By February 14 (Valentine’s Day, lest you forget), UPS expects to have transported 7 million pounds of flowers, worth $45 million, mostly from Columbia and Ecuador. The cargo delivery company has added an additional 12 flights from those countries to handle the traffic. Most of the 70% of cut flowers sold in the U.S. are imported, the majority of which come from Latin America, and 85% of those arrive at the Miami/Dade Airport where UPS is the largest air cargo carrier.
Upon receiving cut flowers in the country of origin, UPS loads them on temperature-controlled aircraft where they are maintained at temperatures between 34 and 45 degrees F. Arriving in Miami, UPS works with U.S. Customs to quickly clear inspection, maintaining them in refrigerated warehousing.
After passing inspection, flowers are sorted according to final destinations, which include countries like Germany and Japan in addition to U.S. florists.
Here are seven miscellaneous facts about flowers, in no particular order, provided by the Society of American Florists.
1. Women buy 38% of all floral products sold for Valentine’s Day.
2. 60% of men say they would like to receive flowers on Valentine’s Day.
3. The rose is the state flower of New York.
4. 30% of men wait until Valentine’s Day to purchase flowers.
5. 62% of women prefer colored roses other than red.
6. More than 130 million roses are typically sold for Valentine’s Day.
7. Women are more likely to buy flowers for their mother than any other friend or relative.
