The Dirt - Winter 2015

"Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings."  - William Arthur Ward As we head into the holiday season, I agree and endorse Ward’s quote above.  There are so many things to be thankful for and I would like to reiterate that we are thankful for you, our clients. These last couple of weeks have been rough on the sunflower harvest side and we’re thankful for your understanding. I am thankful for the great team that we have at Dos Gringos and how well we all work together, especially during critical times. We are truly here for you and the entire team and I are very thankful for your business, loyalty and friendship. My sincere wishes to you and your family for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

As usual, we have been traversing the lower 48.  Here are just a few things that we have been up to these past few months and, we have the pictures to prove it. This month, we feature our Master Grower, Todd Thornton, so please enjoy the interview. Q. Could you tell us a bit about your background in farming? A. I was born in 1966 in Encinitas and I took a big interest in what my family was doing – it was a big part of the way I was raised. Driving the tractors with the guys when I was young, and out in the fields with the workers helped to begin my passion for horticulture. I loved to hang out with my father and the only way to do that was to go to work with him. I started off as low as you could go—by pulling weeds, I kept learning, and I then graduated to packing plants.  And then when the harvest came and the work went on and on. It’s a big part of my history. My family started growing in 1920s. Being able to produce a crop that would be able to know the microclimates was really important. The Southwest and Mexico area's are my current specialty. Sunflowers are one of only 70 or 80 crops I’ve grown professionally. I didn’t acquire the knowledge by going to school, I did it by growing. Knowing the science behind it is very important. I like to read industry magazines. I’ve dedicated my life to it. I was fortunate to find Jason/ Dos Gringos Farms who wanted to set out to be the best in the world in one crop. I worked for other growers who did a lot of crops. But by focusing on one crop, I’ve gained knowledge about each variety – I’m able to link to microclimates and able to create a 365-day harvest – I can produce year-round without stopping. That’s what makes us successful. I’m constantly looking for crops that are more resistant to bug. Q. How did the recent frost and cold weather effect the sunflower crops? A. The cold weather snap in early November delayed/halted our harvests in a couple of our key growing regions.  Sunflowers not only love the sun, they also love warm days.   With temperatures 15 to 20 degrees lower than normal, this holiday has been one of the most challenging in our history.   Frankly, we are very lucky that we have invested in diversified growing regions over the last 10 years.  If we didn’t do that things would be even uglier.  In true Dg fashion, we’ll learn all we can from it, make adjustments, and be better in the future.  Q. What are your tips for keeping flowers alive after they are cut? A. What I do is I make sure sufficient hydration – CLEAN water, replacing every 4 days. Keep sunflowers out of a draft or directly sunlight. Use a preservative package that is supplied is also important.

A frozen field of Sunflowers Q. How big can sunflowers get? A. There are thousands of different varieties – we can grow some that are 12 feet tall, but these are not necessarily the best for bouquets. For us, it is best to grow at an eye level for the harvester – when it’s at eye level, I can inspect the flower as I am cutting it. If the flower is looking at me right in the face, I can tell it is of the best quality, and do it quicker. But what is also important here is protecting the health of our team. This height minimizes having to bend down and do that hard kind of labor. That literally saves the backs of our team members. Q. What is the one most important factor in growing the highest quality flowers? A. Customer satisfaction all the way is job one for us. I’m a really picky person when it comes to our flowers. If I wouldn’t give them to my mother, I’m not satisfied. My standards are incredibly high. Customer satisfaction is what it is all about. No matter what color it is – it has to be beautiful on arrival, has to be unique – either in color or quality. Q. Any current or future technologies? A. We do a lot of things differently than other people. We really are Different by Design and that means not only the designs of our bouquets.  It’s the different herbicides we use, harvest techniques, post techniques, hydration fluids, cooling—a lot of tools that we use to produce the highest quality. We’re using things we put into irrigation system to benefit during growth cycle. There are too many to mention. You learn it with trial and error. Q. What new flower varieties are growing this year? Any new surprises? A. This year to give you an example – we have about 8-10 that I know I can grow in all the different microclimates. I can plant and know when to harvest at a particular time. This year I’ve tried 110 sunflowers from 3 diff countries, and I selected only 4 that I’m even interested in. It’s based on color, strength of the product, post-harvest life – if it fits within the system of what we grow. It will take me 3-5 years to figure out which I can grow consistently. This year we’ll introduce 3-5 varieties that customers can use. We’re looking at plum variety, white center, buttercream etc. Q. How long they live? A. When our customer receives it, the flowers should last 7-10 days.  We’re trying to get it to the customer the fastest way possible. We make sure the quality is such that this can be done. A lot of experience is needed. I know what works and what doesn’t. Q. Last thoughts?  A. I think there’s no one better than Dos Gringos Farms (Sun.Flowers) at growing sunflowers, but I am bias.  It’s this experience and dedication to Sunflowers that sets us apart. When Jason hired me he said we want to be the best in the world at sunflowers, and I think we are really close. We have an excellent team and I’m really proud to be part of it. A Frozen Sunflower The Dos Gringos family goes all out for Halloween! Call us today to check out our holiday bouquet line

From us at Dos Gringos we wish you a wonderful holiday season! ___________________________

The Dirt - August 2015

Florida. Missouri. Texas. Georgia. California. The Dos Gringos team logged a lot of miles and covered a lot of ground this summer – for good reasons with great clients! Invited by several of you to show and tell what’s new and next from DG, we gladly assembled samples of everything from late fall to Christmas, Valentine’s Day to Mother’s Day – even our line for Spring 2016. A special planting in anticipation of five separate line reviews this summer helped a lot, and I think we showed up well. Special thanks to Gabby, Robin, Jenny, and Rich for all the hard work and preparation that went into our presentations! Fall Marigolds are getting ready for lift off. Can you say Dia De Los Muertos?

ENHANCING PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY We had visitors in Vista as well and were happy to show how California growers approach product and production and how DG sets itself apart with specialty items and arrangements. A Lean Six Sigma project is aimed at cutting time, cost, and waste from the flower-buying experience, and we’re already picking up some efficiencies. Gabe Gill and team have added a number of tools and resources on the production floor: •  A jumbo thermometer ensures everyone knows exactly how we’re doing on daily department metrics; •   Productivity boards are the result of a detailed data collection process that tells us WHERE we can lower costs and HOW we can track real-time performance; •  Our QC team – the folks in the red vests – meet weekly to discuss checkpoints for the day/week. •  “GO SEE” is a new discipline that sends supervisors out on the floor on a regular basis to identify areas of waste; •  All department leads are being trained in the A3 problem-solving method to drive process improvements; •  Feedback channels are up and running to support better, faster communication among all departments. Hats/Sombrero's off to our Quality Control team who continue to crush their monthly goal of 99.5% of client satisfaction!

EXCITING EXPANSION INTO MEXICO One of the most exciting developments is our continued expansion into Mexico. The “Grow Team” is spending more and more time there, trialing and testing more than 30 different, new varieties. It’s all about innovation, and we’re seeing interesting colors, hearty flowers and foliage, even some branching, sprouting Sunflowers. More to come on what’s available when, but early results are promising – and very pretty. Check out the Pumpkin Tree video below! Congratulations to our Planning and Planting Team for hitting 100% of the harvest forecast for 3 months in a row!

Until we can show and tell more…enjoy these last weeks of summer and let us know how we can help with a flower-filled fall. –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who love and nurture a kid(s) who needs you. I hope the holiday gave you rest, relaxation, and every reason to keep doing the amazing work you do! Here at Dos Gringos, we’re catching our breath after an extremely busy few weeks leading up to May 10. We enjoyed a really nice bump in sales brought on by interesting, innovative promotions for Cinco de Mayo celebrations. The controlled chaos included us busting our own record for highest single day of sales in our 27 year history. We did it May 2, the same day American Pharaoh won this year’s Kentucky Derby. The whole DG family will celebrate our record breaker in style during a fun-filled day in August at the Del Mar Racetrack. You can’t get those results without all hands on deck; I’m proud of the team effort that turned all our planning and preparation into orders and fulfillment.

Of course, when you go hard and fast for a while, you also get to see where there’s room for improvement. Flow and speed are two things we’ll continue to scrutinize and make better to ensure the best possible experience for all of our clients.

CHECK OUT OUR NEW PRODUCTS! I hope everyone’s had a chance to check out our high-end Succulent bouquets. This is a really neat way to extend the life of a DG creation long after stems and greens have given their all and to support end users’ interest in home gardening. There’s a lot we can do on the information/education side of this trend, and we’ll continue to share our unique expertise with pictures, tips, and tricks.

Graduations, year-end performances, and team appreciation events will round out the rest of the spring season for us, and we’ve got quite a few Sunflower promotions to help all worthy recipients mark these milestones with farm-fresh flowers and foliage.

June will find many of us on the road again for the all-important face-to-face conversations with clients.  We’ll be looking ahead to fall and what we can do to continue to deserve their business and be a great partner. I like to say that the spring rush is about being on the runway, while the summer allows us to climb to 50,000 feet and get a much broader view of where we’re at and where we need to be. I’ll keep you posted on what that looks like! Until then, here’s to fresh flowers and foliage that make folks smile! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’ve always believed that a little luck goes a long way – but it’s up to us to make the most of it! I hope you get your share of good fortune in this month of spring and renewal. One of the most significant things Dos Gringos has never left to chance is the deliberate decision to not be a flower broker. With the variety of roles and players in this industry, it’s easy to forget who’s who and what’s what, but distinction and nuance matters – especially for you, our clients.

We are the first, middle, and last part of the chain that makes up the flower-buying experience. This means there’s never a middle man when you work with Dos Gringos. We are our own research and development experts. We own the seed, we own the production and we own the assembly facilities where your bouquets are made.  We’re committed to regular, relevant innovations that drive quality up and costs down. We also own the responsibility for mistakes – we are people first, and people mess up -- and we take great pride in making things right when they occur. The buck truly does stop right here and right with me.

As we continue our quest to bring smiles to millions, we continue to stand behind the pillars that have supported our growth to date: People, Freshness, and Innovation. The idea is simple – build a great team of forward-thinking professionals committed to delivering the freshest, most reasonably priced flowers and greens on the planet – but it’s not easy. We “get after it” every single day, and agility and evolution are key. It’s my responsibility to ask the right people to do the right things and then thank and reward them for excellence.

When I became owner and chief gringo over 20 years ago, we harvested 100 Sunflowers a day. Today we harvest 100,000 daily. That says a lot about the desire to spread smiles and good cheer, not just on the part of my team but on the part of people in general. There’s a demand for flowers; we need to keep making them fresher and more convenient so more and more people can share the love. It’s a great reason for showing up to work each day!

Dos Gringos was proud, to again, be a sponsor for the Fifth Annual Chelsea's RunCharity Fundraiser this past weekend. The Sunflower ~ It is resilient, it is bright and always follows the sun. It stands out in a crowd. It is surprising, towers over others in uniqueness and splendor, and the closer you look, the more amazing its depth and beauty. Chelsea’s favorite flower, theSunflower has come to symbolize the light and hope that continue to shine brightly.  We were glad to donate 2,500 of them to brighten the run!

with Marco Rivera On a less happy note, I regret to inform all of our clients that Marco Rivera, Director of Sales, has decided to seize an interesting opportunity to work in a different industry. We will miss his expertise and his passion for keeping Dos Gringos “Different by Design.” He was kind enough to share a few parting thoughts that I think say a lot about who Dos Gringos is and what we’ll continue to be. Q. Best Lesson Learned? A. “The number of things that must go right for the end consumer to have a great experience is mind-boggling. There are so many outstanding people in the floral industry -- and at Dos Gringos -- who have made it their life’s work to optimize each and every touch point. It’s impressive and humbling.” Q. Perspective on Pillars: A. “Dos Gringos gets it right by putting people first. With everything I’ve seen, done, and learned, it’s the relationships I’ll remember and cherish most. Colleagues become friends, and teammates become family. People first – all the way, all the time.” Q. I Won’t Miss: A. “Mother Nature! Extreme and unexpected changes in the weather are no friend of the industry. I look forward to ignoring the weather forecast.” In Closing...? “Thank you for all of the great memories. I will truly miss DG and every relationship I developed.”

Right back at you, Marco. We will miss your steady leadership and perspective and hope to stay in touch. Mother’s Day will be here before we know it. Right now all crops and specialty items are looking great, so please let us know what you’ll need. Happy Easter! Happy Passover! This letter began with a leprechaun and ends with a bunny. Life is good…but it’s definitely better with flowers! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Valentine’s week is here, and the hard work and long hours we’ve logged since Jan. 30 have us in good shape for the home stretch. To ensure this holiday delivers all the smiles it can, we’ll have crews available 24/7 until Feb. 13 to get you what you need. Nothing says “love” like fresh, farm-grown flowers, and no one does fresh, farm-grown flowers like Dos Gringos. Well, at least we’d like to think so. Let us know if you need any last minute help this week and we will do everything that we can to try to help.  Our Just Adds® program continues to satisfy several needs and interests right now, and our unique mixed greens remain as popular as ever. We’re hearing that consumers coast-to-coast appreciate the ability to customize a standard bouquet of roses or tulips with a touch – or a ton -- of interesting California greens. It’s easy and affordable, and the possibilities are endless. If you weren’t in the loop for Valentine’s Day it’s not to late to jump on the bandwagon for Mother’s Day.

Strategic Planning was a big topic for us throughout the fourth quarter. Several meetings and conversations resulted in an aggressive plan that holds true to our foundation and the things we’re best at. I want to share what we’re going after so you can get involved as much as you like and help keep us honest and realistic. Highlights include: FRESHNESS: In the flower business, the number of things that need to go right to ensure the BEST end-user experience is mind-numbing. While we embrace the challenge to examine and optimize every last step in the process from ranch to retail, we know that one aspect gets most of the attention: vase life. People who buy flowers want those stems and blooms to last as long as possible. That’s why we’re committed to a three-year-project to drive a full three days from our supply chain. This will demand better forecasting, planning, and logistics solutions, for sure. First steps include the recent addition of a full-time horticulturalist to oversee our fields in Mexico and visits to supply chain efficiency experts outside of the flower business.  It’s our belief that the one thing that we will never hear from our customers and your customers is… “I really wish my fresh flowers didn’t last so long." INNOVATION: New seeds, new designs, and new displays will help deliver on our promise of “Different by Design®.”  In March we’ll introduce you to our new Director of Operations who will focus so keenly on day-to-day operations excellence that I and other leaders will be free to play more offense and less defense. While Jeff Cottingham helps us gets everything just right on the operation side, I plan to increase visits with potential and existing clients and spend a lot more time on “new and next.” Our collaborative approach to date has served us well, and I will continue to ask the people closest to the action – YOU – for the insight, ideas, and feedback that will drive our future focus.  Please click on the attached link if you’d like to help.  If not, all good.  We’re still working hard on everyone's behalf.   PEOPLE: All the freshness and innovative ideas in the world won’t do anything for us -- or you – if we don’t have the right team in place to execute. There’s opportunity to change and improve our hiring process to ensure we’ve got the right folks in the right seats – and that we’re treating them so well they don’t want to work anywhere else. An outside firm that we hired to help us with this teams up with us to help define our talent management strategy and long term road map.   This month we would like to feature our new Teammate Fernando Ayala, who is our Agronomist, handling our Mexican operations.   Q. Although I have just begun my employment with Dos Gringos I am most excited about? A. The attention the company is giving me, I really feel like I am part of a team and a work family. Q. My personal moto or mantra is? A. Everything you wish for is possible, but if you leave it as a wish it will only be an illusion. Q. I chose agronomy as my course of study because? A. Earth is a female figure that must be treated with respect and care. Q. The top three highlights of my life (so far) have been? A. My family, agronomy, and Dos Gringos. Q. My favorite flower/ food/book/movie is? A. Dahlia, shrimp, Mexico Before God (Francisco Martin Moreno), La Malquerida, El Rebozo de Soledad (Soledad’s Shawl) and Maclovia. Q. People would be surprised to know about me. A. The only time my mother went with me to school is when I graduated. Q. In my free time I enjoy. A. Charreria (Mexican rodeos), Swimming, read articles related to my career and profession, and learn more about my country. Q. Is there anything you would like to add? A. The only barrier we have is fear to make a change.   Never a dull moment, and we’ll certainly keep you posted on programs and progress. In the meantime, Happy Valentine’s Day to all!   SALUD!   ______________________________________ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hola, and Happy Holidays to all! On behalf of the entire Dos Gringos Team, I wish you and yours a warm, wonderful season filled with joy and flowers! Our glad tidings are arriving a little later in the month than I prefer, as we have been nose to the grindstone since winter arrived. The team and I decided to hit the road this month to catch up in person with clients in New York, Ohio, California, Utah and Illinois. Conversations have been incredibly productive, and our team is bringing back plenty of confidence to hit the ground running with in 2015.  This experience will offer improvements and initiatives aimed at client satisfaction for the entire year..  I shared much of your feedback with the Dos Gringos team when we gathered on December 11th for our annual Holiday Luncheon and Town Hall Meeting here in the Design Studio. I assure you that each team member is inspired and excited to do whatever it takes to enhance the experience of working at Dos Gringos and with you.  This includes ensuring that their work supports our strategic pillars of People, Freshness, Innovation, and Growth. We also spent time recognizing the hard work and highlights of 2014, which include:

Look for us in early 2015 to make strides in streamlining and accelerating the flower flow process from Ranch to Retail: -  Optimizing our logistics resources -  Minimizing production dips -  Increasing our product development pipeline for new seeds and designs.  Your input and feedback on any or all these are welcome and appreciated.   Until then, enjoy friends and family and try to sneak in at least a little R&R.   Happy New Year!     ______________________________________ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Mea culpa. This issue of The Dirt begins with one big apology. Several of our valuable clients were very disappointed by our Sunflower dip in production we experienced during Week #40 and part of #41.  One of our top initiatives is to move seamlessly from the production of our spring/summer growing regions (instead of “pushing” them to perform further and compromising quality) into production at our fall/winter sites. We work at this all year long. While we shipped close to flawlessly almost every week in 2014 so far, we did have a hiccup in October that left clients without all the Sunflowers they expected. That’s not o.k., and I assure you we’ll do everything in our power to avoid it in the future.  The PMA show in October gave me the opportunity to explain the gap to some clients in person. Call me 24/7 if you want further explanation or want to hear from me personally on what our plan is for 2015. PMA was a great venue for sharing some of our latest and greatest ideas and innovations – "Copper Suns" and the “Happy Day” bouquets were big hits -- during a very solid Saturday on the show floor. Special thanks to those of you who attended our Happy Hour event at Morton’s. The team and I appreciate your time, interest, and feedback!          We returned from Anaheim to late fall/winter production in full swing, and we are really looking forward to an outstanding Thanksgiving.  So far, we are on plan and have had yields on or above forecast for Weeks 42, 43, and 44.. While Pumpkin Trees and Marigolds wind down for the year, autumn Sunflowers and the usual fall staples are gorgeous and meeting demand. We’re running double shifts from Oct. 27 through the Thanksgiving shipping period and extended office hours begin Nov. 13. Check out these two featured bouquets to the left.

Strategic planning is on the calendar as well. In addition to new, smarter approaches to preventing the fall dip, we’ll start tackling long-term questions about differentiation and a business model that can’t easily be duplicated – all so we can continue to give you the best flower-buying experience at the best possible prices.   In the meantime, on behalf of everyone at Dos Gringos, thank you for choosing and partnering with us, and have a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving!     50k Run Stats: Time:  5 hours 25 minutes. Finished #15 of 200 in age group.   ______________________________________ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -