UPS Releases New Article for Valentine's Day

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - February 13, 2015) - (NYSE: UPS) -- Whether a man is calm and on top of his game, or in the grip of a last-minute panic, when he walks out of the flower shop with a fresh bouquet of Valentine's Day flowers, chances are he doesn't give much thought to how they got there.

He -- and I'm being gender-specific because 75 percent of Valentine's flower buyers are men -- can thank a system built on a rigorous combination of distance, travel, time and temperature.

It all comes together in a one-day observance that generates a total of $1.7 billion spent on flowers, which contribute to a total of nearly $19 billion spent on cards, romantic dinners, stuffed animals and all manner of other Valentine's Day gifts -- including everything from frozen steaks and lobsters to six-foot teddy bears.

For the record, this was not, as many suspect, all cooked up by the greeting card companies looking to boost business between the Christmas and Mother's Day. Although a bit murky, Valentine's Day actually has roots in Christian and ancient Roman tradition.

It may be named for one of the Catholic Church's three St. Valentines -- all were martyrs. Some trace it to the Roman feast of Lupercalia, an order of Roman priests. Whatever the origins, the tradition of giving flowers makes February 14 a very big day for florists. The Society for American Florists says Valentine's Day accounts for 36 percent of all holiday transactions and 40 percent of all dollar revenue. What's more, the National Retail Federation says flowers account for $41 of the $142 consumers spend on average on Valentine's gifts.

The logistics challenge in the Valentine's Day flower business begins with the length of the journey. Most fresh flowers come from Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Throughout the trip from field to florist, temperature is crucial -- 38 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit is optimum. Any warmer and the flowers can "break dormancy," meaning they bloom and start to fade before they reach their destination. Much colder and they risk freeze damage.