International Floriculture Expo (IFE) wraps up in Miami

2019 IFE show

Author: William Armellini

Our man in the USA, William Armellini from sister publication FlowersandCents visited the 2019 International Floriculture Expo (IFE) show, held at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami June 18-20.  

I attended Thursday which was not very busy on the floor, which made it a great time for me to get some pictures. By all accounts Wednesday was very busy and the mood among vendors was upbeat. This is not a big show in the bouquet world when compared to PMA (Produce Marketing Association) but that can be a plus. Smaller events tend to allow more buyer / seller time in the booths.

The IFE show has bounced around from city to city in an attempt to lure the most high profile buyers and thus attract the most vendors to exhibit. Their previous relationship with The United Fresh folks was a good attraction but floral was lost in the aroma of the many vendors offering food in the nearby produce isles.

Now back in Miami for 2019, they did manage to get people in the door and offered some good entertainment in the form of the Iron designer contest (which I missed) and the flower naming event. This year the new tulip was appropriately named, ‘Dutch Lane’, honouring the work of Lane DeVries CEO and President of the SunValley Group. Lane is a true flower guy and so I applaud the designation.

In a bit of sad news for me, I learned that Lourdes Reyes a long time employee of Ballsb has suddenly retired. I will certainly miss seeing her in shows across the world, always with a smile and kind words. Good luck to you my friend!

Flower and gift-delivery FTD, that filed for bankruptcy protection on June 3, was on the minds of many and everyone wants to know, what everyone else knows, but we all know nothing more than the stock is down to .04 making the once mighty FTD brand a penny stock. There are many people hurt by this in many ways. Long-time employees with vested stock options and many suppliers for big money. Time will tell what will happen, and who emerges as the winner.

With that said, this news just came in and they are shedding assets faster than you can say FTD. read more at http://flowersandcents.com/ftd-news/

Here’s the video on the 2019 IFE show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zakKWmPHjSk