Attendees browsing the outstanding varieties at SAF Amelia Island 2019.
Growers are preparing to enter this year’s Outstanding Varieties Competition at SAF Orlando 2021, the Society of American Florists’ 136th annual convention September 21-23.
The competition offers growers from around the world the opportunity to showcase their most outstanding varieties. Expert judges will rank 13 of the entrants as Best in Class, and many more will be awarded blue and red ribbons. The top varieties will also have the chance to show in front of top floral designers at the 2022 AIFD National Symposium, and the Best in Show will be featured on the cover of Floral Management magazine.
Will Gonzalez, sales manager at Royal Flowers Group in Miami, Florida, is a first-time entrant to this year’s competition. He is looking forward to the exposure it will provide for the company and sees it as a way to stir buzz within the industry.
“We believe we have a product that delivers quality, beauty and value,” he says. “We want to showcase in the competition that beauty and quality we are known for.”
Last year’s competition was canceled due to COVID-19 but the timing of this year’s competition is perfect for Nicholas Chang of Rosaprima in Ecuador. The company has several new varieties that have recently become available.
“Rosaprima has participated in the Outstanding Varieties Competition for many years, and we have won several awards, including ‘Best in Show,’” Chang says. “Every year we introduce new and exclusive varieties to our catalog and showcasing them in the Outstanding Varieties Competition is a must. The exposure and reach are great, and we love the fact that it is a competition.”
Being a judge for the Outstanding Varieties Competition was one of Rakini Chinery’s favorite opportunities to work with SAF, says the owner of Allan’s Flowers in Prescott, Arizona.
“It was fun and having the time to really look at the flowers helped me be more objective,” says Chinery, AAF, AZMF.
Rather than simply say, “I don’t like that flower,” the competition helped her consider the flowers on their own merit.
Judges are asked to rate the flowers on different aspects, such as color quality, stem strength, or overall marketability, and Chinery says entrants don’t always conform to current trends.
“People are entering what they consider the best of their best,” she says. “It’s not always going to be the most expensive or exclusive bloom that shines.”
If there was one thing the judging experience taught her, Chinery says, it was to stop and smell (and look at) the roses—and other flowers, too. That’s something florists don’t do enough in their own business, she says.
“We’re just blowing through flowers, processing flowers, getting them out the door, or making them for a wedding,” she says. “We’re not appreciating things individually, and that’s what did for me.”
For growers considering entering the competition, Chinery suggests entering blooms they really believe in.
“Don’t be afraid to enter it because you don’t feel it’s important enough to be judged,” Chinery says. Traditional varieties are just as outstanding as unusual or hybrid offerings, she says.
Gonzalez advises other entrants to think outside the box when it comes to submitting an entry to the competition. “Don’t just show up with a new product,” he says. “Show everyone a new direction.”
Growers can submit their entries for the Outstanding Varieties competition here. The deadline to enter is September 3.
Molly Olson is a contributing writer for the Society of American Florists.
