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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 26, 2002

FOCUS
Waikiki flower show would re-establish Hawai'i image

This article was prepared by Greg Braun of Big Island Dendrobium Growers, Michael Inouye of the Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council, Pat Loui of the OmniTrak Group, Linda Puppolo of the Protea Growers Association (Maui), Charles Reed of the Hawai'i Tropical Flowers and Foliage Association (Kaua'i), Eric Tanouye of the Hawai'i Anthurium Industry Association and Harold Tanouye of the Hawai'i Export Nursery Association.

A few weeks ago, the Cayetano administration, through the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, launched a business-branding initiative to attract more companies to the Islands while promoting businesses that are already here.

Greg Taylor • The Honolulu Advertiser
Expanding on this initiative, the Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council has developed an aggressive strategy to promote the floriculture industry in Hawai'i and benefit other industries as well.

The centerpiece would be a Hawai'i International Flower Show, a three- or four-day event for visitors and residents that would include the world's first cross-cultural floral design contest.

Flower shows are huge events in Japan, Europe and the United States. The Hawai'i International Flower Show, proposed for April 2003, would benefit both the agriculture and visitor industries.

By being held in Waikiki, it would give flower fanciers from Japan, and more Americans, a good reason to return to O'ahu. Many visitors would extend stays to visit flower-growing areas statewide.

What would it take to make this idea a reality? Three things:

  • Support from the state Board of Agriculture, whose chairman is James Nakatani.
  • Support from the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, whose interim director is Rick Humphries.
  • Support from the community. (The Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council can be reached at P.O. Box 4306, Hilo, HI 96720 or at info@htfc.com.)

The Hawai'i International Flower Show is the third and final phase of a marketing program to increase sales for a floral industry comprising mostly small and medium-sized, family-owned businesses that generated almost $85 million in sales in 2000.

The industry employs almost 2,000 residents, most on the economically strapped Neighbor Islands.

In its first phase, the Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council — with the encouragement of the Cayetano administration and ag board chairman Nakatani — developed a logo and branding materials. Now, instead of sending anthuriums, dendrobium orchids, protea and tropical flowers like ginger and heliconia to out-of-state consumers without identifying the product, cut flowers are exported in cellophane sleeves and printed boxes that announce "Flowers From Hawai'i."

The Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council completed Phase 2 last year with the launch of a Web portal to provide the industry with a centralized source of marketing information.

Hits on the site, helped by a grant from the Hawai'i Island Economic Development Board, have increased 15-fold over six months.

The council is eager to launch Phase 3. The centerpiece is the proposed international flower show in Honolulu that would promote sales of Hawai'i tropical flowers by positioning them as the best in the world and attracting flower lovers and buyers to the Islands.

Holland America Bulb Farms in Woodland, Wash., helps meet the demand for Dutch tulips. Brand marketing helps generate such demand.

Advertiser library photo • 1999

The concept, developed by OmniTrak working closely with the Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council, focuses on a competition among expert floral designers in the American, Ikebana/Asian and European traditions. Using only Hawai'i-grown florals, designers from three cultural backgrounds would compete for a cash award for the world's "Best Tropical Flower Design." Initial inquiry indicates that there is interest in televising the show on cable TV.

The flower show also will include displays of new anthuriums, orchids, proteas and other tropical flowers. These new varieties will spur additional demand and reinforce Hawai'i as market leader in tropical flowers. Equally important, the publicity will showcase the plant-breeding expertise of the University of Hawai'i's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.

Timing is right for such a show, given the rapidly growing interest in buying flowers: The global flower industry is projected to double from $4.3 billion to $9 billion from 2000 to 2003, according to federal and trade forecasts.

Hawai'i's flower industry grew 10 percent from 1999 to 2000, and the council wants to accelerate growth. The international show will take the industry to a new level, with the goal of doubling its global market share in three to four years.

To accomplish this aggressive growth, the council recognizes that it must shift from supply-driven to demand- or market-driven strategies. Most important, the Hawai'i flower industry must diversify its sales mix.

Currently, Hawai'i's floral exports go mostly to wholesalers in bulk. Wholesalers are notoriously price-sensitive. Just as Third World countries such as Ecuador captured the rose market from California, so Mauritius and Thailand are taking market share from Hawai'i's anthurium and dendrobium growers by offering a cheaper, though lower-quality, commodity.

Given understandably higher labor costs and less land area, Hawai'i cannot compete on either volume or price against Third World competitors.

Instead, taking advice from marketing guru Jack Trout, who asserts that products and brands must "differentiate or die," the Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council seeks to compete by building a strong brand niche: Offering the best-quality tropical flowers to market segments that seek not the lowest price but the best quality of flowers.

The target market for those high-priced flowers will not be wholesalers, but florists, upscale consumers and floral designers, and the very market that will be drawn to an international show here.

Holland offers an excellent case study because, like Hawai'i, it does not have inexpensive labor. But strong brand marketing, excellent distribution systems and innovative production have enabled Dutch tulips to capture the premium segment of a highly competitive market.

An example closer to home is Kona coffee, an exclusive (and limited-production) global franchise that has launched an annual coffee festival and tasting contest. Kona coffee producers do not have mass acreage and so do not sell a low-priced product at high volume. Instead, Kona coffee is positioned as a premium-priced product and sold at a smaller volume.

We believe that Hawai'i flowers will benefit most by pursuing a similar strategy: creating a brand aura so strong for Hawai'i flowers that they sell at a premium against the tropical commodities from the Third World.

Although our floriculture industry enjoys its excellent reputation, the natural advantage is not sustainable. As every branding consultant knows, a brand needs to be promoted and its benefits reinforced to maintain its advantage in the face of increased competition.

This is where the Hawai'i International Flower Show comes in. The show is a cost-effective promotion that will increase demand for Hawai'i's flowers and re-establish our flowers as the best in the world. In addition, an international flower show aimed at attracting U.S. and Japanese visitors will benefit our visitor and retailing industries.

Although the proposed venue is Waikiki, the Neighbor Islands will benefit because most flower farms are there. And like marketing campaigns for Florida oranges, the international show will promote the state's appealing associations with natural beauty.

Further, it will recognize the important link between economic development and education by showcasing the University of Hawai'i's agricultural excellence.

An international show is viable because it aims at capitalizing on the increase in global interest in flower shows, which have become bigger than some sporting events.

The Japan Grand Prix International Flower Show, for example, started in 1990, attracts 450,000 visitors — about 2 percent to 3 percent of them from abroad. In Europe, the Chelsea Flower Show limits visitors to 170,000.

Within the United States, the Cincinnati Orchid Show (sponsored by Delta Airlines, Provident Regional Bank and Tiffany) attracts 50,000; the Northwest Flower Show in Seattle draws 60,000 visitors; the Philadelphia show, 65,000.

The Hawai'i Tropical Flower Council estimates that the international show has the potential to generate $26 million in new revenue for the state.

Proposed TV coverage and webcasts will reach many more than those who travel to Hawai'i. The Chelsea Flower Show, for example, limits ticket sales but reaches 9 million through TV and webcasts. A cable network such as House & Garden, which would broadcast such a show, reaches 70 million viewers across the United States.

Despite worldwide competition, Hawai'i's flower farms, which are mostly family-owned, have continued to survive, grow and create jobs. As Hawai'i's economy has faced tough times, these entrepreneurs have steadily increased exports. Most important, the revenues for these locally owned businesses are given back to such Hawai'i rural communities as Hilo, Kula, Waimanalo and Lihu'e.

For the long term, our goal is simple: We intend to make Hawai'i as synonymous with premium tropical flowers as Holland is synonymous with premium tulips or Kona is to coffee.