‘Tis the season for fresh flowers; the holiday season coupled with Valentine’s Day can generate over half of a florist shop and retailer’s fresh flower annual revenues. To keep up with demand, floral distributors need a cold storage warehouse plan of attack during these peak seasons. They need the flexibility to scale their cold storage warehouse areas to store more flowers with the ability to repurpose the space during off seasons.

Temperature and humidity are the critical factors to keep flowers fresh for as long as possible. As temperatures rise, flowers will dry out so they require a high humidity level. In addition, distributors that store both floral and produce should keep these products apart. There are certain varieties of fruits and vegetables that release ethylene that may actually kill flowers. Some distributors go as far as keeping flowers and produce apart on the dock during off-loading and loading processes.

What’s a distributor to do?

How do you create a flexible cold storage environment to accommodate an influx of demand?

How do you create multiple climate controlled areas to keep fresh floral and produce separate?

InsulWall is leading the way with innovative floral storage management

Kendal Floral is a leading supplier and distributor of fresh cut flowers in the Western United states. They pride themselves on keeping bouquets, roses and floral arrangements in an optimal storage environment that ensures each flower’s vibrancy.

Kendal needed a way to keep arrangements cool without sacrificing valuable warehouse space the remainder of the year. When a contractor proposed building a permanent cooler room, Kendal recoiled and called Josh Welch, territory manager for Engineered Products, a Papé Company (Seattle, WA).

Instead of a permanent room, Welch proposed installing InsulWall® from Randall Manufacturing. InsulWall, an insulated curtain wall system, would keep the room at a constant temperature of 50 degrees and could be removed when the season was over.

InsulWall Delivered

Engineered Products engaged Randall Manufacturing to work closely with Kendal Floral to:

• Design InsulWall to leverage Kendal’s infrastructure utilizing existing walls and cooling systems.
• Engineer InsulWall to take into account the ceiling slope.
• Provide a panel with a weight less than 50 lbs. per square foot.
• Create short and long-term cost savings, factoring in InsulWall’s reusability. Just prior to installation, Kendal decided to expand the dimensions – ultimately creating a 3,500 square foot x 37′ high enclosure. Even with the change order, it took only four weeks to manufacture, deliver and install InsulWall. Kendal Floral was striving to meet increased demand by creating a temporary cold storage room – quickly, with a wall system that was modular, flexible and thermal: AND at half the cost of the proposed permanent room.

For more information on how Kendal Floral used InsulWall, click here.

Call us today to learn how we can help your business create flexible, temperature-controlled warehouse space – 800-323-7424.