The California Association Flower Growers & Shippers (historically termed NORCAL) is ramping up quickly for 2013, setting a newer and quicker pace to demonstrate member value and to assure that NORCAL is ready to accept a leadership position within this internationally competitive industry.

Developed for the experienced frontline sales manager or branch manager, the Wholesale Florist & Florist Supplier Association’s 2013 Management Institute will focus on the problems and opportunities in coaching and leading a team of outside selling professionals, according to a news release.

The institute runs March 15-16 in Charlotte, NC. Leading it will be sales expert Jim Pancero, a consultant from Dallas who has been directly involved in business-to-business selling for more than 40 years, six of which were spent selling large computer systems for IBM Corp.

In the last few years, no one in the floral industry has changed more than the wholesale florist. Today’s wholesalers have worked hard to improve their position in the distribution channel, serving a vital and expanding role in floral distribution. And no organization is as uniquely positioned to meet the needs of floral distribution as is the Wholesale Florist & Florist Supplier Association.

The year 2012 started on a good note as importers continued to receive their Andean Trade Preference & Drug Eradication Act duty refunds that were granted in November 2011. This provided a great confidence boost for the industry in the beginning of the year.

The 2012 Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day season did not have the weather-related issues that the floral trade had been faced with in previous years. This allowed the industry to feel confident about the great product it was providing to the consumer.

WAYNESBORO, VA — While solving the problem of how to prolong the life of flowering bulb products, Joep Paternostre created a new floral category. With his wife, Lilian, he brought to the industry a method of growing live bulbs, bringing them to market in their early stages, with a system that keeps them fed and blooming longer.

For the third year, the Pear Bureau Northwest, headquartered in Milwaukie, OR, will exhibit at Fruit Logistica as part of the U.S. Fresh Fruit pavilion.

International Program Coordinator Lynsey Kennedy said this co-location enables the bureau to have a larger, more centrally located presence and provide private meeting space for pear industry members.

"It also makes our booth more of a destination within the USA Pavilion," she told The Produce News.