A Message From Our CEO: Honoring Our Mothers All Across the Planet

As Mother’s Day approaches in many countries worldwide, I’d like to wish all the mothers out there a happy day, as well as a heartfelt “thank you” for all that you do, day in and day out. You love us, nurture us, support, and counsel us through good times and bad – and are to a great extent, responsible for the people we ultimately become as adults.

Your influence in our lives is priceless. Or, as Abraham Lincoln so eloquently put it: “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.”

Each year, thankful daughters, sons, and spouses express their love and appreciation to their moms or spouses with fresh flower deliveries of roses and other popular flowers. In fact, last year U.S. consumers alone spent $2.6 billion on Mother’s Day flowers.

As a side note, numbers like that are of particular importance to Prime Planet’s parent company, the Prime Group. After all, it was in the field of fresh flowers more than 20 years ago that the groundwork was laid in our expert handing of fresh and natural products – and production of our own line of all-natural green plantain Tostones starting in 2016!

A Look Back in History

Since we’re talking history, let’s take a look at how Mothers Day began. Celebrated in more than 50 countries worldwide, in the U.S., the holiday originated from the tireless efforts of Anna Jarvis, who in 1908 organized the observance to honor her late mother. It then became an official holiday in 1914.

But throughout history, many civilizations and countries have honored the concept of motherhood. The ancient Greeks and Romans created festivals to honor the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, for example.

Many nations celebrate Mother’s Day on or around the second Sunday in May, but the timing can vary globally. For example, in Russia, it is celebrated on the last Sunday in November, while in Thailand, Mother’s Day is meant to promote the royal family, so it falls on August 12 – the birthday of Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother of Thailand. Customs too vary.

In Mexico, Mother’s Day is celebrated with church masses and colorful parties and parades; while in Japan, where carnations reign on Mother’s Day, children there also draw pictures of their mothers as gifts or to display at a local art show.

Wherever and whatever the celebration, Mother’s Day is a great time to show our mothers or spouses just how important they are and how much we love and thank them. So, let me take this opportunity to say, “Happy Mother’s Day to moms everywhere!”

And of course to my own! Happy Mother’s Day, mom!

CEO Headshot

Roger Paredes – CEO

More than just another success story

Few things are as important as giving your mother the undivided love and attention she deserves.

That’s why I am so thankful that by the time Mother’s Day actually arrives each year, those of us in the flower industry have pretty much accomplished everything we need to do in advance of this important day, whereby allowing us to be truly present to honor the amazing women in our lives.

As the busiest time of year for PrimeAir and Prime Fresh Handling, the work we do starts well over a month prior to Mother’s Day – and I must say, the frenetic pace by which our people perform is nothing short of astounding. Night and day, right up to about a week before, they work tirelessly to ensure that your Mother’s Day bouquet makes the journey from farm to florist, fast and fresh, and into mom’s arms by that second Sunday in May.

No complaints though, because we love what we do – and it shows. From a revenue and reliability standpoint, the 2019 season may very well have been our healthiest season ever. Adding up the all the flights from Bogota and Quito we operated on behalf of our air-cargo clients, and the number of kilos we moved across our network, it was a banner year.

What’s more, not surprisingly, the level of satisfaction among our customers is also at an all-time high, as a result of zero problems with shipments, zero reported claims, and zero delays.

What’s it called when news keeps getting better, year after year? It’s called a successful business!

But this year, it’s more than just another good news story. That’s because even as our corporate footprint has significantly expanded over the past year, we were able to exceed expectations in service delivery and reliability even at our newly expanded facilities in Los Angeles, New York, and Amsterdam.

All across the board, we were well prepared for the high season, fully staffed with experts, and more than ready to manage the shipment of fresh flowers in a smooth, professional, and efficient fashion.

At Prime Group, everything keeps coming up roses!

~ CEO Roger Paredes