The 'Joy of Fresh' Is Real

If you were anywhere near Austin, TX on March 15 or 16, you probably saw a SXSW attendee with a Joy of Fresh bouquet or a flower crown. SXSW is a yearly festival of culture, bringing together thousands of attendees passionate about everything from music to tech, to food and film and all other corners of culture.

Based on the IFPA activation on Rainey Street, which made Biz Bash's list of the top 18 event design ideas from SXSW 2022 (along with brands like Twitter, Dell Technologies and Prime Video), it was pretty clear that no matter what brought someone to SXSW, they all loved the flowers.

The activation would not have been possible without our incredible sponsors, including floral and produce partners who helped stock the Global Street Farm with beautiful flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, and even refreshing sparkling water from Waterloo.

We'll be speaking more about the impact of this program on an upcoming Virtual Town Hall to be held on April 6. You may be asking "why are you at a place like SXSW?" and while the Virtual Town Hall will definitely provide great insight, I will say it's because that's where our consumers are and now, after handing out 10,000 fresh bouquets and hundreds of flower crowns, our consumers have an even better understanding of the "Joy of Fresh" and the role that flowers and fresh produce can play in their lives – even when they least expect it!

But SXSW wasn't the only reason why March was a floral destination. We also used this time to bring together the Floral Committee in a hybrid meeting hosted by H-E-B at the H-E-B Digital and Flavor Eastside Tech Hub.

The meeting, which took place over the course of the day on March 17, had a full agenda that included IFPA's Chief Public Policy Officer Robert Guenther, who provided an overview of how floral will be featured in IFPA's advocacy work both in the U.S. and globally, as well as a speaker who covered the technical ins and outs of the floral market order.

Probably the most energizing part of the day was the interactive breakouts, where participants came together to combine expertise and experience to provide an outlook on our coming opportunities and challenges.

We look forward to sharing these findings in coming events and committee initiatives, but as a preview, we talked about how the floral industry is feeling about the outlook for demand (bright but cautious), opportunities to support high demand, barriers, worries, technology and growth targets. The discussion, as always, was lively, and we'll use this to drive our work advocating and guiding the industry in the coming months.

One of the topic areas that came up in the "What is the biggest worry?" segment of the exercise was, unsurprisingly, talent. Building inroads into our industry from new talent sources, as well as strengthening our current talent streams, will always be a priority for IFPA. If you have a position for either an entry-level position or an internship, we want to help you find new talent. Email Barbara Hochman at bhochman@freshproduce.com.

Where can you see us next?

The Floral Conference - Anaheim - March 29, 2022

The Floral Conference - Miami - May 25, 2022

The Miami Floral Buyer Sourcing Meetings supplier application is open, where you can apply to meet face-to-face with 5 floral buyers during The Floral Conference - Miami. Participating buyers include Giant Food, Food Lion, Roche Brothers, Stop & Shop, Walmart and more. Submit your application by April 6 to be considered - Apply now.