FTD and Proflowers Settle Lawsuit
In a previous post, we reported that FTD had sued Proflowers because of the ads Proflowers was running. That lawsuit was settled today. At issue was the claim that local florists sell old flowers, and Proflowers' flowers are days to weeks fresher. BALONEY!! No one is admitting to anything, as usual, but Proflowers has agreed to stop making those false claims. An additional lawsuit regarding trademarks was also settled.
Proflowers leads the consumer to believe their flowers are shipped directly from the fields, as if the farmers are waiting anxiously beside their computers for your order to be placed, then scurry out and cut your flowers and immediately ship them. Ha! Business 2.0 chronicled Proflowers distribution strategy (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2005/05/01/8259689/index.htm). The hype comes straight from Proflowers press releases, but you'll see exactly what happens to your flowers. Proflowers buys their flowers on the same open market we do. All our flowers go to Miami. In Miami, the bouquets are assembled and sent via UPS Ground or FedEx. UPS Ground?!? FedEx?!? Their trucks aren't refrigerated. Imagine being flowers, sitting in a UPS truck, with no air conditioning and no water in this summer's heat wave. They're not going to arrive looking too nice.
Our flowers come to Pittsburgh from Miami as air cargo, or on special refirgerated trucks (a 2 day trip). At the wholesaler, the flowers are inspected and cut before delivery to us. We store them in the cooler, in water, until we deliver them directly to the recipient in our air conditioned (or heated in the winter) vans. Unlike UPS or FedEx, we don't just drop them at the door unless we are specifically instructed to do so (and in inclement weather, we still bring them back to the shop).
Here's the story with flower quality: temperature and hydration make all the difference. Our flowers are cooled and hydrated earlier in the distribution chain, increasing the quality we deliver. Nothing wrong with the UPS guy, but that business wasn't meant for perishable produce.
For more on Proflowers, visit the Florist Detective at http://www.floristdetective.com/wst_page15.html.