About CalFlowers

The California Association of Flower Growers & Shippers (CalFlowers, formerly known as NORCAL) was founded in 1941 by a small group of flower shipping companies to foster the success of the California floral industry within the United States.  Today CalFlowers is the leading floral trade association in California serving growers and the entire supply chain in the state and in 48 states across the nation.

In addition to valuable transportation benefits enjoyed by all CalFlowers members, the Association is also becoming a leader in bringing fresh cut flowers to the U.S. market, especially promoting the benefits of fresh flowers to new generations of American consumers.

A Diverse Flower Industry

 The association has members in 25 of California’s 58 counties comprised of flower growers, flower shippers, specialty non-ornamental flower growers, manufacturers of floral hard goods, packaging companies, flower wholesalers and retail florists.  CalFlowers is also proud of its active associate membership in 48 other  states, stretching to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.  This diverse membership represents every step of the value-chain that makes fresh, beautiful California flowers possible in vases, displays, weddings and every important event in the lives of active Americans.

A number of "non-floral" professions and industries serve the floral industry. Recognizing the value delivered by these allied service providers, CalFlowers welcomes accountants, legal firms, insurance brokers, financial institutions, and more, into its membership.

Education and Industry Initiatives

In the fall of 2014 CalFlowers invited 10 other significant stakeholder associations to a Flower Summit to explore collaborations to benefit the entire U.S. floral market.  Eight of these organizations are U.S.-based and two represent major growers and distributors from Colombia and Ecuador.  The Summit is not a formal organization, but a meeting of  industry minds to generate ideas for projects that will educate and promote the U.S. floral market.

Cross-industry collaboration proved so appealing that six of the 10 organizations agreed to work on awareness building around International Women’s Day in the U.S.  International Women’s Day is March 8^th every year and wildly popular in Europe and Russia.  While International Women’s Day was originally created to help promote the women’s suffrage movement in the early years of the 20^th Century, the Flower Summit organizations proposed that the day be an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the women in our lives. Giving flowers was one form of that recognition.

CalFlowers has also been instrumental in developing standards that bring value throughout the entire industry.  For example, CalFlowers initiated the Box Standardization Program (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa_NiYwm4qo) that is trending the market toward a 40” box for bulk shipping.  This initiative is making flower shipping more cost effective while maintaining the high quality of the floral products as they leave their farms.

CalFlowers' Mission

Our mission is simple and it benefits everyone involved in the industry:  Strengthen member businesses through logistics, education and promotion to grow the use and enjoyment of cut flowers.

Antitrust Adherence

As a non-profit trade association, CalFlowers prides itself on be pro-competitive in the floral marketplace.  As such, the CalFlowers board of directors has adopted an Antitrust Policy that is adhered to at all board and committee meetings, and members are advised to adhere to it at all events that CalFlowers organizes.  The policy states:

The members intend to conduct their affairs in compliance with the antitrust laws of the United States, the states within the United States and the antitrust/competition laws of other countries.  The representatives will not:

• Discuss prices or pricing policies nor practices;
• Discuss markets in which to compete;
• Discuss raw materials, product, equipment, services or other supplies from any supplier or vendor;
• Attempt to prevent any person from gaining access to any market or customer for goods and services or obtaining a supply of goods or services freely in the market; or
• Deny any application for participation, which meets the qualifications therefor, participation in the Association for any anti-competitive purpose.