Transcript Fresh Flower - Red Mountain WholesaleEmployee Training

Fresh Flower
Quality Assurance
Our goal is to provide our customers
with the best quality product available.
Make sure when pulling orders for your
customers that you are pulling in rotation.
Pull from front buckets first to keep the
product as fresh as possible.
Why rotation is important
Example: A bunch of roses at 14 days goes
into the discount section. It may look fine
on the top, but once you open it you can see
the moldy petals and sometimes mold
growing on the leaves.
Things to look for when pulling product to
pack:
Mold on stems/flower heads
Broken flower heads
Mushy stems
Smashed/bruised heads
Dark coloring on the edge of petals
Frozen product
Spots and Blemishes
Wilted Heads/leaves
Petals dropping
To much moisture
Exposure to heat
Mold on stems can develop
from sitting in buckets.
Sometimes the heads can look good at
first glance, but the stems/leaves may
have mold.
Hidden Mold
When packing alstroemeria take one
sleeve off to check the leaves and
stem for mold before packing.
Broken Flower Heads
Sometimes you will see a bunch that has a few
heads broken and the rest of the bunch looks good.
This can happen in shipping or by getting bumped
while walking around them in the cooler. Help
eliminate waste by taking 2 bunches and making
one good bunch.
Mushy Stems
Some flower varieties have softer stems that can
disintegrate and turn mushy. Often found on calla
lilies, ranunculus, hyacinths, and other bulb flowers.
Smashed and bruised heads
Can be caused from shipping, being
dropped/bumped, old product, or packed
carelessly with heads touching the box.
Dark coloring on the tip of
the petals
When flowers are old the tips of the petals
will darken in color, this is a sign that the
flower is aging.
Frozen Product
When product has been frozen the petals will turn
translucent/sometimes crunchy and the flower will
not open. Caused when the cooler/refrigerated
trucks are running too cold.
Spots and Blemishes
Delicate flowers can be sensitive to
touch, temperature, and water drops.
Keep in air tight container.
Wilted Heads/leaves
When flowers start to age they will
start wilting, the edges will start to
shrivel.
Dropping Petals
As some flowers age they will start
dropping petals, agapanthus, phlox,
and delphinium are flowers to watch
for petals dropping.
Too much moisture
When water is dropped on the heads of flowers or inside
the sleeves it can cause the flowers to mold.
When flowers come in with paper wrapped around the
flowers inside the sleeves it should be removed before
going in the cooler. When the paper is left on the bunch
of flowers and gets wet from the water in the bucket it
will cause the flowers to mold.
Exposure to Heat
When flowers are exposed to heat they start to
deteriorate. Example: A bunch of stock can wilt
and die within 1-2 hours out in the heat.
Keeping Flowers Fresh
When putting product back in the cooler or walking
through the cooler make sure all products are in
water in the buckets. When you see a bunch
sticking higher than the rest of the bunches take a
minute and make sure it is in water.
By rotating flowers every
shipment we can provide
the freshest product to our
customers and have
satisfied customers!