Although summer and downslope were good in terms of sales and they will end the twelvemonth on a positive note , COVID-19 left an emotional scar at Maria Flowers , a troupe that supplies mainly rose from Ecuador to supermarkets in the US . In early August , they lost one dear member of their squad , Omar Neira , to the computer virus . " It was a terrible experience for everyone in Maria Flowers and we are still very sorry for his departure , " says Felipe Villamizar , the troupe ’s chief operating officer , when looking back at the year . Fortunately , business organisation is still doing well , they are already be after for Valentine ’s Day 2021 and have high hopes for 2021 .
Felipe Villamizar of Maria Flowers at PMA Fresh Summit 2019 . He sources mainly roses , from different farm in Ecuador and Colombia . About 70 percent of their assortment is from Ecuador , Colombia accounts for 30 percentage .
RollercoasterWhen look back at the year , Villamizar depict it as a rollercoaster . " Sales started bang-up for Valentine ’s Day with record sales , then in March , when the pandemic impinge on the USA , the sale took a liberal collision and we were about 35 % down in sales without really knowing where we were heading . " Fortunately , things pay off good . " Mother ’s Clarence Day was still small in volume but it was a turn point because I think it give a clear indicant that the US consumer was willing to buy flower to decorate their house during this pandemic . Summer and tumble were good with sales above last year ’s levels . "
This rollercoaster drive was n’t without any challenges . " We had to deal with a fortune of useable challenges and fortunately we managed to do it . The major challenge , however , was emphatically dealing with the passing of one of our darling team members . "
take on concern of theenvironmentEven though Maria Flowers was dealing with many unlike challenges , they decided to continue to support the Ecuadorian environmental organization call EcoMinga , which protects main timber . " We thought that it was especially significant to support them this class because the economic problems that the pandemic brought , creates even more pressure on the environmental reserve . Because of this support , during 2020 we were honored with the assignment of a new coinage of Salamander that was bring out in the second-stringer ( Oedipina villamizariorum sp . n. ) . "
Bright colour are in - more chicken and orangeWhen looking at the trends , Villamizar notices a shift from pastel color to bright coloration . " Bright colors are in and pastel colouring are out . " And he sees farm adjusting to this development . " To adjust , farms are shift their color compositions with a exceptional focus on increasing yellow and orangish tones . "
Addition of roses to the GSP programPresident Trump hasadded rosesto the Generalized System of Preferences ( GSP ) in force November 1st , 2020 . Villamizar says this was great news . " Rose growers around the cosmos are happy that such an important crop was bring to the GSP program , especially considering that all the repose of the peak were already let in in the program . "
Expectations for 2021Expectations for 2021 are gamey . " We sense that more consumers have experienced the joy of having more unused flowers in their dwelling house during 2020 and we opine that during 2021 they will stay on to do it . "
For more data : Maria FlowersFelipe VillamizarEmail:[email protected]www.floresmaria.com
