Carriers respond to Valentine's Day flower rush
. Weakened markets resulting from the global recession led to 30-percent to 40-percent lower flower volumes in 2010 than in 2011. 2010 also presented challenges to FedEx, a spokeswoman for the logistics provider said. Since Valentine’s Day 2010 fell on a Sunday, FedEx decided to partner up with e-commerce florist ProFlowers to coordinate overnight deliveries.Even though Valentine’s Day 2012 is on a Tuesday, the FedEx spokeswoman said this year has been just as taxing for FedEx. “The weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day continue to remain some of the busiest of the year for FedEx,” she said. “The number of Valentine’s Day deliveries from e-commerce florists and retailers continues to grow each year. And due to the perishable nature of flowers, airfreight is often the preferred mode for flower transportation.”
Increasing demand for flower transportation is also why Tampa Cargo tasked the now-insolvent World Airways with providing charter flights in late January and early February. According to a press release, World Airways flew hundreds of tonnes of flowers from Latin America to North America on Boeing 747-400 freighters on behalf of Tampa Cargo to meet the Valentine’s Day rush.
The arrangements are all certified by Fairtrade International, which oversees the certification of Fair Trade products around the world. FTD has helped ensure customers can easily find and identify their Fair Trade collection by marking each one with a
