Up the Supply Chain BY AMANDA JEDLINSKY COOLING UNDER PRESSURE


> As Mother’s Day approaches, florists know the pressure points well: massive volume, compressed timelines and little margin for temperature mistakes — the kind that don’t show up until flowers reach the customer’s home. That’s why some growers are tight-


ening the cold chain earlier and faster than before, turning to tools like vacuum cooling — particularly as volume surges at holidays and more flowers move by sea freight. “This is not a new technology,”


says Steve Daum, director of Superflor Technologies at FloraLife, a division of Smithers-Oasis. “It’s been used in produce for decades. What’s changing is how flowers are moving.”


How It Works Vacuum cooling works by lowering air pressure inside a sealed chamber, rap- idly removing heat from boxed flowers. That speed is the headline advantage: Flowers can be brought to target tem- perature in minutes rather than hours. But speed isn’t the whole story,


Daum cautions. Flowers are made up of 88% to 95% water, and under vacuum conditions, some of that moisture can


vaporize. Used correctly, the process stabilizes flowers quickly. Used without proper protocols, it can stress certain crops or varieties in ways that show up later as edge “burns” or tissue breakdown. That’s why vacuum cooling isn’t a


one-size-fits-all solution. Some flower types — including carnations, chrysan- themums and roses — generally tolerate it well. Within those categories, however, individual varieties may respond differ- ently. Packing density, sleeve material and humidity control all matter.


Why It Matters Now When protocols align, vacuum cooling offers real advantages during peak holi- days like Mother’s Day. Daum estimates that six pallets can be vacuum cooled in about 45 minutes — a fraction of the time required for forced-air pre-cooling, which also demands careful pallet align- ment and more labor. That speed matters when facilities


are full and trucks are waiting. Plazoleta, a Colombian grower, has used vacuum cooling for five years. It’s helped the grower move more product more quickly, and the company reports that


the technology helped reduce charge- backs tied to quality issues by more than half. “It’s changed the business,” says


Plazoleta’s spokesperson Christian Peña.


Raising the Stakes Daum says vacuum cooling’s value is more pronounced with flowers shipped by sea — a practice that continues to grow, particularly outside peak holi- day windows. Vacuum cooling helps consolidators bring mixed product to a uniform temperature before loading con- tainers — a critical step when flowers from multiple farms arrive at different temperatures. “With ocean freight, if you’re one


degree off, you multiply that error by 10 to 12 days,” he says. “You don’t have the chance to correct it the way you do with air freight.”


Consistency Is Key Not every grower sees vacuum cooling as the right tool. “Our focus is on gradually bringing


flowers to the correct temperature and avoiding stress,” says Tyler Meskers of Oregon Flowers. Oregon Flowers relies on immediate


post-harvest cold storage, cooling boxed flowers in traditional coolers the day before shipment. Packing takes place in a refrigerated warehouse to prevent tem- perature fluctuations. The goal, Meskers says, is a controlled, steady transition — especially important when flowers are harvested from warm greenhouses. That approach reflects a broader


truth Daum emphasizes: Cold-chain success isn’t about choosing the “fastest” technology. It’s about matching the right tool to the crop, the volume and the handling plan. And during the most demanding


weeks of the year, consistency is what keeps flowers — and customers — coming back.


RAPID COOLING An employee at Plazoleta inserts a temperature probe into a box of fl owers inside a vacuum cooling chamber, part of the Colombian grower’s process to quickly stabilize product and protect quality during peak shipping periods.


32 FLORAL MANAGEMENT | Mar/Apr 2026 | WWW.SAFNOW.ORG


Amanda Jedlinsky is the senior director of content and communications for the Society of American Florists and editor in chief of Floral Management.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44