Continental Floral Greens loads boughs of greens into trucks, which deliver the harvest to wreath-producing facilities in Washington.
Sharing your products’ origin is a way to interest, engage and impress customers. The latest issue of Floral Management tracks the backstory of Christmas greens, offering fun nuggets to use in your holiday marketing.
“Christmas is a year-round subject for Pacific Northwest wreath producers,” says F.J. Trzuskowski, vice president of sales at Continental Floral Greens, which operates farms in Washington, Oregon, California and Florida. “That’s because planning is a key part of ensuring a successful and smooth holiday for wholesalers, retail florists and mass marketers who use our Christmas greens.”
Here are three fun facts about Continental’s Christmas greens:
- When the rest of the floral industry is immersed in Easter, Mother’s Day, and prom, the Continental team sends out its Christmas pricing, enabling customers time to determine their holiday needs so they can prebook in August. By mid-September, the company has double checked to ensure they have enough ribbons, pinecones, and other hardgoods, as well as shipper bins, for each location.
- Continental’s noble fir is grown at 3,000 feet above sea level on a 9,000-acre farm overlooking Mt. St. Helens. Because the Washington terrain is very rugged, helicopters are needed to transport 80- to 100-pound bundles of greens from the mountainsides to a trailer, which takes them a wreath-producing facility.
- Continental has more than 500 workers making wreaths every day of the week throughout October.
“The next time you look at a Christmas wreath, remember, there are a lot of people working and planning to make it possible long before you see it,” Trzuskowski says.
For more details, read the “Up the Supply Chain” column in the November/December issue of Floral Management.
Katie Vincent is the senior contributing editor for the Society of American Florists.
