During a tour of Armellini Logistics' hub during SAF's Next Gen LIVE! event in 2022, Kelley Henry spotted a box of flowers destined for her wholesaler — and perhaps even her shop.
"It's a very eye-opening experience to see the behind-the-scenes that you aren't a part of," says Henry, who owns Joyce Merck Florist in Gainesville, Georgia. "You can have a better understanding of the industry as a whole when you can see how all the different parts work together."
That's the idea behind the optional tour at SAF Miami 2024, SAF's annual convention Aug. 6-9. The tour takes attendees on a flower journey from Miami importing facilities to a bouquet-making company and a large event florist.
The tour stopped at 7000 Logistics, a logistics and freight shipping company near Miami International Airport. It's facilities like this one through which more than 8 billion flowers are imported by plane. Once unloaded, the boxes are held in cold storage until they are picked up by shippers.
The tour also immerses attendees in the fast-paced, technology-driven business of Armellini Logistics, a family-owned company that specializes in temperature-controlled shipments of flowers and other perishable items throughout the U.S. Attendees will see Armellini's hub, where workers use scanners to sort pallets of flower boxes to departing trucks.
Some of the flowers stay in Miami, where they are made into bouquets for mass markets and wire services. At USA Bouquet, attendees will see an assembly line where workers place stems on conveyor belts to build thousands of cases of bouquets a day.
The last stop: Petal Productions, a $25 million event florist that produces 500 weddings per year. Petal Productions staff will take attendees on a tour of the design studio, warehouse and coolers, and explain how the company manages its inventory, clientele and workflow. (Carlos Muina, chief creative officer and head of production, will share his secrets to the company's growth during his education session, "Under the Microscope: Unlocking the Key to Double-Digit Growth.")
Henry, who is registered for this year's tour, is hoping to pick up some additional tips from Petal Productions, much like she did last year when she toured Cactus Flowers as part of SAF's annual convention in Phoenix. During that tour, she noticed a lot of red tags on arrangements in the florist's cooler. When she asked about them, she learned that the tags alerted the delivery driver that the order included an add on.
"I know it sounds like the dumbest thing, but we implemented it, and it's helped us tremendously," she says.
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