National Retail Federation

• The NLC offers a central location for organizations to meet with high-achieving students as they engage in 135 competitions at a national level.
• FBLA’s Future Leaders Expo is a prime opportunity for companies wanting to interact directly with today’s top talent who come with resumes in hand,” FBLA President & CEO Alexander T. Graham said.
• Future Business Leaders of America, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with more than 193,000 middle school, high school, and college members worldwide.
• FBLA inspires and prepares students to become community-minded business leaders in a global society through relevant career preparation and leadership experiences.

• “We are excited to welcome Chris to Constellation’s board of directors,” said José Manuel Madero, Constellation Brands board member and interim board chair.
• Mr. Baldwin continues to serve as a member of BJ’s board of directors until his term expires at its 2024 annual meeting of shareholders.
• While at BJ’s, Mr. Baldwin also served as chairman of the National Retail Federation board of directors from 2018-2020.
• “On behalf of my fellow Constellation Brands board members, I want to thank Susan for her leadership and dedicated service to our board and the company over the past six-and-a-half years,” said Madero.

• RENO, Nevada, Feb. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ITS Logistics today released the Q1 ITS Logistics US Distribution and Fulfillment Index, Powered by Cresa .
• A total of 282.4 million square feet of projects have started this year after 598 million square feet began construction in 2022.
• “Overall, starts have slowed as the year progressed, and interest rates continued to rise,” said Ryan Martin, President of Distribution and Fulfillment for ITS Logistics.
• Visit here for a full, comprehensive copy of the index with expected forecasts for the US distribution and fulfillment sector of the supply chain industry.

• Feb. 14 is Valentine’s Day – an occasion that traditionally combines romance with big business.
• One of the biggest businesses is selling roses, which Americans increasingly love.
• The National Retail Federation estimates people will spend US$2.6 billion on Valentine’s Day flowers, but that includes everything from azaleas to zinnias.
• The Society of American Florists says that 250 million roses are produced for the holiday, but it doesn’t estimate spending.

Where are those roses coming from?

• To learn more, I turned to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which for decades has tracked the number of domestic farms and nurseries selling cut roses.
• Back in 1970, there were almost 800 U.S. commercial farms and nurseries growing cut roses.
• The USDA’s latest Census of Horticultural Specialties found about 110 farms and nurseries growing cut roses.
• In 2023, the U.S. imported about 2.8 billion cut roses.
• Instead, cut roses sold in the U.S. primarily come from two places: Colombia and Ecuador.

Why Colombia and Ecuador?

• The shift from U.S.-grown roses to South American ones happened a few decades ago, when the U.S. and Colombian governments were looking for new ways to stem the flow of cocaine into the U.S. One part of the strategy was to convince farmers in Colombia to stop growing coca leaves – a traditional Andean plant that provides the raw ingredient for making cocaine – by giving them preferential access to U.S. markets if they grew something else.
• So, in the early 1990s, Colombia and Ecuador signed the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.
• Signing gave these coca-producing countries duty-free access to U.S. markets in exchange for clamping down on growing illegal drugs.
• Whether the act stopped drug production is unclear, but many businesses in Colombia and Ecuador started growing and shipping flowers north.

Prices for roses

• The vast quantity of roses coming up from Colombia and Ecuador has kept rose prices in check.
• In a typical year, supermarket prices for a dozen roses double around Valentine’s Day.
• While the USDA doesn’t track flower shop prices, visiting my local florist shows the cost of premium long-stem roses in vases is higher.

Why the price increase?

• The U.S. government tracks monthly the import price of single roses.
• In 2023, before Valentine’s Day, the average cut rose stem cost 40 cents coming off the cargo plane.
• This means in August, roses cost wholesalers $3 a dozen, while a dozen Valentine’s Day roses cost $5 after clearing customs.
• Given the average price in supermarkets over the whole year for a dozen roses was a bit over $12, this means people in the U.S. are spending more than $3 billion annually.

Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.