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We Make Sure The Flow of Your Flowers is Perfect
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| Our Amazing Desert Pea |
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| Its Lisi Time |
Buy flowers direct from our farms... we
ship them right to your store/home
It's easy:
- Go to our Catalogue Page
- Set your shipping zone (not sure... contact us)
- Choose the variety you want
- Pay online or offline
- And the flowers are on their way...
- Quick,Reliable,Fresh
You save money...you know where it's coming
from...the flowers are fresh
| desert pea pot plant |
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| click on picture for more info |
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The SMMOL Weblog ---
This is our web log where we write
about anything and everything in our business
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Friday, January 30, 2004
An article on Leaora-in the Globes newspaper
This article appeared in the globes
newspaper today
Flowers beat missiles
For profits that is. Why Israel’s military situation hobbles her most worthwhile industries.
Joseph
Morgenstern
The export sales price for one flower stem grown in Israel's Negev wilderness is five times the cost
of growing it. Leora, a young flower farmer assisted by only by a few laborers, produces no fewer than 3,000,000 flowers a
year. These include new species of flowers and flower bulbs grown with fresh, brackish, and hot water, all under plastic cover.
Israel has attracted attention as the world's leader in flower exports to Europe, according to statistics provided by the
Flowers Growers Association. Flower exports gross about $1.5 billion, which is about 30% of all flowers imported by Europe.
Leora has been selling flowers to Europe for many years, and though located very far from her markets, she also ships flowers
to Boston florists on three-day notice.
Eyal
Monday, January 26, 2004
ITS ALMOST VALENTINE
And we all have to plan what we are going to do.
If you will see my blog that summarized last year
you will see that the behavior was very nervous.
Where expectations were high there were terrible disappointments.
So we have to be clever, we all have to help each other out.
The grower must go out of his way to supply the needs of his customer.
If one shop wants a few varieties, or packed in a different stem count, or any other ideas, so be it.
The Logistics operator must be ready to handle larger volumes with pinpoint precision. It's obvious
that when behavior is nervous, everyone will order in the last minute, no one wants to be stuck with stock that they
may not be able to sell, and the whole industry, becomes nervous.
The shop really has the major role. The more sporadic the behavior of the shops, the more nerves down the chain.
We all have to somehow talk to each other, give each other ideas, or understand each others limitations. this discussion,is
very healthy for all involved.
Holiday season is also a good time to push sales by introducing complimentary products.
This old tactic of flowers&wine or any other combination does wonders. It gives the flowers added value, it
gives your customer the feeling that someone is thinking about him, and if done right will pocket more money to the shops.
So what to sell along side the flowers. I always like to think exotic, to think different, to give that WOW feeling.
They sell made in Israel items.
How about flowers&olive oil, or halva (sweet sesame) for the sweet tooth clients.
A romantic bouquets with bath salts.They really have a wonderful selection of 100% Made-In-Israel products. Dead Sea
Health, Beauty & Spa, Gifts, Books, Kosher Food, Candles, a wide variety of beautiful, interesting, useful and affordable
items. Profits donated to charity.
The ideas are endless, a small effort and things will happen.
Eyal
Sunday, January 18, 2004
The big L.....word
This week I was invited to sea...to see the brand new Carmel Agrexco fresh produce ship.
No doubt about it this is stone age meeting the cutting edge. Fresh produce has always been around,
flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs, fish, meat, etc... How to move these products from place to place.. that's a whole different
thing.
This ship is state of the art, the latest, thing..It took more than 2 years to build them (there are 2 of them).
This ship travels faster than any of the other cargo vessels around, so from Asdod (Israel ) to Marseille (France) takes
3 days instead of 4. that means this ship can make it back and forth in less than a week.
Here are the pictures I took of this wonderful ship. 
Trucks are waiting to be unloaded. Notice all the trucks are closed so the cooling chain is not broken. the produce
continues to be cooled.
 The crane is attached to the ship so if there is any sea movement during the process the crane is synchronized with the ship.
The crane can handle 4 pallets at a time. From the crane the pallets are automatically loaded to the elevator which takes it to the one of 4 cargo holds of the
ship. the whole process runs on a computer and is done automatically.
Each floor is a cooling storage facility, each cooling floor is a different temperature, for different produce.
All automated, all run by state of the art computerized systems.
Growers on second floor getting an explanation.
A crew of 25 people run this ship. A lot of thought was put into making them feel at home. Notice the sunroof
in the middle of the ship. this enables for light to enter their recreation area. and living quarters.
The sunroof from inside. Takes away the cold and depressing feeling one usually gets when the sun is not part of the
daily view.
The dining room ,t.v. and living quarters, all get plenty of sunshine. 
The whole process of loading and unloading is done in a matter of 4-6 hours, instead of the usual 24 hours. The ship
also has space for 200 containers, in the front of the ship.
And coming back from Europe the ship Transports, cars, trucks, in the cooling spaces. special "brackets" are built in
to hold the cars and other cargo in place, so even on a stormy day nothing moves on the cargo-bay
The whole ship is run from the bridge, of course the navigation systems, alarms engine controls, etc.. but also the cooling
systems, electricity, and what-nots.
Let me tell you the chairs they have on bridge makes the latest comfy-t.v. chair look like last year
raggedy garage sale.
As usual it was the lunch we received that left an everlasting impression on us all
If you are ever in Ashdod, and you ask the cab driver to take you to the best restaurant in town. Don't let him drive
you around town just tell him you heard it was on the s.s.carmel- After all a ship that hauls Israel finest avocado,potatoes,
peppers, cherry tomatoes, and flowers has got to be the best cuisine in town.
Have you figured out what the big L... word is?
Logistics, Logistics, and Logistics
You can take the finest fresh product in the world and ruin it if you don't have extremely good logisitics
in place
Eyal
Wednesday, January 7, 2004
Yossi Yassour-risk taking
I just came back from a fascinating evening with Yossi Yassour. Yossi who is the academic director at the arava center for international studies-that's the place where I teach agro-economics
and computers. Yossi is an expert in Risk managment.He also writes books, teaches, does research,  and just celebrated his 60th birthday. Risk that is the business we are in.
What does it take to make a decision that could be risky? What is risk? and what pleasure can we derive from a decision
well made? What price do we pay for a bad decision? really amazing stuff...
go to his english links
I have taken a few quotes from his site and I really enjoyed tonight. (epecially the birthday cake)
Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can--and surely will at times--fail. I think
we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take the risk.--Joyce Brothers
- And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.--Anais Nin
- During the first period of a man's life the greatest danger is not to take the risk.--Soren Kierkegaard
- Everybody knows if you are too careful you are so occupied in being careful that you are sure to stumble over something.--Gertrude
Stein
- First ponder, then dare.--Helmuth Johannes Ludwig, Graf von Moltke
- If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It's much easier to apologize than it is to get permission.--Rear Admiral Grace
Hopper
- If you don't ask "why this?" often enough, somebody will ask "why you?"--Tom Hirshfield
I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.--Brian
Tracy
- Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.--Samuel Johnson
- Often a certain abdication of prudence and foresight is an element of success.--Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Often the difference between a successful man and a failure is not one's better abilities or idea, but the courage that
one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk--and to act.--Maxwell Maltz
People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about
two big mistakes a year.--Peter Drucker
- A person determined never to be wrong won't likely accomplish much.--Ken Wisdom
- A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.--Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
- There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable
inaction.--John F. Kennedy
- We must dare, and dare again, and go on daring.--Georges Jacques Danton
- What you risk reveals what you value.--Jeanette Winterson (Written on the Body)
- Yes, risk-taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing taking.--Tim McMahon
- You've got to take the initiative and play your game...confidence makes the diffrence-Chris Evert
Eyal
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