FLOWER IN FOCUS
Buying roses… from start to fi nish!
K
eith Baker, MD of Optimus, one of the UK’s biggest importers, placed his rose order
for Valentines in January. Nothing particularly surprising about that you might think except Keith was ordering for 2014! But the fact is, if Keith is going to supply as many roses as he did this year, which has helped to increase sales on last year, he has to work a year in advance to make sure he gets the pick of the crop. Because buying at this scale
isn’t a last minute thing. Roses take six months to get to the point of cutting and along the way there are a lot of issues growers need to be on top of. For example in South America they’ll start pinching out in October/November to make sure the roses will fl ush for February. And that’s why Optimus
were the fi rst to have a team of quality control people based in Colombia to make sure they
had daily dialogue with their growers. “Our customers; be they wholesalers or supermarkets expect the best – not just in terms of fl ower quality but service as well. We’ve got six people based in South America who visit the farms on a daily basis in the run up to the peaks and then spend the rest of the year making sure plans and systems are working well.” In fact some 85% of Optimus
roses now come out of Ecuador and Colombia… testament to the quality rose growers can produce, within all the social and environmental expectations and at prices that make sense. “Customers know what they’re getting for the money. We can’t control exchange rates or aviation costs (both the bane of Keith’s life) but we can get within pennies on price. With the Dutch auction system you can’t get to the nearest pound because of the fl uctuations.” Something Keith reckons
will carry on through the year and why he is keen everyone
Sweetberry and Moody Blues (inset)
gets their head round it. “The price volatility at the moment is scary and I personally don’t see it changing
any time soon.” His advice? “Be
both country and grower savvy. Yes I am going to push South American but the fact is when it comes to year round buying the prices make the best sense.” And they have some pretty
stunning varieties to choose from including two of Keith’s top tips for 2013 - Moody Blues and Sweetberry. “They come out of both Ecuador and Colombia and are truly stunning. We’re running the trials at the moment but I reckon they could be the next big thing.”
The Flower Shop in Cheshire as well as the UK School of Floristry. With a portfolio of weddings that make all fl orists drool and budgets that exceed the national debt (we’re only kidding!) Ian probably uses more roses than any other fl ower which explains why he has an industrial sized rose cutter in the workroom! But when it comes to
O
Keith, Angela and Jade of Optimus Flowers
14 F&wb Spring 2013
buying there is no luxury or extravagance... it’s a hardnosed decision
>>
ne man who may be a prime customer for the new varieties is Ian Lloyd, owner of
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