Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Dirt - June 2011 Issue




Hola!IFE Invitation - Click to enlarge

The excitement is building around here as we put the final touches on our displays for this month’s International Floriculture Expo in Miami Beach. I’ll be in Booth #1933 with Creative Director Rene’ van Rems, AIFD, Director of Sales Marco Rivera and National Account Manager Charlotte Russeth as we show and tell how Dos Gringos is Different by Design™.



Unfortunately it’s a quick trip to Miami for me and I will only be on the show floor on Wednesday. For some crazy reason I was selected as a finalist in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition and need to be back in San Diego Thursday night for this ceremony and announcement.



Free Instructional DVD
Rene’ and Dos Gringos have a great new DVD available with hands-on instruction and detail about Sunflower care and handling, merchandising and design. Don’t miss your free copy!



Half Pallet Update
The Half Pallet Program, a patented merchandising system we introduced in 1999, is updated with a variety of seasonally goof-proof bouquets. Please come and see some of the newest varieties of Sunflowers currently on trial for mass production and check out our enhanced grower bunch line up.



Half Pallet

Cup of Sunshine



We’ll also have the latest and greatest seasonal bouquets for 2011-2012, including the wildly popular gilded series of foliages and botanicals so perfect for the year-end holidays.


A Cup of Sunshine!
Last but not least, the new edition of “Cup of Sunshine,” the very handy ranch-to-retail promotion, is available in many varieties.


Cup of Sunshine Products


Summer Housekeeping
Back at headquarters in Vista, the team is working on a number of summer projects meant to fill the potholes that winter so often leaves behind. We’ll conduct annual maintenance on all of our equipment to keep it in tip-top shape. Line leaders and assemblers will be trained on new techniques for keeping our bouquet
making as efficient as possible. We’ll get familiar with a new software package for streamlining shipping. And Rene’ and Marco will work with the sales team on our Summer 2012 line. This always includes conversations with Instruction by Reneclients about what they’re working on, where the market is headed, etc. Thank you in advance for your invaluable input on this project!



Constant improvement is a mantra around here, and this summer is no exception. Under Mark Young’s direction, each department will undergo an audit of all its processes with an eye toward how we can make everything better. Because fresh eyes and a different perspective are always a good idea, we’ll form cross-functional teams to evaluate areas they don’t typically work in and to ask questions and offer insight that push us all to the next level.

2011 Project Donations List

Weekly
- 17 Vases for Scripps Health Ctr. Meals on Wheels Bouquets
Petals for Patriots Bouquets

1/24 - Scripps Health Center Flowers


2/5 - 480 Wristlet Corsages for YMCA

2/11 - 5 Bunches of Suns in Box - Donation

2/22
- Bouquets to Alzheimer patient group visiting DG

2/24
- SamLive 12 Suns shipped to Salvation Army Kroc Ctrdonations

2/26 - Education Foundation Scholarship Circle 13 arrangements

3/2
- 15 Bouquets 10 Arrangements 3500 stems Chelsea King Project

3/2
- 100 Stems of Suns with SFG Tags for Nobleza Tequila

3/9 - 20 bunches Suns & 4 bunches Greens Christina's Scholarship

3/12 - Women's Hall of Fame $1000.00 in product

3/12 - Jason Patrick Funeral Flowers 35 Agmt, 8 vase, 2 large sprays

3/25 - 12 Agmts, 150 St. Sun - Soul Sharing Sister (leukemia fund)

4/8 - Bouquet - San Marcos Garden Club

4/13 - Bouquets - Point Loma Garden Club

4/14 - 210 Bouquets for Meals on Wheels Volunteer Luncheon

4/30 - 72 Sunshine Cups, 2 Long Centerpieces Volunteer Teacher Brunch

5/4 - Carehouse Fund Raiser 260 Bouquets

5/10 - Vista Woman's Club donated 11 Bunch of Suns 6 Bunches Solidago

5/10 - Meals on Wheels 11 arrangements 15 Bouquets Board Meeting

5/10 - 5 Bouquets for Santana High La Cross Team in Oceanside L.Garcia

5/16 - 14 Bqts. for Vista Flor- School Athletic Banquet Donation

5/20 - 20 Tropical Centerpieces Naturvet Foundation Fundraiser

5/22 - 100 Bqts for American Cancer Soc. Donation




Dates to Remember!

• Fun & Sun Convention (July 20th- 22nd), Carlsbad, CA

IFE Show (June 13th- 17th), Miami Beach, FL - DG Booth #1933




Other Happenings
In May flowers were used for two really cool things that may surprise you. The Japanese government decided to plant Sunflowers around Fukushima Prefecture to see if they can absorb radioactive materials in the soil that came from the recent nuclear plant disaster there. Go, Sunflowers!


art in bloom

More locally, Melissa and I sponsored a fundraiser to save the volunteer art program at our daughter Annie’s school. Each grade was assigned a flower for each child in that grade to paint. We provided frames and the corresponding flower, parents purchased the masterpieces, and the art program lives on!



Signing off

Gosh I love being in the flower business!

Jason Levin

President & Chief Gringo

Follow us on Facebook






-