Sunday, April 20, 2003
Timorim u-pick
Its Passover here in Israel and every one and his friend are on the roads. The southerners are going north the northerners
are coming south and Israel is one big traffic jam. Its so congested that there is a new sport in the radio, people time how
long it takes to get from place A to B and then every 15 minutes its broadcasted over the radio. They even give prizes, what
will they think of next?
U-Pick that's what's next. Its in Moshav Timorim on the main highway from Tel-Aviv to Beersheva in a very special place.
All the alfalfa, and other grains are green and standing tall, painting all the small hills and valleys green.
And suddenly from very far away you see it.BUTTERCUPS (ranunculus) white and red and blue and purple and pink.
You can't help but slow down and marvel at this Hugh field. And the people they do slow down, they stop to take pictures
and that's when they realize its there for them to pick. for a funny sum of 30 shekel-($5) they can pick 30 stems. What A
Price, What a Way To do Business.
Here is the trick
The farmer really doesn't need the flower. He grows it for the bulb-that's what he exports, so any money made from
the picking is like taking the whipped cream from the cake. The people just have fun, they are given clippers in the entrance,and
are asked to pick at a certain height so as not the touch the bulb.
I saw children picking,and a man stopped to bring flowers to his loved one at home. I saw a very young couple that just
picked 2 white flowers, and an elderly lady was busy picking flowers as her husband stood there holding his wife's precious
gathering.
As a farmer I was fascinated by the fact that they were able to get this field to bloom at exactly this
week. I was also upset that they didn't think of a way to wrap these flowers in some kind of a water container, because
most these people live hours away, and the shelf life will be just a few days.
I have a great suggestion for them for next year--plant sunflower and then make a Hugh maze.
Happy Easter-Pessach
Eyal
Monday, April 14, 2003
Estoma-lisianthus
We are back home after a whirlwind trip we took to the East coast to learn more about how we can expand our business
and to learn about the needs of our customers.In the following weeks in my weblog I will go back to this trip and highlight
what we have learned.The flower
Estomia-Lisianthus
Advantages-well known on the wholesale level, can be used both as stand alone and in bouquets, new varieties are
coming in, growers are involved in stabilizing this flower.
Disadvantages- the shops are not exposed or familiar with all the new varieties, and there characteristics,
many growers have difficulties producing a good quality flower and are giving it a bad name, supplies are not constant, very
much affected by bad logistics, florists we talked to are generally very cautious with this flower.
We are in the process of getting this product in our catalog, but have to be very careful in the types and varieties.
It will be a marketing challange.
Eyal
Thursday, April 10, 2003
A new Leaf
We are here in the states visiting those shops that are doing business with us and marketing ourselves to new shops.
A very touching and moving incident we had is a shop we ran into "A New Leaf" in East Longmeadow.
Its a florist shop trying to make it through these difficult times but it belongs to the Center for Human Development.That
means that the people working there are with disabilities..
We were looking for a place to sit down for a few minutes after a tiring day of visiting the florists, when we saw this
shop. As we walked in it was immediately obvious that this is something different. Its a house with a few floors, with no
huge display of flower or flower arrangements, and we were greeted by a very friendly women. We could see that she was
different.
Kelly who runs the show in this shop greeted us, and as we began to tell him about ourselves and what we do, he stopped
us and asked to explain what they do.
They have 2 shops in Holyoke, and in East Longmeadow. They have 21 workers and they intend to run it like a normal business.
They joined FTD and are a full service florist.
They will be doing cut flowers, and potted plants.
They will be teaching the disabled young men and women how to work, and what responsibility is all about.
They will be targeting the families with disabled children, so its a kind of built in market.
We were moved. We have a disabled women in our family so we understand how important it is to do this kind of a project.
I hope they will do business with us.We will be willing to contribute some of our profits to the benefit of this project.
Kelly we all have to thank you my friend
Eyal
Tuesday, April 8, 2003
Leaora and Eyal
Will be in the east coast
You can contact us on our cell phone
+(011) 972-54-297002
or e-mail us and we will get in touch with you
