• C.H. Robinson will move up to 10 million boxes of flowers for Valentine’s Day, representing one in four U.S. retail floral units, leveraging its temperature-controlled logistics network and end-to-end supply chain expertise.
• Approximately 70 percent of U.S. flowers originate from Latin America, mostly Colombia and Ecuador, with 80 percent passing through Miami International Airport within 24 hours, requiring precise temperature (35–38ºF) and humidity (90–95 percent) control to preserve freshness.
• The company’s integrated operations—combining sourcing, logistics, and real-time supply chain management—enabled 98 percent on-time delivery during the 2024 season, ensuring flowers reach thousands of retailers efficiently despite potential disruptions.

Valentine’s Day, this Saturday, marks the beginning of floral peak season. Just like every year, C.H. Robinson, the global leader in Lean AI supply chains, with 83,000 customers and 37 million shipments annually, as well as the largest temperature-controlled logistics network in North America, is set to move up to 10 million boxes of flowers—representing one out of every four fresh floral units sold in retail—helping to bring joy to lovers, sweethearts and secret flames all over.

“What you might not realize when you receive that perfect bouquet, is what a complex, sophisticated logistics operation it took to bring it to you,” said Jose Rossignoli, President of Robinson Fresh, the company’s fresh supply chain solutions division. “When you’re handling a perishable product that starts losing shelf life the moment it is cut, you need to have the ability to orchestrate operations across a full ecosystem of growers, air, temperature-controlled carrier capacity, warehouses, and the retailers we work with to ensure that the product is on display at the exact right time, at thousands of points of sale. Every single part must run like clockwork.”

A closer look at the numbers and timeframes illustrates the complexity of the operation:

• The great floral migration: About 70 percent of all flowers sold in the U.S. every year move North from Latin America during the three-month peak season from Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) to Mother’s Day (May 10). 95 percent of these come from Colombia and Ecuador. 80 percent move through Miami’s International Airport within 24 hours of being cut, before being distributed to thousands of retailers across the U.S.
• Business is blooming: S. retail flower sales reached approximately US$9.8 billion last year, growing nearly 50 percent over five years. Globally, the floral market exceeds US$72 billion. In Colombia and Ecuador, florals account for up to 15 percent of total exports. In the U.S., all that product drives a 2,500 percent surge in floral volumes for Valentine’s Day alone.
• No room for error: Flowers need to be moved at a steady temperature of 35-38º F, and 90-95 percent humidity. Any fluctuation in those values and every delay means loss of freshness. That means minimizing dwell time on the tarmac, smooth handoffs, and flawless last-mile execution are crucial. For every minute that is lost, shelf life dwindles and profits fall.

During the 2024 floral season, C.H. Robinson delivered 98 percent on-time. The company can do that because it combines product sourcing, supply chain solutions and tailored customer service under one umbrella. As a result, it can track, analyse and optimise every box of flowers’ journey across the length of the supply chain, and adapt to disruptions such as extreme weather, flight cancelations, or labor shortages in real time.

“What makes C.H. Robinson, so uniquely fit for this job is our scale, end-to-end coordination and adaptability” said Jim Mancini, C.H. Robinson Vice President of Customer Success. “Moving so many millions of flowers between continents in such a short timeframe requires a fully integrated approach that aligns planning, sourcing and execution, as well as the ability to pivot quickly when the unexpected happens—and to do it better every single year.”

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