Update on Logistics Challenges
Dear Flamingo customer,
I hope that summer has been going well for you! It has been a hectic spring and early summer for us with much demand for product and low inventory of what is left to sell. I hope that this counts for your business as well!
I want to reach out to you and let you know what we are experiencing. There is a backlog and delay at all American ports. Flamingo brings in most of their bulb inventories in fall and winter period. These are larger container shipments that are programmed to hit some of the major flower holidays for our customers. We currently are experiencing a delay of 2 to 3 weeks at the ports. All harbors are currently affected by the delay of unloading and the shortage of truckers and chassis to carry the containers. Besides a steep rise in cost of Air and Ocean freight, the delay is troublesome for our industry and our fellow flower growers. This time of the year there is a lot of volume of goods that is brought into the US for the holidays, so the delays continue. We do not foresee a short-term relief for this issue.
As a company we are planning ahead and trying to bring in container loads earlier to our warehouses. With living material like flower bulbs that is not always possible when it comes to the new harvest. We are in close contact with our counterpart at Van den Bos Flowerbulbs to find the best way to bring product over to meet customer demands. I predict that we will see delays but we will do everything in our power to keep it to a minimum. If you would like to get some more additional information, please reach out to me.
Sincerely,
Robin van der Schaaf
robin@flamingoholland.com
Office: (760) 734 1033