All thawed out
Mother’s Day is this weekend. If you don’t have brunch reservations, might I recommend dinner or a DIY brunch at home? Not only brunch but also flowers are synonymous with the day. Literally millions of flowers are moved across the country and internationally for Mother’s Day. Since the rush is for one major day, there is a lot of pressure for the logistics partners to step up and have the solutions to getting the fresh flowers from the fields to bouquets for the special day.
It’s kind of the same process as Valentine’s Day – the only holiday for which more flowers are shipped than Mother’s Day – but there is a wider variety of flowers versus just the traditional roses. Fun fact: There are nearly 56 million pounds of fresh flowers moved just for Mother’s Day. C.H. Robinson has one of the largest temperature-controlled capacity networks in North America and handles a significant share of the rush floral orders. Mike Moyski, vice president, temperature-controlled and flatbed, C.H. Robinson, said, “We are proud of our ability to quickly scale to meet our customers’ needs and reduce complexities that can lead to delays. With florals, the clock on freshness runs down quickly.”
The journey of a bouquet goes from the fields straight to a temperature-controlled facility in Latin America, commonly in Colombia or Ecuador, to be cooled to 34 degrees Fahrenheit. From there, the flowers hop on a plane to Miami International Airport for processing and inspection, then more cooling and consolidation before trekking across the country via refrigerated trailers to floral shops. From there, consumers pick what they want and mothers across the country are happy.
Temperature Checks
Ranpak Holdings Corp. has launched the Climaliner Plus, temperature-protective paper liners for cold chain shipping, and Naturemailer eco-friendly padded mailers. Both products are 100% curbside-recyclable. Climaliner Plus liners provide up to 72 hours of thermal protection while being secondary food contact-safe. The Naturemailer is a honeycomb design that provides protection while still maintaining temperature and Ranpak’s commitment to sustainability.
As highlighted in a press release, “The naturemailer solution harnesses the inherent strength of paper itself, eliminating the need for foam or poly interiors. Additionally, its user-friendly design features a self-sealing adhesive and pull-tab tear strip that simplifies the packing and opening processes. These features enhance the consumer experience while boosting productivity and cost savings for businesses across industries, such as e-commerce, healthcare, electronics, and industrial manufacturing.”
Food and Drug
Significant developments in gene therapies have provided quite the hurdle to supply chains. Currently more than 20 gene therapies are expected to be approved by the end of 2025, which means by the end of that year there will need to be facilities ranging from manufacturing to storage and distribution to handle the required ultracold temperatures.
These specific therapies are a little different from traditional pharmaceuticals that need to be kept cold. Some cost millions of dollars for a one-time treatment. For example, atidarsagene autotemcel can cost $4.25 million for a one-time treatment. This medicine is for children with early onset metachromatic leukodystrophy, an ultrarare, rapidly progressive, irreversible and ultimately fatal neurometabolic disease.
The rise in approval of these types of treatments gives cold chain providers a short window to plan and prepare for such shipments as the margin for error is razor-thin. It’s not just a pallet of lettuce that could spoil; it’s people’s lives and millions of dollars at stake.
Cold chain lanes
This week’s SONAR market is the home of Mother’s Day flowers, Miami. The entire month of April had reefer outbound tender volumes hitting highs for the year as millions upon millions of fresh flowers entered the country. As reefer outbound tender volumes dropped off, that’s when reefer rejection rates shot up. Reefer rejection rates of 2.18% are still reasonable as the national average is at 3.93%. Spot rates in Miami aren’t hitting new heights and will likely return to lower levels that match early April or even lower as the flower business has tapered off – that is, until produce season comes. Miami will be the one to watch for the beginning of harvest season as May carries on.
Is SONAR for you? Check it out with a demo!
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Wanna chat in the cooler? Shoot me an email with comments, questions or story ideas at moconnell@freightwaves.com.
See you on the internet.
Mary
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