Mayesh Wholesale Florist is a family owned, national flower distributor and one of the premier flower houses in the United States. Proper postharvest care is critical when storing cut flowers and transporting them to their destination. If not properly treated or stored in optimal conditions, the lives of cut flowers are dramatically reduced, resulted in wasted inventory on site or dissatisfied florists and consumers.
The North American teams supporting OASIS® Floral Products and FloraLife® postharvest products joined together to develop a protocol for Mayesh, ensuring they get the most out of their flowers. This started with an audit of the facilities across the United States.
The program followed a hierarchy of need, starting with flower temperatures since breaking the cold chain is the key factor to flower life. Next, they address basic sanitation, followed by flower processing and rotation.
Finally, they implemented a strategy for logistics and advanced sanitation, extending the program beyond the Mayesh locations to their supply chain.
While the program was detailed and methodical, many of the solutions were quite simple – in some cases only requiring the use of a product such as FloraLife® D.C.D.® Cleaners to properly sanitize containers. The keys to the program’s success were ongoing audits, measurable benchmarks, and easy-to-follow steps that could be repeated.
The results left Mayesh with an efficient postharvest care plan for their flowers that could be used at their locations to monitor their health as they arrive from growers and were distributed to customers. With the collaboration of Smithers-Oasis North America, this protocol has been implemented at all Mayesh locations in the United States, resulting in healthier flowers and waste reduction.