The Dirt - April 2014

That peaceful, easy Spring Break feeling is…gone! After a brief lull – a calm before the storm, if you will – we are all systems go in anticipation of Administrative Professional's Week (April 20-26), Easter (April 20), and Mother’s Day (May 11). Don’t miss our “Just a Little Something” selection and the always popular Mason Jar arrangements. Both are a perfect token of appreciation and springtime joy for any of these celebrations. Our seven-day staggered work schedule is fully in play thanks to the testing and tweaking we did throughout the first quarter of the year. We are confident this strategic, client-focused move will make a difference in the service and freshness.  Dos Gringos will continue to deliver. We are truly at your service almost all the time! Those of you who endured an unusually long and relentless winter will welcome the softer, lighter, brighter colors of spring and summer, and Dos Gringos will not disappoint. Lilies, Ranunculus, Sunflowers – including an awesome pastel-y Sunbeam and some Gypsy Dianthus are taking center stage right now and stealing the show. Meanwhile, our Dos Gringos East plant in Miami reports that we’re all planted up to harvest Sunflowers galore without interruption from May until November. This is another direct response to client feedback, and I’m thrilled that our valued partners in the eastern part of the country will have even fresher, equally gorgeous Suns of all kinds for a sustained period of time. This signature item continues to set Dos Gringos apart, and we intend to remain the provider of choice. Special thanks to our seed partners and to Master Grower, Todd Thornton for making this growth spurt possible. As busy as we’re getting, we want to be well. After our “Biggest Winner” team challenge wraps in April, efforts and events continue throughout Q2 to help Team Members balance hard work with healthy habits – so we can continue to put the best team on the field for you and can loose a few pounds! Happy Spring to all! Let the floral season begin! ______________________________________

The Dirt - March 2014

Dia Dhuit, I’m deviating from my usual Spanish greeting this month to show off my Gaelic (which I don’t speak.)  However, being part Irish, I love this time of the year!  It’s a great time for all of us here at DG to get our inner GreenGo on! Now that the dust has settled on Valentine’s Day it’s full speed ahead for the rest of the Spring Season.  The team is busy prepping for St. Patty’s Day, Admin's Day, Easter/Passover, and Mother’s Day orders.   We will be full speed ahead from now until the middle of May.  Although, we’d like to rely on a little luck of the Irish to make these holidays go smoothly, we know that smart, disciplined preparation and good, old fashioned hard work will be the key ingredients to making our own luck.  The Irish have a saying, “You’ve got to do your own growing no matter how tall your father is.”  This holds true of flowers just as it does for people.  There has been a lot of press about the California drought, however we are in good shape as far as water goes.  Our Sunflowers are getting all the H2Q they need.  They are growing tall and looking beautiful for the rest of March. We are pleased to announce that Team Sun showed up in full force for the 4th annual Finish Chelsea’s Run.  We had 65 Team Members run/walk in this important 5K fundraiser.  Our donation of over 2,000 Sunflowers helped contribute $2,219  to the Sunflower Scholarship Fund.  See more about this on the following link. Read More > This month we feature our “Special Projects Person” Suzy Long.  It is with mixed emotions that I bring this interview to you as Suzy is retiring after 7 years with Dos Gringos.  Suzy has done great things for Dos Gringos and she will be missed.  Learn more about Suzy below. Q.  How did you happen to come out of retirement 7 years go to join the DG Team? A.  I have always enjoyed working with flowers and, after retiring from a 26 year career in banking, I was really looking to find some outlet that would allow me to be creative.  Ironically, my local Garden Club came on a tour of Dos Gringos.  Later a call came to the club that Dos Gringos was looking for a person who wanted to work on some of their projects on a part time basis.  I applied, was hired and the rest is, as they say, history. Q.  What does a “Special Projects” person do? A.  In addition to producing grocery store bouquets, Dos Gringos also supports local charities through our flowers.  I handled many Gala events, Meals on Wheels volunteer events as well as designing bouquets for our ecommerce division and seeing them through the peak times and many other tasks too.  It was always a busy day! Q.  What was your most challenging task? A.  For me, It was learning how to balance the acquisition of product needed, especially for larger projects. Q.  What was the most rewarding part of your time at DG? A.  It was most definitely the opportunity to use my creative side.  Dos Gringos allowed me to execute new ideas and concepts with every project.  It was great fun. Q.  What’s the biggest opportunity Dos Gringos has in front of them?  A.  Dos Gringos’ has unlimited opportunities they just need to keep growing! Q.  What are you looking forward to most about retirement?  A.  My husband Les, and I love to travel and we intend to step up our travel schedule.  This year we have trips planned to the Bordeaux region of France, Holland, Germany, Ohio and New York City.   ______________________________________ I’m looking forward to having Joan Donahue Saunders' World Famous Irish Stew at the office on March 17th.  Come join us if you are in the neighborhood. ______________________________________ ________________________________

The Dirt - February 2014

Hola, The first two weeks of this month are all about Valentine’s Day! We are at your service and ready to do whatever it takes to make this as great a holiday as it should be. Smiles are a must – and if you're not smiling then we're not doing our job!  Our Just Add® program is in especially high demand at this time of year, and I can vouch for the Waxflower, Stock, Sunflowers and unique, lush greens going out our doors in huge quantities right now. Despite a current drought in California and some warmer-than-normal temperatures, flowers and greens look great, and it appears we will harvest what we need to meet Valentine’s Day demand. There’s no time like the present to introduce a seven-day production schedule for Dos Gringos. You’ve asked for it, and we worked the logistics until we could get it right and execute and deliver the way you’d expect. We now have teams on the production floor for daytime shifts every day of the week. Product harvested on Saturday gets processed and sent out the door Sunday. This less-than-24-hours turnaround takes freshness to a whole new level. Robin Mooney and Cindy Hamner are sharing the love with our DG East Team in Miami this week to ensure orders arrive on time and with the high quality clients expect. East Coast production and orders are nice and healthy right now, and I expect that momentum to continue going forward. DG Master Grower Todd Thornton will spend a good deal of time in Florida throughout the first quarter of 2014, and I know that DG East will benefit from his production strategies and vision in the same way DG West has. March 1 will bring the 4th Annual “Finish Chelsea’s Run” 5K in San Diego, and we’re looking forward to donating 2,500 Sunflowers as giveaways for participants and fans. As part of the DG Wellness Program, I’ve encouraged all Team Members to consider joining this run; so far over 50 Team Members have made the commitment! Later this month we’ll host a “Know Your Numbers” day at our offices in Vista. Nurses will spend time with Team Members and walk them through their “vitals,” including ideal weight, metabolic heart rate, blood pressure, and other important health indicators. I hope you are finding time to breathe and to center yourself as winter wears on and the Feb. 14 holiday approaches. It’s all good. How long have you been on the Dos Gringos Team?  I started with Dos Gringos on April 4th 2007. Tell me about your role. Can you describe the responsibilities? I am part of the e-commerce team.  We make individual bouquets for the clients of 1800Flowers, FTD and Sunflower Guy. What would clients be surprised to know about your job/team? That I love making bouquets and hopefully bringing smiles to the recipients. What do you like best about being on the DG Team?  I really enjoy working with my DG teammates. What’s the biggest opportunity Dos Gringos has?  I believe there is a continuing opportunity for increased bouquet sales because Dos Gringos’ quality is the best! What are your favorite foods, movies and things to do.  Favorite Movie:  Under the Moon, Favorite food: Mole,  Presently my husband, daughter and I are preparing for the arrival of twins in March – a boy and a girl.  We are excited to be adding to our family. ______________________________________ ________________________________________

DG Dirt - January 2014

Hola, On behalf of the entire Dos Gringos family, I wish all of our clients a happy, healthy, prosperous New Year! We head into 2014 with quite a bit of travel right off the bat. I will spend the first couple weeks of January visiting Dos Gringos East in Miami and meeting with clients. We want to make the most of the new year for every single client; jumping right in to assess and prioritize will help. Our annual client survey is a great tool for gathering direct feedback about the Dos Gringos experience and how we can make it great. Thank you in advance for taking the time to let us know how our partnership is working for you. If you’ve never weighed in before, I encourage you to let us have it so we can continue all the initiatives that are working for you and address the gaps. Last year’s survey revealed that having consistent sunflower production 52 weeks of the year and expansion in the east were important projects. We worked hard on this all year and were hitting our stride before a brief setback in October. Winter/fall crop expansion – having more to offer in both product and quantity -- remains a focus for us, and our intention is to end 2014 with the ability to grow Sunflowers in the east 52 weeks of the year. Expansion will not compromise our three strategic pillars: People, Freshness, and Innovation. In fact, as we expand we’ll pay even closer attention to getting these right. On the people side, we’ll open some positions in early 2014 that we hope will alleviate the increasing pressure on Todd Thornton, our Master Grower. Expanding growing operations in east will be a significant challenge. Todd is absolutely up to the task, but we need to provide him the complementary skill set of new and innovate thinking around our localization and east coast expansion. Todd and Mark Young already have some leads and have done some traveling of their own to keep this initiative moving forward. I’m confident we’ll have a new Team Member in this role by the end of first quarter. Freshness will continue to be the goal behind expanding our growing regions and our acreage, and Innovation remains a key piece of everyone’s job description. How do we capture and develop new ideas and create better ways of doing things to benefit the end user?  These are the questions we’ll continue to ask across each and every department. Team Member profiles were a popular element of this newsletter throughout 2013. I’m happy to continue this practice in the New Year, and I know you’ll enjoy meeting Lina Sifuentes. Lina has been an integral part of our Sales Support Team for nine years. She’s a strong client advocate and a great team player. In 2013 she became a wellness success story when she made a commitment to improve her health and to take advantage of Circuit Training classes offered twice a week at our headquarters in Vista. Congratulations and keep up the great work, Lina! Biggest “win” in 2013:              I lost 140 pounds. I made a commitment to improve my health, and I did. That feels good. Wow! What’s your secret?                     The DG offices include a very nice gym with lots of equipment and weights provided by the company. I was recovering from a late-2012 surgery, and it struck me that getting in better physical shape would help speed my recovery. It absolutely did. What improvements were made to DG’s Wellness Program in 2013? We started offering Circuit Training classes. Twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday, Team Members can spend an hour moving from station to station and getting real-time tips from a personal trainer. It makes a huge difference to spend 120 minutes a week on physical fitness because it carries over into other areas of your life. I’m walking a lot more now on my own time, and I try to think of other ways to complement what I’m doing at work. What’s next? A group of people are looking into training for a marathon. The company supports “Finish Chelsea’s Run” every year with donations 0f money and Sunflowers. We want to develop a team of runners to more actively participate in the future. We’re also looking into activities we can do as a team. A DG softball or basketball team may be coming soon, so watch out! Any advice for other Team Members in 2014? There’s nothing wrong with making a commitment – and taking the time – to feel better. Everyone can benefit from the decision to eat right, live right, and make time for yourself. Don’t get so caught up in daily responsibilities that you forget to care for your body and mind. Lots of companies have Wellness Programs. What makes Dos Gringos unique? The people and the environment. Everyone here is so supportive, and Jason is incredibly generous with his resources and his time. He honors his “Open Door” policy; in eight years I’ve never hesitated to approach him with questions or concerns about anything. And he lives what he preaches when it comes to fitness. He uses the gym all the time and is very vocal about wellness. That makes a huge difference to me. ______________________________________

The Dirt - December 2013 - Happy Holidays to all!

How in the world did the year-end festivities arrive so quickly? Last Friday the DG Team gathered for our annual Holiday Festivities.  The Mariachis stole the show this year. As I took the time to prepare my annual words of thanks and warm wishes – including a look at where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how we get there -- I was struck by how quickly 2013 came and went. The party was well-deserved and, as you can see from the pictures, great fun! November ended on an extremely positive note for us. After struggling with some weather and uncooperative crops in the early weeks leading up to it, we really rallied at the last minute and closed the books on Thanksgiving with a 99.99 percent order fulfillment rate. We were extremely grateful for that and for the support and patience of our valued clients. Huge kudos to our Dos Gringos Miami Team, which burned the candle at both ends seven days a week to help ensure all orders were filled. Strategic Planning for 2014 is under way. As usual, a two-day brainstorming session brought way more ideas and innovations than we can reasonably tackle in a calendar year, but I’m thrilled with the passion our Leadership team has for building the brand. We made the unanimous decision to remain true to our brand pillars – People, Freshness, and Innovation – and below is are a couple projects that made the cut for 2014: Each of these initiatives is key to our continued success, and we’re confident we can make big strides within the next year. Demand is strong and healthy, and we want to make sure we’re meeting it with the creativity, quality, and quantity expected of us. Our focus on people in 2014 will include enhancements to our Team Member Wellness Program. As a Team, we lost more than 300 pounds in 2013, but we know that a healthy body is only half of the equation. A healthy mind and a nice balance of work and play is equally important. Delia Mercado and the Wellness Committee are working on additional programs and offerings for the new year. On that note, I hope this newsletter finds you experiencing a decent balance of holiday happiness and productive, profitable work. I wish you all the best at this most wonderful time of the year, and I hope 2014 holds great success and joy for everyone! _________________________________________