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June 11th, 2010 |
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The following article was featured in the Floral Marketing section of The Produce News, June 2010. Click here to view the original article.
BY JOHN S. NIBLOCK
Alaina Paradise is happy to go from zero to 90. That’s the number of customers her One World Flowers import and distributing company has attracted with its Fair Trade offerings in its first two years. The economic skies were cloudy when Ms. Paradise began operations in May 2008, but as she put it, “we could only go up.” Not only were times hard, but she was beginning a new company with a premium product yet to find a reliable niche in retail markets.
One World Flowers is a licensed importer of Fair Trade flowers from Ecuador and Colombia. The company sells them nationwide to supermarkets, co-op grocers, and retail florists who have customers looking for more than just green options in the floral department. “More consumers are becoming aware of the human rights issues surrounding the products they buy,” said Ms. Paradise, “and they’re learning to look for labels that take care of people as well as the environment.”
The Fair Trade label is what Ms. Paradise calls a “complete sustainability” label. It guarantees not only environmental protection, but also human rights standards. Components include controls on pesticide use, safe working conditions, and fair wages for workers. “A big part of the Fair Trade program is direct and long-term relationships between the farms and importers,” Ms. Paradise stated in a phone interview. “We work together in marketing initiatives, sales efforts and in daily operations.”
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