Florist Attitudes Towards Roses From Ecuador
Maria Pilar Jativa, Quito, Ecuador, defended her thesis, “Florist Attitudes Towards Roses From Ecuador,” Friday, November 12, 2004 in Ecuador. Jativa is the Regional Commercial Assistant Manager for Martinair Cargo.
The motivation for the thesis was to determine the best marketing strategies for “Always Fresh,” a fresh-cut flower company based in Quito, Ecuador. The thesis analyzed the U.S. florist industry by surveying 500 florists in three states.
The survey indicated that knowledge of the high quality (as expressed by color, variety, and appearance) of Ecuadorian roses is widely known, but obstacles such as length of time that it takes to ship the flowers, lack of control over refrigeration and cooling of the flowers, lack of communication between buyer and seller, uncertainty in order fulfillment, and lack of trust and relationships between buyers and sellers kept U.S. florists from buying.
“The thesis revealed many issues that the Ecuadorian producers and distributors, because of being far away from the U.S markets, are not aware of. Examples include American florist’s preference of rose varieties, fluctuation of prices, and future tendencies of the industry,” Jativa said. “I feel these results will help not only the company which the study is based on, but also the entire Ecuadorian floriculture.”
“A red rose is not just a red rose. Ecuador produces dozens of red roses with different shades of red and different head size,” Major Professor, Michael Boland, said. “Most U.S. consumers do not realize that the majority of roses come from Columbia or Ecuador.”
