C.H. Robinson is helping customers navigate a busy kick-off to the floral season, leveraging a new farm-to-store floral program in Latin America to enhance its end-to-end temp-controlled supply chain solutions for retailers.
Nearly 70% of florals annually move during the three-month period from Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day, a surge posing challenges for shippers due to the globally sourced, perishable nature of the product and limited temperature-controlled transportation and storage. And the floral industry continues to expand, reaching $9.5 billion in retail sales last year, a 47% increase over five years, according to Circana.
With 7-10 million boxes of flowers moved annually, C.H. Robinson already has the largest temperature-controlled capacity network in North America and the expertise to enable fast, seamless hand-offs across multiple transportation modes, quick pivots in times of disruption, and efficiencies that drive down costs, the company reported. Its newly enhanced consolidation program locally in Colombia and Ecuador, where 95% of all flowers are sourced, further strengthens its reach across these key origin markets, offering an additional competitive advantage for shippers.
“With Valentine’s Day on a Friday, strong early demand, and favorable weather, we anticipate one of the busiest floral seasons in recent years,” Jose Rossignoli, Robinson Fresh president, said in a news release. “Today, C.H. Robinson provides a multitude of services for retail, grocery, and growers alike to support the 2,500% surge in floral volumes ahead of Valentine’s Day. We are in a great position to help our customers navigate the uptick and any changes or disruptions they may face along the way.”
