PMA Fresh Summit 2018, Orlando (FL), USA

Floral buyers, sellers, breeders and growers will come together in an expanded show-within-a-show Floral Marketplace located in a dedicated area on the right side of the Fresh Summit show floor. Floral floor space has increased by 10,000 square feet over previous years. On the photo the entrance to the Floral Marketplace.

Ashley Nally, Michelle Lopez and Izzy Fernandez of Floral Sense. They are specialized in OT and hybrid lilies. According to Nally, in the OT’s they have the widest assortment, including some exclusive varieties. The flowers are grown in Colombia and they also make lily centric bouquets and . They supply mass markets in the US.

Catalina Guacaneme of La Plazoleta presenting a part of their assortment at one of their big US clients Jolo Flower. This Colombian grower supplies them with limonium, statice, solidago and snapdragons.

Dyanna Paz and Carks Oramas (chosen as PMA 2018 Floral Marketer of the Year) of Gems Group showing the Charmelia. On the left the Charmelia on day 1, on the right on day 21 and in the middle the new colors that they are trailing at the moment. It is a new type of flower, bred by Royal van Zanten and grown by Jardines de los Andes in Colombia. According to Oramas, the flower works well as straight bunch and in bouquets. Gems is supplying Charmelia in the US for three years now and the demand is increasing. Together with another US company, they are the only two supplying the Charmelia. More on this later in FloralDaily.

Nick Rhindress and Chris Jacobs of One Floral mainly grow hydrangeas in the US and Canada on a total acreage of 60 acre. According to Jacobs, the demand is on the rise and this is mainly due to the improvements in the varieties. They work with genetics of Danish breeder Schroll and as they hydrangea assortment used to consist of only two varieties there are many more now and with a longer shelf life. From summer till October, the plants flower with color changing blooms.

Andrew Harris and Paul Harris of Stempro Systems are presenting they cutting machines for retail and processing. According to Andrew, it increases labor efficiency by 30 percent and as it can be can be shipped dry, the shelf life increases. On top of that, with dry pack, three times as much flowers will fit in a truck. They supply their machines all over the US and have plans to expand to Europe in the future. More on these cutting machines later in FloralDaily.

Mike Henriquez of Valley Springs. They started growing hydrangeas in Colomba 9 years ago and worked their way up to one of the top exporters of hydrangeas in Colombia. They used to ship only to wholesalers in the US, but started to supply supermarkets about 3,5 years ago. US is their main market and in the future, they are planning to supply Canada and Europe as well. Currently, they are building a new 150 ha farm in Colombia, more on this later in FloralDaily.

Luis Balcazar of Riverdale Farms. They grow flowers in Colombia and sell them to Europe and the US. In the US, they supply supermarkets. The bouquets are made in Colombia and 90 percent of what they sell is grown at their farm.

Amy Desperito and Mily Iglesias of Natural Flowers standing next to the Freedom red rose with a hight of ove 6 feet. This Colombian farm, that is primarily a rose grower and known for Freedom, has offices in the US, Hapan and Russia. The US is their main market and according to Iglesias, they are leading in hand tied bouquets.

Mario Vicente and Amy Martha of Fresca Farms. Last year, they introduced the Suntory variety Applause; a rose that has a blue delphinium gene in it. The demand for this ‘blue’ rose is increasing and currently, trials are being done to make the variety more blue and longer stems. More on this later in FloralDaily.

Doug Stinson of Sun Vista Farms. They grow and import flowers and supply mixed bouquets all over the US. They are based in San Diego, California.

Bas Pellenaars of Dümmen Orange. They are exhibiting at the PMA for the first time to create awareness among growers and importers regarding the wide assortment of Dümmen Orange. Next to cut flowers, they are also presenting Tropical treasures – a conept for tropical plants – and Calanday – their brand for kalanchoes.

Wim Braam of Dümmen Orange presenting one of their ideas to let the flower industry free-ride on the success of the succulents. In this way, the succulents can be used in bouquets and on top of that, they have a very long shelf life.

Manuel Marín of Deliflor, David Jaramillo of Bioflora and Juan David Lecuona of Deliflor presenting their Alma chrysanthemum that won the 'Best in show' at the SAF Outstanding Varieties competition.

Robert Bakker of Elizabeth Alexandra; a new brand of Dewar Nurseries, one of America’s largest rose growers. It is a new division offering innovative floral creations and an assortment of edible fruits.

Tom Biondo and Edwin Verdezoto of Royal Flowers holding their new small bouquets for the mass market. All the flowers are grown at their Farm in Ecuador and made at their farm. “The idea here is to offer a small bouquet with unique varieties from Ecuador”, says Biondo. More on this later in FloralDaily.

Leonardo Raza and Jose Torres of Bellaflor, This Ecuadorian grower produces over 30 flower varieties.”We are a one-stop-shop and we therefore can offer a large amount of different bouquets”, says Torres. The US is their main market where they supply to wholesalers and mass market.

Bart Ruigrok of Byfod, a Dutch company that started exporting flowers to the US 10 years ago. They are now one of the largest exporting Dutch companies to the US. They supply flowers from all over the world and are strong in daffodils, orchids and tulips.

Mark Frank of Farm Fresh presenting their new Mother’s Day and Valentines Day gift. The rose is in a vase and with the packaging, produced by Dutch company Broekhof, it can be easily carried away.

The team of Koen Pack.Robin van der Schaaf of Roselily, a lily collective in which a distinctive product derived and developed by a breeder finds its way to every corner of the world through a permanent club of propagators and two exporters. Roselily is a double-flowered lily and special about this lily is that it is pollen free. It is a fairly new product for the high end supermarkets and according to Van der Schaaf, the demand is starting to increase.

Robin van der Schaaf of Roselily, a lily collective in which a distinctive product derived and developed by a breeder finds its way to every corner of the world through a permanent club of propagators and two exporters. Roselily is a double-flowered lily and special about this lily is that it is pollen free. It is a fairly new product for the high end supermarkets and according to Van der Schaaf, the demand is starting to increase.

Hans Vonk of Flower Care Holland presenting the water-based spray paint for flowers. “It is a more employer friendly product that aceton or alcohol based spray paints”, says Vonk.

Loes van der Toolen of Pagter Innovations. This Dutch company introduced the Procona containers in the USA, which enabled the West coast growers to ship their flowers to the East coast in good condition. Over the last years, Pagter started to focus on the retail as well and introduced the flower displays for Procona containers. “It is easy to set up and very flexible. With more or less flowers, the display always looks filled. Next to flowers, the display is also suitable for potted plants.” According the reactions from the US retailers so far are very positive and some are already using it.

The team of Albertsons (in the middle) paid a visit to Rocket Farms.

Javer Truyol and Mauricio Posada of one of the largest third party logistics companies in the US; C.H. Robinson.

Kelly Valencia and Lina Aust of Galleria Farms. This grower and importer produces chrysanthemums, hydrangeas and roses in Colombia. They also have bouquet facilities in Bogota and Medellin. According to Aust, they brought the airbrushed bouquets to the USA.

Rick den Dulk and Luuk van Buuren of Sande Flowers. This first-time PMA exhibitor has two farms in Ecuador and the biggest minicalla growers. They mainly export to the US (mainly North America) and Europe. They are supplying wholesalers and are looking supply mass market with their bouquets, which they recently started to supply.

Juan Alvarez and Bill Pemberton of Golden Flower, an importer and distributor in Miami. They supply bouquets and added value products to wholesalers, retailers and mass market.

Rainforest farm grows roses, carnations and mini carnations in Colombia and mainly supplies supermarkets in the US. The US is their main market.

Shirley Brodsky, Mauricio Vallejo and Martha Franco of Fresh 2 Market by Fantasy Farms. Fresh 2 Market is a brand that can be found at several convenience stations in the US. “We ship straight from the farm via FedEx.”

David Kaplan and Kristin Gilliland of Gardens America. This third generation familily company imports flowers from all over the world and supplies wholesalers, retailers and supermarkets. They have a wide assortment of flowers, but primarily show their novelty niche items at the PMA. “Stores are looking for something special.”

Lourdes Reyes of BallSB and Tim Duffin of Ball Horticultural Company. He is presenting the fresh herb programe Fresh Flavors for grocey stores. They can put it in the shelves year round.

Urszula Sambor and Marlene Vanderselt of Rosa Flora. This Canadian grower is the largest gerbera, lisianthus and snaps grower in North America and is celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. They are currently expanding their farm. More on this later in FloralDaily. — Urszula Sambor and Marlene Vanderselt of Rosa Flora. This Canadian grower is the largest gerbera, lisianthus and snaps grower in North America and is celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year. They are currently expanding their farm. More on this later in FloralDaily.

The team of Fresh Blooms, a daughter company of Delaware Valley .They import flowers from anywhere and is have strong logistic programms. “We can easily connect farms to customers.”

Robbie Wein of Clearview. This Canadian clematis propagator, producer and breeder is specialized in climbing plants and is eager to expand markets further across the USA.

Georgena Sampat, global Marketing Coordinator Floralife, a division of Smithers-Oasisof presenting the new flower food concept. On this packaging, different quotes are put to make the end consumer more aware of flower food. It has been introduced in the US already and is received positively. Soon, the concept will be launched in Europe.

Part of the team of Sun Valley. At their booth the idea was: Bringing the farm to the Fresh Summit. They want to show that they are not only bouquet makers, but growers as well. According to Bill Prescott Sun Valley has a lot of exclusive varieties and that’s what sets them apart.

Bisser Georgiev of Live Trends. This manufacturer of decorative pots started five years ago and have grown significantly over the last years. “We look as a plant as art.” Every year, they refresh 80 percent of their collection and at the show, they are highlighting new collections that are based on three tribes; minimalist, curator and trensetter. On top of that, they also have collections that fit the seasons, like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter. More on this fast growing company -that is honored to be #256 in the 2017 Inc. 500 list of Fastest-Growing U.S. Businesses- in FloralDaily. — Bisser Georgiev of Live Trends. This manufacturer of decorative pots started five years ago and have grown significantly over the last years. “We look as a plant as art.” Every year, they refresh 80 percent of their collection and at the show, they are highlighting new collections that are based on three tribes; minimalist, curator and trensetter. On top of that, they also have collections that fit the seasons, like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter. More on this fast growing company -that is honored to be #256 in the 2017 Inc. 500 list of
Fastest-Growing U.S. Businesses- in FloralDaily.

Jacqueline Binner of Passion Growers. They grow roses in Colombia and Ecuador and their main focus is the rose crop, but they started to grow other products for bouquets. Almost all of their flowers in their bouquets are own grown.

Gabriela Uribe and Daniel Uribe of Allure Farms. They import and grow roses and sell them all over the world. For the second time, they are attending the PMA as they are eager to break in to mass market.

Pieter Landman, creative director at Color Republic, one of the largest importers in Ecuador with own farms. They grow many roses, but also lilies and summer flowers. They supply to US and Canadian supermarkets. Besides selling flowers, they also merchandise, advise, and train in order to let the flowers sell more easily. The slogan of the company is “A story behind every flower” and this is referring to the feeling that arise when someone get flowers. And at the show, they let these positive feelings arise at the visitors as they handed out necklaces of roses. In total, they handed out 6000 roses.

Tachana Carrillo and Angela Diaz of ITC Wiltches. This sleeve manufacturere was exhibiting at the PMA for the first time.

The team of Chrysal. Earlier this year, they launched Alesco, a post-harvest treatment for plants that are sensitive to ethylene. So far, they are pleased with the reactions. “Potted plant growers value the product and see that it is working.” Currently, Chrysal is also trialing Alesco on roses and so far, the results are promising.

Beth Hartman and Mike Mooney of Dramm & Echter. They are a local California flower grower of gerberas, Oriental and LA Hybrid lilies, succulents, and hybrid tea and spray roses in coastal San Diego. According to Beth, the garden style spray roses are very popular at the moment.

Jose Azout and Sandy Saenz of Alexandra Farms. According to Saenz, the supermarkets are interested in garden roses. “It is something new that will bring in other customers and in turn will result in more sales of the floral department in generals.”

The team of Broekhof. They are one of the largest packaging and decoration suppliers in the Netherlands and are spreading their wings in the US. They are active on the US market for over 1,5 year now and they are pleased with the responses they get. At the PMA, they are showing their novel products.

Phillip Allen and aura Home of Optimara. They supply US grovers and are introducing one of their new African violet breeds at the PMA. More on these new varieties later in FloralDaily. Next to African violets, they also sell ferns and foliage and for these products, they see the demand increasing.

Kim MacDonald, Dimitry rlov and Mandy Duyvenstyn of Hollandia greenhouses. They are 3rd generation gerbera growers and one of the largest gerbera growers of NOrth-West Canada and US. They are based in BC, Canada and grow gerberas in over 12 acres of greenhouses. They just started a new bouquet line and are building another greenhouse. More on this later in FloralDaily.

A bouquet from the new gerbera bouquet line of Hollandia Greenhouses.

The gerbera bouquet line of Hollandia Greenhouses.

Juan Pablo Montoya, Anneki Olsson and Steve Rosenbluth of Global Bouquet. They are worlds largest growers of raffine. Together with breeder HolverdaKooij, they test and grow new varieties.

The team of Decowraps. At the PMA, they are launching a new line.

Kristle Klink and Dennis DeBaltzo of A-Roo presenting the new NeoTerra Upstyle cover.

The newest addition is the Neoterra Upstyle cover. It is a plastic pot with a clay appearance. It is available in 4 different sizes and 5 colors. It will be available in January 2019.

Last year, they introduced the Echo Upstyle Cover. This pot looks like a Ceramic pot, byt is plastic as well.

Lisa Higaki of Bay City Flower presenting their own bred Echeveria's; Red Velet (left) and Devotion (right). They are a fouth generation famaly company.

Mark Hoeser and Manny Cantor of Elite Flower. It is a vertically integrated company. "We partner with breeders, we grow, import, export and manufacture."

The team of Intergreen USA. It is a sister company of Intergreen NL and active on the US market for three years now. They are eager to bring their Intergreen NL philosophy to the US, which entails "We deliver your success." "The idea is that if a supermarket works with us, the sales of their flowers will increase." Over the last two years, Intergreen US, started fo focus on supermarkets only. "We work with several selected growers and we are leaders in sea freigth transportation."

Michele Sutton and Linden of Ready to go Greens by Sutton Ferneries grow cut foliage and ferns. They supply supermarkets with bouquets and labor savers.

Scott Murphy of Sunshine Bouquet. They iwb 850 ha of farm space in Colombia and mainly supply US mass market, retail and grocery stores. They create collections around home decor and fashion trends and have 2 to 3 collections per season. All collection consist of different type of bouquets like; Consumer bunches, mixed bouquets and vase arrangements.

Team of dos gingos. Tehy are specialized in sun flowers that they grow in Mexico and Southern California. In total, they grow them in about 2000 acres open field. The bouquets are made at their assembly facilities in Mexico or San Diego.

Elkin Benavides of Natur's Flowers. They grow flowers and make bouquets at three farms in Colombia and supply supermarkets in the US.

Leonora and Benay Fishman of Jolo Flowers family owned business that grows, ships, and markets flowers exclusively to Supermarkets across the US.

Jolo Flowers's journey started 20 years ago, when they onle grew sunflowers in Florida.

Felipe Illamiza of Maria Flowers. They supply roses and consumer bunches to supermarkets.

Sebastian Franco of Dirext Farms, an Ecuadorian 85ha grower. They mainly grow roses, spray roses, callas and lilies. They also produce consumer bunches and bouquets and supply retailers, super markets and wholesalers in teh US.

Yonatan Nevo of Jetty Flowers. They work with around 80 Colombian hydrangea growers and are specialized in painting (by by hand) the hydrangeas. The grower we work with are the smaller growers who bring their best varieties"to us."Their hydrangeas have a vase life of 7 days and they wirk with Jolo Flowers for several years now.

Foti Defterios, Colleen MCGrowan and Jason Fisher of Delta Flora. They make bouquets and arrangements in Los Angeles and import their flowers from all over the world. THey supply to mass supermarkets in the US.

Charlie Alvarez, Betty Santos and Maurizio Bernal of fiore Farms. Thye are importers and distributors and supply mass market and event planners. At the show, they are presenting their farm to table concept with a VW van.

The farm to table concept of fiore in the VW van.

Marlon Pottinger of Queen. They grow roses, pompons, carnations, mini carnations, fillers, delphiniums at several farms in Colombia. They distribute these flowers and bouquets all over the US and Canada.

Stacy MacCoy, Eric Fernandez and Steve Fransen of Continental Flower. They grow and import flowers and distribute them in the US and Canada to mass market.

Juan Carlos Alvarez, Cristy Herrera and Santiago Lora of Falcon Farms. In Ecuador, they grow roses and in Colombia several other flowers like pompom, disbud and mini carnations. Their main market is the US and Canada where they supply supermarkets and wholesalers.

Adam Mace of Komet Sales was also visiting the show.

Juan Rodriguez of Costa Farms, the largest indoor plant growers in the US.

Jerry Montervino, Tim Hionis and Marianthe Hionis of Hionis Greenhouses. They grow potted plants indoors and outdoors and supply the North Eastern part of the country.

John Marino and John Carl of Dan Schanz. They grow about poinsettias, bulbs, inside plants and pumpkins. They grow them in 50 acres of greenhouses on 4 locations.

Juan David Bustamante of Melody Farms. They grow flowers in Colombia and have an operation in Miami and they are known for arrangements. They are specialized in sea shipment and export 80 percent of their volumes to the US, the rest to Chile, UK, Japan, Europe, Australia and Canada.

Cok van Hoekelen and John O'Regan of O'Regan Daffodils enjoying a great foot massage at Gardens America and are accompanied by Renee Hesselback of Garden America.

Andre Harster of Harster Greenhouses. They are specialized in miniplants and is selling most of them in a concept (plant with pot or self watering pot). They supply chain stores and garden centers.

Jin Ju Wilder Director of Marketing at LA & SF Specialty, Carlor Oramas of Gems Group with his children were paying a visit to Wiliam Byland at William Byland N.G. Heimos Greenhouses.

Michelle and WIlliam Byland of N.G.Heimos Greenhouses and Micky's Minis.

Evie lynn of Eve's Garden with one of her Bonsai trees.

Collin Szmyryala and Stuart van Staaalduinen of Bayvief flowers. These Canadian potted indoor blooming plant growers. They also supply their plants with added value products.

Scott van der Wal Pioneer Flower Farms growing flowers in Ontario, Canada.

John van der Wal of Northland Floral. This Canadian company works with all growers in Ontario, is a bouquet house and distributes their flowers.

Alex van Hoekelen, Nick Sprengers and Larry Huft of Van Hoekelen Greenhouses. They are the largest bulb grower in the Northeast and are in business of about 30 years now. It is a real family company and they see the demand for cut tulips growing.

Jose Navarette and Omar Zambrane of Prime Fresh Handeling.

Katalina Parga and Cathy McClinto of Kendal Farm. They grow cut flowers in San Diego (FL).

Cecilia Landeros and Joanna Segovia of Dewar Nurseries.

Scarlett Sanchez and Renty Villalana of Florapack

Carlos Castro (left and Jesus Rubr (right) of Rumhora with Felie Saldarriaga Soto of Green Bouquet who was viisting the show.

Johnny Waterston of Encore Floral Marketing. They manufacture bouquets in the US and supply them to supermarkets.

The team of Jarja Floral, Canadian tulip forcers.

At the both of Ball, novelties of PanAmerican Seed were presented as well.

At the booth of Ball also the 2020 novelties of PanAmerican Seed were presented.

David van Hoffen, Frans van Gelderen and Martin van Tol of Out Front.

Becky Roberts, Director, Floral and New Initiatives at Produce Marketing Association.

One of the collections of Live Trends; the Minimalist.

Succulents in hardware are very popular; this one is part of the Trendsetter collection of Live Trends.

David Perez of Silver Vase. They grow orchids and bromeliads.