Who came up with the stemmed gardenia idea?
Kitayama
Brothers would love to claim that we created the stemmed gardenia, but we have
to give credit where credit is due, to our customer and friend Michael
Miyashiro of Rainforest Florist in Honolulu, HI.
Four years ago while I
was attending a trade show in Honolulu, Michael advised Kitayama Brothers to
“burn” all our roses and grow gardenias. He also said to keep a stem on
the gardenias and ship them in a bud stage. To be honest, at that time I
thought he was “just being Michael.” Michael always asks for the most
bizarre and extreme forms of flora. Half the time I don’t even know what
type of flower or green he is talking about. However, he has a booming
business in Honolulu and his work is in high demand because of his fun and
exotic look.
Today,
Kitayama Brothers has pulled out every rose plant and I believe we must be the
biggest gardenia grower in the USA. And with the introduction of the
stemmed gardenia, our customers can get a new use for an old flower. The
stem allows the gardenia to be used in arrangements. Also, because of the
bud stage, the flowers can be ship in greater quantity and are much better
priced than traditional select gardenias (3 in a box).
Hopefully we are creating
a new generation of gardenia lovers. I will be back in Honolulu this Fall, (it's my duty to visit once a year), and I will visit Michael again, there
just might be a new idea..
RHK
Awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment and please share with your network.
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