The Fresh Bunch

Send us Fan Mail We’re a week behind with this episode, you can blame Las Vegas & Hurricane Nicole. (Not Ryan or Joel) In this special episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers, we sit down with a long-time family friend and colleague, Juan Carlos Sanchez of Presh Tech S.A.S.  A unique company from Colombia who are one of the leading producers of preserved flowers, including their Vermeille brand...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers, we have 2 special guests joining us, Arielle & Ralph DeBoer of Rosa Flora!  This fun husband and wife duo are the owners of Rosa Flora in Ontario, Canada. Where their expert team grows large gerbera, mini gerbera, snapdragons, lisianthus, and stephanotis under millions of square feet of high-tech greenhouses.  Founded...

Send us Fan Mail We're back from Ecuador and ready to tell you all about our trip!  Fern, Mike & Ryan went to Ecuador for the biennial Flor Ecuador show in Quito, held Oct. 5-7, where our farm, Jet Fresh Flower Growers participated in the trade show displays for the first time.  We also hosted the first international #HippyPsychedelicRose Love-In at our farm.  In this episode, there was n...

Send us Fan Mail We are back with another fresh episode with another great industry friend! Chip Cox, president and founder of Floral Trade Distributors.  Which is one of the leading and go-to logistic companies on the west coast for the commercial cut flower industry. Now spanning across the US, Canada and Mexico, provides various floral shipping services to a wide range of customers all across t...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode is a little late (due to the Ecuador flower show) but it's loaded with great stories and interesting facts about our good friend north of the border, Karl Vahrmeyer Jr. of Green Park Nurseries in Ontario, Canada!  Karl is a kind, hard-working family man with an amazing family-run outdoor farm in Canada.  You have definitely seen some of Karl's fa...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode is slightly longer than our already-long episodes.  But we promise it's worth it!  We sat down with Steve Dionne, AAF Executive Director at CalFlowers & Managing Director at Wafex USA.  Steve has a long, well-respected history in the industry and has a wealth of knowledge to share with our "Fatties."  Most recently, Steve has spearheaded...

Send us Fan Mail We're back with another fresh episode featuring 2 more industry legends, Marty McCall and his wife, Michelle Morgan, AIFD. Marty, a lifelong flower pro with flowers in his family, brings a breadth of knowledge and experience in the floral industry, but most importantly, a steadfast dedication to enriching his community with the charm of gorgeous fresh flowers and exceptional...

Send us Fan Mail We know we're a week late. We apologize, but we have 2 episodes this week to make up for it. If you've listened to the podcast, you've probably heard Mike talking about AFIF in some way or another.  Some would go as far as to say Mike is AFIF's biggest supporter.  In this special episode, we get into all things AFIF with Christine Boldt, Executive Vice Presiden...

Send us Fan Mail We know we're a week late. We apologize, but we have 2 episodes this week to make up for it. We packed up the gear and drove north to Orlando to record this week's episode.  We went live at the SAF (Society of American Florists) annual convention, inside the Outstanding Varieties Competition showroom, as we had a lot to discuss about the show, and a lot of friends and &q...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are sitting down with another life-long flower pro and industry legend this week in the form of Albert Vink!  Albert has been in the industry since a young age and after a quick 10-year hiatus, he is back in the biz, selling beautiful USA-grown flowers for Castle Hayne Farms.  Castle Hayne Farms is a grower and shipper of premium fresh-cut Carolina-grown flowers locat...

Send us Fan Mail For this week’s episode, we recorded 2 collaborative, back-to-back, special-edition episodes with our new friends from The Flower Clique!   You can find the first episode on their podcast, The Business and Pleasure of Flowers (which you can listen to right here The Jet Fresh Guys: How Their Business Took Flight, Building Great Work Culture, & Creating Loyal Employees ) After w...

Send us Fan Mail We were eager to get this week's guest on the podcast ever since he submitted a formal request through our 2FatGuys@JetFreshFlowers.com email address a few weeks ago!   Author, educator, flower expert, and so much more, Dr. James M. DelPrince AIFD, PFCI! Dr. DelPrince, or Jim, is a well-respected professor of Floral Design and Interior Plantscaping Design at Mississippi State...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are very excited about this week's guest. Nicole Palazzo, 5th generation in the floral industry, Marketing Director for City Line Florist in Connecticut, President of the SAF Next Gen Committee, and most importantly the official President of the "2 Fat Guys Talking Flowers" Fan Club!  Nicole was in town for the Society of American Florists' first N...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back together all under the same roof!  Except, this week, we're not in the studio, aka the "Cone of Silence," aka the tiny little meeting room in our office.  No, this week we are on-site at the first (hopefully annual) Society of American Florists'  Next Gen Live event in Miami!  Joined on the podcast by SAF's CEO, Kate Penn, the Fat Guy...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode with another industry legend. Or in today's case, legends in the form of Ana & Mark Dubner!  Mark established himself as a legend in the industry during his tenure as the Sales Manager of Esmeralda Farms for more than 30 years and is now the managing partner for Stellar Bouquet.  Ana who's held various jobs in the indu...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode!  This week we have industry legend and friend to the family, Captain Ian Watt of Kennicott Brothers!  Ian has led a long and successful career in the industry, working with some great companies, including Holex, Anton Spaargaren, and more!  Now he has brought his knowledge and skills to help run the KBC Direct program at Kennicott...

Send us Fan Mail In today's new episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers, we got a nice mix of good with the ugly as Mike and Fern discuss the current market situation, the worst Friday sales in 2 years, and the Ecuador strike updates.  And then we switch gears to a lighter side of the podcast and play our first podcast game!  You may be familiar with "The Colbert Questionnaire," well we...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another very special, and well-known industry friend.  President of Alexandra Farms, Jose "Joey" R. Azout!   Alexandra Farms is a boutique grower in Colombia, specializing in growing the world's finest nostalgic, romantic, fresh-cut garden roses.   The farm was started by Joey in 2005 and is named after his daughter Alexandra Lydia Azout. ...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers, there is no special guest.  We recorded this bonus episode last Friday, to discuss the rising civil protest crisis in Ecuador.   As business owners with a farm, offices, colleagues and close friends IN Ecuador, we have many feelings and thoughts on the current situation.  Since recording this episode, the protests have intensified, and t...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers we sit down with our friend and Founder and CEO of Details Flowers Software, Corrine Heck!  Corrine Heck founded Details Flowers Software to help event florists manage and scale their businesses effortlessly. Over the past 20+ years, she’s had experience in just about every part of the industry — transitioning from event designer...

Send us Fan Mail In this special episode of #2FatGuysTalkingFlowers we were one Fat Guy down, as Fern was taking a much-deserved family vacation.  So Ryan stepped up and filled in.  Luckily our guest is the Ring Leader of the Flower Circus and had lots to discuss and make up for a missing Fern.  John Elstgeest, and the Flower Circus through floral fun, are informing, entertaining, and inspiring fl...

Send us Fan Mail Petal Productions is one of the largest wedding and event professionals in the country!  Their team produces upwards of 30 large-scale, high-end events PER WEEKEND for the difficult and diverse Miami/South Florida clientele and more.  How do they do it?  It starts from the top with President Raffi Grosz and the multi-talented, Lead Designer Carlos Muina.  Listen as they join the F...

Send us Fan Mail The Fat Guys are back with another fresh episode and inspiring guest.  Director of Sales for Equiflor Corp. and Rio Roses, and incoming SAF President, Oscar Fernandez has a lot of history and wisdom to share.   From his time working with Fern back in the day, to him speaking with congressmen at the annual Congressional Action Days in DC, and a lot more over a nearly 30-year career...

Send us Fan Mail We joked about a special episode idea in one of our early podcast episodes.  What if we got all 5 of Mike's sons together and discuss on the podcast what it's like working with your family.   We're happy to announce that idea is no longer just an idea.  And the 2 Fat Guys are proud to present this very special "Brothers" episode of 2 Fat Guys Talking Flowe...

Send us Fan Mail Not even the Mother's Day rush can stop the 2 Fat Guys on their journey to podcast greatness.   In this episode, we brought in a very special guest.  Carlos Oramas, CEO of the Gems Group, a lifestyle company in the business of creating demand for fresh cut flowers in everyday life, specializing in the supermarket channel.  Carlos is a marketing expert who's won numerous...