COUNTDOWN TO VALENTINE'S DAY 2011

As we approach one of our largest flower holidays, and certainly the most significant as far as roses are concerned, there has been quite a bit of speculation on the quantity and quality of the rose harvest for Valentine's Day 2011. At this point it is still a point of conjecture as only the very first blooms have been harvested for Valentine's Day, and they have not made there way to our shores quite yet. Incredible, even sad, but true! Many of the mass-markets' roses need to get into the logistical pipeline by the 28th of January in order to make their way through their distribution chains to their outlets. 

Mayesh Wholesale, in a concerted effort to assure delivery of appropriate quantities of roses and a commensurate high level of quality  in accordance with the rose buyer's orders, has put a body on the ground in Ecuador for the past 15 years. You guessed it, yours truly is that person, responsible for oversight of rose quality, timely delivery by the farms and programmed daily dispatch by the airline from Quito, Ecuador, to Miami.

As I wrote in December on this blog, it would appear that there will be very large variance in quality from farm to farm, with a lot of product being compromised by disease due to a combination of bad weather and fungal attacks on the plants. As I have said many times before, it will be prudent to obtain assurances from your supplier(s) on the provenance of the roses they will be procuring for you.

All speculation aside, I shall start visiting the farms that will be supplying Mayesh this year for Valentine's Day on Monday 31st of January, reviewing the quality of the respective rose harvests, and ascertaining that the suppliers will be able to fulfill the orders. After a couple of days I will be able to ascertain the quality of roses Mayesh has ordered, as well as the overall situation in Ecuador, and will continue to monitor every aspect of the rose supply as the shipments reach their peak volumes around the first weekend in February, and continuing through until 9th of February.

Starting on February 1st, watch this space for daily updates, weather information, airline issues and just about anything related to the rose harvest in Ecuador for Valentine's Day 2011. Here we go...