TRUE. today

Excellence's first box made it from El Rosal (Colombia) into Roses and Blooms (Manhattan). In the 'normal' flower world there would never be any feedback, unless the customer refuses to pay the bill. With TRUE. a whole list of deficiencies was to be expected. We're dealing with a nature product and aiming for perfection. Unheard of in the floral industry.

Jan informed me that the flowers had been cut too tight to be TRUE. , but otherwise they had been bunched and packed properly.

They had been cut at the 'Russian stage', which is more a little more open than 'American' and far more open than 'Dutch'. Shame on the industry of which I have been part for some 20 years and my family for at least five generations. No attention whatsoever for the consumer. Sure enough, European traders want fresh looking flowers (tight buds) and Russian wholesalers want size (open without looking too ripe), but stacks of research reports show that flowers perform best in the vase when they have collected enough sugars, being in the final stages on the plant.

Besides giving the impression of being ripe, open flowers are damaged more easily during transport and handling and are more susceptible to botrytis. Open flowers collect more moisture and may rot. If harvested at exactly the right stage and packed in the right temperature and air humidity controlled conditions, TRUE. roses will not have this. But this is very difficult and takes a lot of patience and professionalism. The experts of Excellence will manage. And I? The waiting drives me crazy, especially when Jan says that he still has customers walking in his beautiful store asking for TRUE. roses.