold, colder, coldest
I spent last night in the coolers of our freight forwarder in Quito, checking the roses as they arrived from the farms. It is extremely cold in there, and can be very uncomfortable if you do not have appropriate attire. When I was much younger I would wear a jacket and a sweat shirt, and grin and bear it. Somewhat older and wiser, I am covered from head-to-toe in clothing deigned for the work in coolers.
Happily the farms delivered the roses as ordered, and in a timely fashion. Weather is a huge factor in enabling farms to pick, pack and ship the flowers expeditiously, whereas when it is cold and overcast, roses are harvested when they are too tight, they are packed at the last minute and generally delays creep into the system.
I did have to send back a few boxes, but very minimal amounts as a percentage of the overall volume. The inspections took about five hours but by 11:00pm we were able to dispatch the trailers to the airport for delivery to the airline. Mayesh only uses UPS, and it is into their coolers that the flowers are unloaded. At around 2am the flower boxes have all been loaded onto pallets each holding about 100 boxes and weighing one ton. We shipped out five skids last night.
This morning the flowers will be loaded into the UPS cargo jet that arrives from Miami, which is back in the air about one hour and a half after arriving in Quito.
Overall, I very happy with the first major load to be dispatched to the USA, particularly as the overall quality is high, the cutting points are being maintained correctly, and there is a beautiful selection of rose varieties that we can offer for sale.
This morning I am visiting farms in the south, including one that grows garden roses, and I will learn more about how this Valentine's will unfold.
Happily the farms delivered the roses as ordered, and in a timely fashion. Weather is a huge factor in enabling farms to pick, pack and ship the flowers expeditiously, whereas when it is cold and overcast, roses are harvested when they are too tight, they are packed at the last minute and generally delays creep into the system.
I did have to send back a few boxes, but very minimal amounts as a percentage of the overall volume. The inspections took about five hours but by 11:00pm we were able to dispatch the trailers to the airport for delivery to the airline. Mayesh only uses UPS, and it is into their coolers that the flowers are unloaded. At around 2am the flower boxes have all been loaded onto pallets each holding about 100 boxes and weighing one ton. We shipped out five skids last night.
This morning the flowers will be loaded into the UPS cargo jet that arrives from Miami, which is back in the air about one hour and a half after arriving in Quito.
Overall, I very happy with the first major load to be dispatched to the USA, particularly as the overall quality is high, the cutting points are being maintained correctly, and there is a beautiful selection of rose varieties that we can offer for sale.
This morning I am visiting farms in the south, including one that grows garden roses, and I will learn more about how this Valentine's will unfold.
# posted by Mayesh International @ 4:52 AM 
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