| FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2012 The Dirt - February 2012 Issue    The first two weeks of February are a blur for all of us in the flower biz. Thank you for taking time to catch up on what’s up at Dos Gringos. In honor of your time and the upcoming holiday, I’ll keep it short and sweet.  Imperfect timing, great intentions. Late last month we e-mailed a survey to all of the clients in our database. I shared in December that we’re looking at expanding our product line. We want and need you along for the ride. Would love your feedback on everything from vase life to selection – what’s missing? -- to service from our sales team. It will influence our planting and personnel decisions, what trade shows we attend, and future investments. Please let us have it.   There are new trends in arrangements and bouquets, and speed to market is everything. A fresh perspective is in order. Meet Robin Mooney, our Floral Design Coordinator, in the profile below. She’ll give some new love to our design department and challenge us to mix it up a bit and get “it” out there better and faster than anyone else.   The pillars of this business haven’t changed in over 20 years. We chose them very deliberately when we started, and we still believe that success in these three areas means success for all.  We’ve made a recent investment in more quality control Team Members. More red vests and aprons on Gabe Gill’s team mean greater quality for you and your customers. We also have plans for a lot more training and grading at the farm level.  A recent plant redesign will increase throughput on bouquets. We want them handled less and in water faster, period. Our weekly Quality Council is a cross-functional team charged with addressing quality issues the instant they arise. The faster we can move from assembly to water, the better. Updated forecasting tools and 52-week planning and planting reports help align inbound product with outbound product for greater freshness, less waste.  New flower varieties on the horizon…please help by getting those surveys in! New programs, news ways to sell flowers, merchandising help, and marketing info. As we embrace a customer-driven mindset, we want to provide a more complete package end to end. That’s enough out of me. Thank you for being a valued partner. Happy Valentine’s Day!  Jason Levin President & Chief Gringo   Her first job was in a flower shop, and she hasn’t left the business since. She has worked for growers, wholesalers, and designers before striking out on her own to design arrangements for weddings and special events. Now she brings her passion and expertise to Dos Gringos clients full time. Welcome, Robin! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next. What trends do you see? Bouquets with less elements, clutch style color grouping, and well-displayed. If something looks like it needs a lot of re-work, or if someone can’t picture it on there dining table, it’s a tough sell. A lot of bouquet makers do the same thing over and over again. We want to avoid that rut. Biggest Challenge: Keeping busy: January was a whirlwind. We had a great win when four bouquets were chosen by a major grocery store client. I’m in the flower factory with Gabe Gill and his team. It’s so exciting to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these team members and introduce my design abilities. I’m working on the summer line and prepping that catalog. I want to stay right in step with our sales team and several steps ahead of the competition. What's great about Dos Gringos? The emphasis on team. The people here work beautifully together – not unlike the items and colors in a well-designed bouquet. The positive vibe and a can-do spirit are contagious. I am inspired to pass it on. On the personal side: I spend most of my free time with my husband and three kids. I love volunteering at my girls’ school, and the whole family enjoys walking, hiking, and biking. You can contact Robin at: robin.mooney@dosgringos.netHEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!  -     2011 gave us plenty of opportunities, some terrific new relationships and travels, and interesting and innovative approaches for partnering with all of you. I am confident we learned from both our successes and mistakes, and I hope the same is true for your organization.  2012 gives us a fresh, clean canvas on which to continue our story. Sales and crop planning meetings late last month got the creative juices flowing, the team is jazzed, and the direction is clear: it’s time to broaden our product selection with some new and diverse items – all grown, of course, to strict DG quality standards! New items open up a world of design possibilities, so we’re psyched about that as well. What kind of new items? We’re working with you now to figure out where the current voids are and what’s most desirable before we make final planting decisions, but, of course, we have some ideas to bring to the table. Next week we will be sending out a survey that highlights a number of the products we’re considering. If you have a minute or two to join the conversation, we’d love to hear it. Thank you for your time on this. We want to help you transform your category and solve your problems. We can do this with your help. Attention and resources dedicated to growing the world’s best Sunflowers remains unchanged. We’ll keep pushing the envelope with breeders and our farm managers to provide ample supply of the coolest colors and the longest-lasting stems on the planet. That’s the foundation of our house; it will always be maintained and upgraded with the greatest of care. It’s time to give the first floor some love, and that will include new products and a “more is more” approach that responds directly and distinctly to consumer demands. We’re going beyond Sunflowers and fillers and looking at a whole new process for creating sample designs and preparing for trade shows. I hope you’re starting to see a theme. All of this work is aimed at building and providing you with a comprehensive program that incorporates the most recent and effective marketing concepts, merchandising ideas and solutions, product education, and design expertise. Upcoming newsletters will outline the details.    (Click images above to view the video or promotion) Our corporate mission of “bringing smiles to millions” hit new heights on January 2nd during the Rose Bowl Parade. 800,000 “live” spectators and 18 million TV viewers watched as the Escondido Mounted Posse, decked out in DG Sunflower blankets and bouquets made their way down Colorado Boulevard. They look terrific and what a perfect way to begin 2012!  The Escondido Mounted Posse passing in front of the grandstands at the Rose Bowl Parade, decked out in Dos Gringos Sunflowers. (Click images above to learn more)Until next time, best wishes for a fabulous, prosperous 2012!  Jason Levin President & Chief Gringo HEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!  -  The Dirt - December 2011 Issue   While I truly hope everyone enjoyed a pleasant Thanksgiving filled with things that bring you joy, I must acknowledge right off the bat that Dos Gringos did not “bring the happy” to some of you this season. Serious shortfalls in our signature Sunflowers created headaches, frustration, and worse. I want to apologize openly and honestly, and I want to be clear about our plans for mitigating the effects of any shortages in the future.  We had unusually high air and soil temperatures in San Diego County this fall. A portion of our Sunflower seeds on farms in this region burned in the ground, and we came up about 250,000 bunches short. The team realized we had a problem and jumped into action, and the Dos Gringos “can-do” spirit was on full display. We worked quickly to buy replacement product on the open market, we made the best substitutions we could, and we had FedEx at the ready round the clock to get what we could to you as quickly as possible. We did deliver smiles this season, but not enough to let me sleep at night. The goal was to allocate as fairly as we could so no one came out empty-handed, but I know that’s little consolation when we’ve hyped Suns, you’ve hyped Suns, and everyone wants to go over the river and through the woods with Suns in hand. I also know that when it’s not our product, it’s not our quality, and there was disappointment in that category as well.  If you’ve been with DG for any length of time, you know what sticklers we are for balance and how carefully – with your help -- we plan before we plant. Thanksgiving may be the toughest holiday to “get just right.” We want plenty of Suns to meet your Thanksgiving orders and few by Black Friday, when green, red, and white rule the day. We make adjustments from one year to the next based on historical data, and we go with our best estimates. Today we have diversified to a point where we now have four different growing regions – with four different climates – from which to harvest Suns and across which to spread the risk of problems. This year we added a trial run of Sunflowers in the California desert, and it did very well. Next year we’ll go all-out in this location to help meet demand. We will always look for and consider additional areas to plant. And we will increase the size of all of our plantings, putting more seeds in the ground on every farm. As always, if you have ideas and insights on how we can get better, anyone on this team is all ears and at your service!    As we move on to a strong finish to 2011, Metallic's are here and hot for the holidays! Be sure to check out our selections and featured bouquets. We are redesigning and improving our product development process to ensure we can offer new products from the ground and new designs with those items. And we are putting the finishing touches on a “Client Calendar” that will keep everyone apprised of dates and deadlines for our key crops. Happy, Healthy Holidays to All! Thank you for your business. Thank you for your friendship.  Jason Levin President & Chief Gringo  HEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!  -  The Dirt - November 2011 Issue   A belated Happy Halloween to all. I hope the holiday was filled with more treats than tricks.  It always seems to me that as soon as we turn off the porch lights and blow out the candle in the last jack-o-lantern, there’s a change in the air. I can almost feel the transition the whole country makes from fall flowers – so natural and gorgeous in their own right -- to the more festive and a little fancier holiday crops. Once we hit Nov. 1, it’s all about the party-filled, family-focused events that characterize the last two months of the year. It’s our passion here at Dos Gringos to remind the world that every event, every gathering, every gift gets better with flowers. It’s our obsession to make flowers from Dos Gringos better than anyone else’s.   Thanksgiving is huge for us, of course. Aaron Motola and his team checked in on several of our fields last week to secure our final Thanksgiving forecast and harvest projections. Aaron provides a brief update below. Our Sunflower numbers are tracking quite well as I write this newsletter, but an abnormal amount of rain this fall did put an early end to Pumpkin Tree. Eucalyptus and Sage are in ample supply and look fantastic. We’ll have all hands on deck leading up to Nov. 24, so please let us know what you need and how we can help.    I am very excited about our Dos Gringos Metallics Collection for December. Our color-enhance team has poured a lot of hard work and creativity into this line, and it shows. The whole line really sets itself apart, and it’s one of those important, innovative things we continue to do to improve the customer experience and to keep consumers coming back for more. If you haven’t seen a metallic twist in an arrangement or bouquet, I encourage you to have a look -- and to share the joy with your end users!   On a less-than-joyful note, the Dos Gringos family will say good-bye at the end of this month to Kevin Romani, our faithful and fearless Supply Chain Director. Kevin came aboard in 2002 as an intern while attending the University of San Diego. He hit the ground sprinting, and has given nothing less than 100 percent every day since. Honestly, he’s one of the best hires I’ve ever made. Kevin will have great success in his next adventure, and he will always have a family here at Dos Gringos. He shares his wit and his hard-earned wisdom below. Thank you, Kevin, for all you’ve done for this company and for the industry. Let the holidays begin! Jason Levin President & Chief Gringo Kevin Romani: Parting Thoughts, Final Shots…  A friend of mine called out of the blue to ask me to help establish a satellite office in San Francisco for Dyn, his fast-growing technology company based in Manchester, N.H. Dyn (http://www.dyn.com) sells managed DNS and email solutions to companies with web stores and heavy internet traffic. Dyn’s customers include Facebook, Twitter, and Overstock.com. I wasn’t interested at first, because I very much enjoy what I do and everyone I work with at DG. As my girlfriend and I considered it further, however, we determined that moving to San Francisco would be great for her career in the health care field; a growth opportunity for me in a new and fast-growing industry; and a wonderful chance to be closer to my family. There were many conversations and several sleepless nights, but we believe this is the right move for us. Q: What did you enjoy most in your time at Dos Gringos? The people. I have met and worked with amazing people, not just here at Dos Gringos but throughout the floral industry. Trucking company personnel, farmers, grocery/floral buyers, wholesalers, floral designers, hard goods suppliers – I’ve worked with all of them and more, and I’ve loved every minute of it. When I started here as a college intern, I had no idea how complex, fast-paced and interesting this industry could be. So many things have to go right for the end user to have a wonderful experience and it gets complicated. I have great respect for the hard work and dedication each person puts in to make the whole industry run. We’re an interesting, hardworking bunch, and I’m proud to have worked with such neat people. Q: Anything you WON’T miss? Mother Nature related issues, crops that fail without any kind of warning and the endless challenges that come with having to get 100 out of 100 things right for the end user to enjoy that amazing experience. That said, a week or so out, I’m sure I’ll miss the constant engagement and problem-solving that go with this gig! Q: What have you learned that will be valuable in the next chapter of your life? Resiliency and the ability to separate emotions from problem solving. When something goes wrong, it’s very natural to be emotionally attached to outcomes and to all the work that’s been done. But emotion gets in the way of solving the problem and making sure it doesn’t happen again. There will always be issues and challenges; it’s how we respond to them that determines our success! Q: What excites you most about the future? I’m really looking forward to experiencing a new industry and living in a new city, closer to my family. My entire adult life has been spent working in the flower industry and living in San Diego, so it will be an interesting change of pace. Q: In the spirit of Thanksgiving, what are you most thankful for as 2011 comes to a close? I’m most thankful for the experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met at Dos Gringos. I wouldn’t change anything in my time spent here because I’ve taken away so many amazing life lessons. I’ve experienced successes and failures and learned so much from the people I’ve met, whether it be from Jason or from Sixto Juarez, our packer with the longest tenure. It’s been an amazing ride. I feel fortunate for all of it!  by Aaron Motola, Director of Procurement  The team and I spent much of last week visiting fields and talking with each foreman about a variety of topics. A couple items to call your attention to:
True to our pioneering spirit, we grew our first trial of Sunflowers this fall in the southern California desert near Palm Springs. We are constantly seeking out the best locations to overcome production challenges and meet the huge demand for Suns each fall. HEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK! -  The Dirt - October 2011 Issue   Together we did it again, and we did it even better.By “we,” I mean all of us: the Dos Gringos team (the grower), many customers (buyers and store-level staff from around the country), and our hybridizer, the scientists we work with to develop  cutting-edge seeds and bring to market new and interesting flowers the world has never seen before.The “it” refers to our annual Sunflower pack trials and tests at Gringo Farms. In a whirlwind week and a half, we were thrilled to host over 40 people at the separate trial farm we created in North Coast San Diego to test new varieties and hold off-site brainstorming sessions with team members and clients alike. We had seeds from hybridizers in the United States, Japan and Israel, and we displayed 20 different beds of Sunflower varieties – everything from natural red and white to bi-colors to lemon Teddy Bears to some of our proprietary commercial varieties.  Gringo Farms also has about 50 varieties of perennials from Protea to Safari Sunset, and we use this area as a demonstration garden to teach team members and clients about how the elements we use in bouquets actually grow in the field.  The interaction and feedback at this year’s trials were phenomenal! I can’t think of a better way to stay on top of issues, trends and trouble spots than to stand in a garden or sit around a table with those of you on the front lines. The more we all understand the complete cycle, from seed selection to the consumer, the more successful we can be. A big “Thank you” from Dos Gringos to all of its visitors last week. I wish we could have had every single client come through, but we will catch you next time. Until we visit in person, keep letting us know what we can do to help make your flower program crank.   It’s October now, and you’ve got to get your Pumpkin Tree! It is fabulous and in ample supply. It screams autumn – in a good way – and it offers a different twist than the fall standards. You’ll love what it does for bouquets and other arrangements. Jason Levin President & Chief Gringo Our travel schedule is light this month as we settle in and focus on the home front. As always, quality is a huge priority. Mark Young, our Chief Operating Officer, talks in this issue about some of those initiatives.  A Message from COO Mark Young Blocking and tackling are the focus this fall at Dos Gringos. Concentrating on the fundamentals, striving for constant improvement, and building on our core strengths has served us well. This team understands that quality is Priority #1 and that we must be the best in the industry at integrating high customer expectations with the uncertainties and uncontrollable elements Mother Nature throws our way.  Daily production meetings and a serious Total Quality Management initiative are helping us. Quality Assurance Manager Mary Luz Rodriguez has made great strides in our production area, and she’s recently expanded her efforts beyond these four walls to include our farms. We believe that long-term, lasting quality is about consistency and a common language that everyone can understand and embrace. Mary Luz and Gabe Gill are driving those efforts here at Dos Gringos.The plant layout is getting some attention this season. As we continue to grow and thrive, we insist on having the best possible flow between assembly and packing so we can deliver the productivity and volume improvements you want. With Thanksgiving around the corner, we’re working on a seven-day work schedule that will ensure you get what you need when you need it. Growers Caveat…Weather permitting of course! HEY GRINGO FANS, FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK!  -  | Newsletter Archive 2012 (2)February (1)January (1)2011 (12)December (1)November (1)October (1)September (1)August (1)July (1)June (1)May (1)April (1)March (1)February (1)January (1)2010 (9)December (1)November (1)October (1)September (1)August (1)July (1)June (1)May (1)April (1) |