Supply Chain Management Review

Sean Murphy

Rose Logistics -- Happy Valentine's Day!
February 14, 2008

As Christopher Sciacca routinely points out, supply chain management isn't just a corporate buzzword -- it's a real process that affects all of our lives, even those of us who need to pick up flowers for our sweeties on The Most Romantic Day of the Year.

Like me. I spent a large part of my lunch hour today waiting in line at a local florist, trying to explain to the frazzled clerk that I wanted to buy a bouquet with my girlfriend's favorite flower in it. Stargazer lilies, to be precise.

I think the fact that I was one of the few people who didn't come in looking for roses threw the clerk for a bit of a loop, and while she scrambled to put something together, I noticed a sheet of paper taped to the wall of the shop discussing the problems with supply and demand regarding roses. Reading it, I learned a lot about why roses are hard to get in January, and really hard to afford now.

According to the sheet, roses, like any flower, are fragile, and have a short lifespan, no matter how well you water that cut stem in the vase. The spike in demand for this delicate bloom on Valentine's Day poses a unique problem for the industry: how do you provide enough inventory to handle demand? It's not like you can cut them and stockpile them on a shelf somewhere for a month or two.

The answer, apparently, came to the industry a long time ago, when those who know more about flowers than I do discovered two things:

1) Cutting back any bush, including rose bushes, stimulates new flower growth

2) It takes about six weeks for that growth to bloom. 

In other words, cut back a rose bush and you'll have new roses in about six weeks. According to the informative sheet at the florist, flower suppliers do just that. In anticipation of the huge demand six weeks later, they hack back rose bushes (presumably planetwide) around the first of the year.
 
Then, they sit back and wait for the blooms to come in. This explains why roses are hard to get in January. The suppliers are waiting for them to grow. Of course, if the suppliers don't have them, then any man whose special someone has a birthday, or it's his anniversary, or if he just stayed out too late with the boys one night and is now in the doghouse anytime between Jan. 1 and now, he might be out of luck if he needs roses, and that can cost a florist sales.

So, the sheet continued, roses aren't just expensive because there's a demand for them now. They're expensive because there's been a demand for them, and apparently florists are trying to make up for lost revenue last month in addition to satisfying needs today. If you've ever wondered why roses cost so much more today than they do the rest of the year, well, now you know.

Good thing my sweetie likes lilies.

Posted by Sean Murphy on February 14, 2008 | Comments (2)