During the late 1990s Andy Koch and his late wife Norine were looking to change the image of their fresh cut rose-growing operation in
The Kochs, like other domestic cut flower growers, were feeling increasing pressure from imports that were taking a bigger share of the
“Norine felt so strongly about the quality of the roses that she wanted to brand them,” sales manager Chad Nelson said. “At the time that was a new concept as far as branding roses. The Eufloria name and its logo have worked very well. They have come to represent uniqueness and high quality.” Since 1999, the company has won more than 100 awards for rose varieties. The most recent was the 2006 Best in Show award for its Polar Star rose in the Society of American Florists’ Outstanding Varieties Competition. During the past four years, Eufloria has been honored with three Best in Class and two Best in Show awards in SAF competitions. “We’ve gained a name for offering the newest and most novel varieties,” Nelson said. “These are varieties that are well-suited for weddings and proms. The wedding market has become a major niche for us.” The company’s flowers are shipped nationwide to wholesale and retail florists. “Wholesale distribution has always been our No. 1 focus,” Nelson said. “Trying to find reputable wholesale florists that want to handle high-end product is challenging. If we cannot find a wholesale florist in a certain market that we strongly feel our product should be, then we will look for high-end retail clients to whom we can directly ship our product.” Selecting the best Eufloria grows approximately 80 hybrid tea and 19 spray rose varieties. Growing that many varieties can be challenging, but operating 8-acres of Argus climate-controlled Conley’s greenhouses helps to ensure production requirements for each variety are met. Every year Nelson, Andy Koch and either a consultant or customer travel to
Polar Star, a white standard, was bred by Rosen Tantau in
The grower looks at how plants perform before a variety is added to the inventory. “We keep very accurate counts of the production numbers from year to year for each of the varieties,” Nelson said. “We also look at each variety and where it falls on the list of sales. That is a major determining factor. It’s not easy trying to identify what the next hot color trend is going to be.” Eufloria normally keeps a variety for at least four years. If sales decline or there is a production problem, it may be replaced sooner. After four years, the company re-evaluates a variety to decide whether to replant it or replace it. Nelson said when a new hybrid tea is added, Eufloria uses the name given by the breeders to cut down on confusion. “Some growers change the variety names, and that can make it more difficult for us and our customers,” Nelson said. “A customer may call and say they can’t find a specific variety and ask whether we know what it is. With our flowers, they don’t have to wonder about which varieties they’re getting. No matter who the breeder is, the flower can look very different depending on where it was grown.” Climate, water quality and care the plants and flowers receive during and after production affect quality. “For some varieties, especially the bicolors, the colors are very specific to the greenhouse in which they are grown,” Nelson said. Expanding markets This month, Eufloria Flowers will begin offering 19 new European-bred spray roses. The varieties are so new that Eufloria will be naming them. “We visited the breeders and these numbered varieties were the ones that they felt showed promise to be future releases,” Nelson said. “We’re the first growers to have the varieties so we get to name them. The breeders have the option to keep the names that we give them.” Nelson said before choosing the spray varieties, Eufloria looked at what other
“We felt we had a great opportunity to grow varieties that no one else was doing.” he said. “Since growers are committed to their varieties for X number of years, this enabled us to look at what is currently available in the spray market and decide what was needed.” To make production space available, Nelson said the company evaluated its hybrid teas to determine which ones weren’t producing well or just no longer fit with its market. “We realized we needed to make changes to offer our customers more of a one-stop shop when it comes to weddings and event work,” he said. “Adding the sprays, we’ll be able to offer our customers something different without losing much when it comes to the hybrid tea production.” For more: Eufloria Flowers, (805) 929-4683; www.eufloriaflowers.com. Eufloria Flowers Founded: 1984 as Koch
Size and location: 8 acres of greenhouse facilities in
Crops: Hybrid tea and spray cut roses. Customer base: Eufloria Flowers brand is sold nationally to wholesale (70 percent of total sales) and retail florists (20 percent of total sales). The Rosique consumer brand (10 percent of total sales) is sold through 16 farmers’ markets on the central
Employees: 35 full time and 10-15 seasonal.
Eufloria Flowers designs and sells a catalog for retail florist customers listing its rose varieties. “Shades are important when it comes to matching dress shades, especially bridesmaids,” sales manager Chad Nelson said. “Providing our customers use our
The catalog, which is in its second edition, uses state-of-the-art digital photography to reproduce the flowers’ colors. Eufloria offers the catalog to its wholesale and retail florist customers for $49.95. Eufloria has nine product categories: white, pink, lavender, red, peach, orange, yellow, green and novelty. At any given time, the company offers at least 15 shades of pink, five to six yellows and five to six whites and cream shades. New varieties are added annually. Customers who have purchased the three-ring catalog receive free updates, which help clients keep current with product offerings. Prime-time roses Eufloria Flowers and its roses were featured in the HGTV show “Making of the Rose Parade 2006.” The program gave viewers an inside look at how Black Magic rose went from harvesting and shipment at Eufloria Flowers to incorporation into the parade float. Eufloria provided several rose varieties for the FTD “Your Wish Is My Command” float, which won the Tournament of Roses Parade’s Sweepstakes trophy for most beautiful entry in 2006. The float, which featured magician Lance Burton, contained more than 15 varieties of roses with magical undertones, including Black Magic, Magic Lantern, Pure Magic, Midnight Magic, Moonlight Magic, Hocus Pocus, Abracadabra, Magician, Bewitched and Mystery. From farmers’ markets to Internet sales Eufloria Flowers has been selling cut roses at 16 farmers’ markets along
“Rosique is our consumer brand,” said Eufloria sales manager Chad Nelson. “We have started to integrate it into our local customer base. We have launched the name here in
Nelson said the flowers on the Web site will be more bouquet-type products. The site will include information about the product being direct from the grower. {sidebar id=1} “With some of the other consumer-buying flower sites, it’s the middlemen fulfilling the order with flowers they receive from the growers and then adding their own design style,” he said. “With the Rosique brand, the flowers come directly from us the grower.” - David Kuack