I have 2 weeks to complete the Analysis and I was told you were a reliable source and you were the expert in your field.

Could you please help me in any way? I would greatly appreciate it !! I was just trying to make some Christmas money for my kids buy now I’m finding this nearly impossible!!

Sincerely,

Mindi Lopez

Its sad that we can’t figure out a way to integrate all of the data into a form that would be useful for us. I see lot’s of statistics in writing but where they get it, who knows? For instance, this is from the current issue of Supermarket News: “Currently, the U.S. sources 78% of cut flowers sold at retail from Colombia and Ecuador.” This is close to what I wrote, but they didn’t get it from me. From whom?

Thanks for the intro, I apologize for not disclaiming my position in the industry. Honest oversight on my part.

Thanks again.

I like this blog design, btw. Nicely done.

However, why would the SAF figures, which I presume are USDA based, and the Ascoflores figures differ so greatly if we are all looking at the USDA import data for benchmarking?

Is this because the Colombian government’s export data and the USDA import data sets differ?

I like your numbers, they tell a story. I just wish we all could see the same thing.

First off, I’ll introduce Kasey: He is the esteemed CEO of the California Cut Flower Commission. CCFC represents flower growers throughout that state.

You, of course, already know Terry if you’ve been reading FloristChronicles for awhile. Terry’s a consultant in the floral industry with a deep and committed passion for those devoted to the floral profession.

Now, as for those acronyms:

SAF is the Society of American Florists. AboutFlowers.com is a very helpful consumer-focused website that SAF offers to the public. (You should definitely check it out!)

ASOCOLFLORES is The Association of Colombian Flower Exporters. That group represents flower growers in the South American country of Colombia.

Have your own questions about the behind-the-scenes workings of the floral industry? Post a comment and let us know! We may be able to use your question for the topic of an upcoming article!

I’m not surprised that my numbers differ from SAF’s numbers. So do numbers from Colombia. A recent press release from Augusto Solano, your counterpart with ASOCOLFLORES, stated that 80% of the total US flower imports for 2011 were from Colombia, whereas SAF has that at 64%–a significant discrepancy.

Statistics in US floriculture have been somewhat suspect for years. I get my numbers from a variety of sources and from my own analysis of the numbers based on over 30 years in floral. That said, I would be happy to look at your numbers for the sake of greater accuracy.