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While I truly hope everyone enjoyed a pleasant Thanksgiving filled with things that bring you joy, I must acknowledge right off the bat that Dos Gringos did not “bring the happy” to some of you this season. Serious shortfalls in our signature Sunflowers created headaches, frustration, and worse. I want to apologize openly and honestly, and I want to be clear about our plans for mitigating the effects of any shortages in the future.
We had unusually high air and soil temperatures in San Diego County this fall. A portion of our Sunflower seeds on farms in this region burned in the ground, and we came up about 250,000 bunches short. The team realized we had a problem and jumped into action, and the Dos Gringos “can-do” spirit was on full display. We worked quickly to buy replacement product on the open market, we made the best substitutions we could, and we had FedEx at the ready round the clock to get what we could to you as quickly as possible. We did deliver smiles this season, but not enough to let me sleep at night.
The goal was to allocate as fairly as we could so no one came out empty-handed, but I know that’s little consolation when we’ve hyped Suns, you’ve hyped Suns, and everyone wants to go over the river and through the woods with Suns in hand. I also know that when it’s not our product, it’s not our quality, and there was disappointment in that category as well.
If you’ve been with DG for any length of time, you know what sticklers we are for balance and how carefully – with your help -- we plan before we plant. Thanksgiving may be the toughest holiday to “get just right.” We want plenty of Suns to meet your Thanksgiving orders and few by Black Friday, when green, red, and white rule the day. We make adjustments from one year to the next based on historical data, and we go with our best estimates.
Today we have diversified to a point where we now have four different growing regions – with four different climates – from which to harvest Suns and across which to spread the risk of problems. This year we added a trial run of Sunflowers in the California desert, and it did very well. Next year we’ll go all-out in this location to help meet demand. We will always look for and consider additional areas to plant. And we will increase the size of all of our plantings, putting more seeds in the ground on every farm. As always, if you have ideas and insights on how we can get better, anyone on this team is all ears and at your service!
As we move on to a strong finish to 2011, Metallic's are here and hot for the holidays! Be sure to check out our selections and featured bouquets.
We are redesigning and improving our product development process to ensure we can offer new products from the ground and new designs with those items. And we are putting the finishing touches on a “Client Calendar” that will keep everyone apprised of dates and deadlines for our key crops.
Happy, Healthy Holidays to All! Thank you for your business. Thank you for your friendship.
Jason Levin
President & Chief Gringo
HEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!
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A belated Happy Halloween to all. I hope the holiday was filled with more treats than tricks.
It always seems to me that as soon as we turn off the porch lights and blow out the candle in the last jack-o-lantern, there’s a change in the air. I can almost feel the transition the whole country makes from fall flowers – so natural and gorgeous in their own right -- to the more festive and a little fancier holiday crops. Once we hit Nov. 1, it’s all about the party-filled, family-focused events that characterize the last two months of the year. It’s our passion here at Dos Gringos to remind the world that every event, every gathering, every gift gets better with flowers. It’s our obsession to make flowers from Dos Gringos better than anyone else’s.
Thanksgiving is huge for us, of course. Aaron Motola and his team checked in on several of our fields last week to secure our final Thanksgiving forecast and harvest projections. Aaron provides a brief update below. Our Sunflower numbers are tracking quite well as I write this newsletter, but an abnormal amount of rain this fall did put an early end to Pumpkin Tree. Eucalyptus and Sage are in ample supply and look fantastic. We’ll have all hands on deck leading up to Nov. 24, so please let us know what you need and how we can help.
I am very excited about our Dos Gringos Metallics Collection for December. Our color-enhance team has poured a lot of hard work and creativity into this line, and it shows. The whole line really sets itself apart, and it’s one of those important, innovative things we continue to do to improve the customer experience and to keep consumers coming back for more. If you haven’t seen a metallic twist in an arrangement or bouquet, I encourage you to have a look -- and to share the joy with your end users!
On a less-than-joyful note, the Dos Gringos family will say good-bye at the end of this month to Kevin Romani, our faithful and fearless Supply Chain Director. Kevin came aboard in 2002 as an intern while attending the University of San Diego. He hit the ground sprinting, and has given nothing less than 100 percent every day since. Honestly, he’s one of the best hires I’ve ever made. Kevin will have great success in his next adventure, and he will always have a family here at Dos Gringos. He shares his wit and his hard-earned wisdom below. Thank you, Kevin, for all you’ve done for this company and for the industry.
Let the holidays begin!
Jason Levin
President & Chief Gringo
Kevin Romani: Parting Thoughts, Final Shots…
A friend of mine called out of the blue to ask me to help establish a satellite office in San Francisco for Dyn, his fast-growing technology company based in Manchester, N.H. Dyn (http://www.dyn.com) sells managed DNS and email solutions to companies with web stores and heavy internet traffic. Dyn’s customers include Facebook, Twitter, and Overstock.com. I wasn’t interested at first, because I very much enjoy what I do and everyone I work with at DG. As my girlfriend and I considered it further, however, we determined that moving to San Francisco would be great for her career in the health care field; a growth opportunity for me in a new and fast-growing industry; and a wonderful chance to be closer to my family. There were many conversations and several sleepless nights, but we believe this is the right move for us.
Q: What did you enjoy most in your time at Dos Gringos?
The people. I have met and worked with amazing people, not just here at Dos Gringos but throughout the floral industry. Trucking company personnel, farmers, grocery/floral buyers, wholesalers, floral designers, hard goods suppliers – I’ve worked with all of them and more, and I’ve loved every minute of it. When I started here as a college intern, I had no idea how complex, fast-paced and interesting this industry could be. So many things have to go right for the end user to have a wonderful experience and it gets complicated. I have great respect for the hard work and dedication each person puts in to make the whole industry run. We’re an interesting, hardworking bunch, and I’m proud to have worked with such neat people.
Q: Anything you WON’T miss?
Mother Nature related issues, crops that fail without any kind of warning and the endless challenges that come with having to get 100 out of 100 things right for the end user to enjoy that amazing experience. That said, a week or so out, I’m sure I’ll miss the constant engagement and problem-solving that go with this gig!
Q: What have you learned that will be valuable in the next chapter of your life?
Resiliency and the ability to separate emotions from problem solving. When something goes wrong, it’s very natural to be emotionally attached to outcomes and to all the work that’s been done. But emotion gets in the way of solving the problem and making sure it doesn’t happen again. There will always be issues and challenges; it’s how we respond to them that determines our success!
Q: What excites you most about the future?
I’m really looking forward to experiencing a new industry and living in a new city, closer to my family. My entire adult life has been spent working in the flower industry and living in San Diego, so it will be an interesting change of pace. Q: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, what are you most thankful for as 2011 comes to a close?
I’m most thankful for the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met at Dos Gringos. I wouldn’t change anything in my time spent here because I’ve taken away so many amazing life lessons. I’ve experienced successes and failures and learned so much from the people I’ve met, whether it be from Jason or from Sixto Juarez, our packer with the longest tenure. It’s been an amazing ride. I feel fortunate for all of it!
by Aaron Motola, Director of Procurement
The team and I spent much of last week visiting fields and talking with each foreman about a variety of topics. A couple items to call your attention to:
- Many of you are excited to get your hands on Sunflowers with really big heads. Though we’re still very much in the trial phase, I am happy to report that we do have a small amount of our Sunsplash variety for show and tell, and we are optimistic about quality. Interested? Please ask your Business Development Manager.
- How do we get the larger head size when temperatures cool off in late fall and winter? We’re looking to wheat and cotton crops for ideas and best practices with regards to adding micro-organisms to the soil. This is a great learning experience for us, and we’re excited to see results in Jan/Feb.
- Weather patterns in general have not been favorable for Pumpkin Tree volume or fruit count. We are winding down production. Clover remains in terrific supply!
- There’s a different twist – think antique – to our Metallic Collection this year. We’ve expanded from natural metallics to tinted metallics. Don’t miss it!
- Cedar, Douglas Fir, and Princess Pine are on schedule and will be available for shipping the week of Thanksgiving.
- The greens for our Just Add Roses program are getting a lift this year with a more “Christmas-y” look and feel.
True to our pioneering spirit, we grew our first trial of Sunflowers this fall in the southern California desert near Palm Springs. We are constantly seeking out the best locations to overcome production challenges and meet the huge demand for Suns each fall.HEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!
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Together we did it again, and we did it even better.
By “we,” I mean all of us: the Dos Gringos team (the grower), many customers (buyers and store-level staff from around the country), and our hybridizer, the scientists we work with to develop 
cutting-edge seeds and bring to market new and interesting flowers the world has never seen before.The “it” refers to our annual Sunflower pack trials and tests at Gringo Farms. In a whirlwind week and a half, we were thrilled to host over 40 people at the separate trial farm we created in North Coast San Diego to test new varieties and hold off-site brainstorming sessions with team members and clients alike. We had seeds from hybridizers in the United States, Japan and Israel, and we displayed 20 different beds of Sunflower varieties – everything from natural red and white to bi-colors to lemon Teddy Bears to some of our proprietary commercial varieties. 
Gringo Farms also has about 50 varieties of perennials from Protea to Safari Sunset, and we use this area as a demonstration garden to teach team members and clients about how the elements we use in bouquets actually grow in the field.
The interaction and feedback at this year’s trials were phenomenal! I can’t think of a better way to stay on top of issues, trends and trouble spots than to stand in a garden or sit around a table with those of you on the front lines. The more we all understand the complete cycle, from seed selection to the consumer, the more successful we can be. A big “Thank you” from Dos Gringos to all of its visitors last week. I wish we could have had every single client come through, but we will catch you next time. Until we visit in person, keep letting us know what we can do to help make your flower program crank.
It’s October now, and you’ve got to get your Pumpkin Tree! It is fabulous and in ample supply.
It screams autumn – in a good way – and it offers a different twist than the fall standards. You’ll love what it does for bouquets and other arrangements.
Jason Levin
President & Chief GringoOur travel schedule is light this month as we settle in and focus on the home front. As always, quality is a huge priority. Mark Young, our Chief Operating Officer, talks in this issue about some of those initiatives. 
A Message from COO Mark Young
Blocking and tackling are the focus this fall at Dos Gringos. Concentrating on the fundamentals, striving for constant improvement, and building on our core strengths has served us well. This team understands that quality is Priority #1 and that we must be the best in the industry at integrating high customer expectations with the uncertainties and uncontrollable elements Mother Nature throws our way.
Daily production meetings and a serious Total Quality Management initiative are helping us. Quality Assurance Manager Mary Luz Rodriguez has made great strides in our production area, and she’s recently expanded her efforts beyond these four walls to include our farms. We believe that long-term, lasting quality is about consistency and a common language that everyone can understand and embrace. Mary Luz and Gabe Gill are driving those efforts here at Dos Gringos.
The plant layout is getting some attention this season. As we continue to grow and thrive, we insist on having the best possible flow between assembly and packing so we can deliver the productivity and volume improvements you want.
With Thanksgiving around the corner, we’re working on a seven-day work schedule that will ensure you get what you need when you need it. Growers Caveat…Weather permitting of course!HEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!
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No, I haven’t lost my marbles. Not all of them, anyway. And I certainly am not one to rush the holidays (though a ski weekend sounds good to me any time of year).
When someone asked me what was up for September, I realized it was all about customers coming to town. Which means, of course, that the team and I are all about getting ready for those visits. 
The second annual Dos Gringos Pack Trials are upon us. Fall is always a grand time of year for us and our products anyway, but the last two weeks of September give us an ideal opportunity to fluff the feathers a little and strut our stuff.
Aaron, Todd, Marco and I will spend the last two weeks of this month at Gringo Farms, a separate trial farm we have created in North County San Diego, CA to test new varieties and hold off-site brainstorming sessions with team members and clients alike.
Last year we conducted a week of Sunflower pack trials and tests with a number of different customers. We had seeds from hybridizers in the United States, Japan and Israel, and we displayed 20 different beds of Sunflower varieties – everything from natural white to bi-color to lemon Teddy Bears to some of the commercial varieties.This year’s participants will get a look at the first-ever all-white and all-red Sunflowers plus a chance to see Pumpkin Tree and Purple Majesty plants pre-harvest, in their field plots.
We’ll provide an update on the entire DG Sunflower product line, including new varieties in development, and talk some about the benefit of good, solid forecasting (Plan & Plant).
And we’ll host some interactive discussions about the breeding/seed hybridizing process.
Make sure you bring those burning questions you’ve been dying to ask!
Haven’t registered yet for the Pack Trials? No worries. Contact joan.saunders@dosgringos.net to sign up.
On behalf of the whole team, we look forward to seeing you later this month!
Jason Levin
President & Chief Gringo
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