The right refrigerator is vital in the success of your floral business. Customers look for quality and freshness in their bouquets and a floral refrigerator will help you accomplish this. You may think you can simply use a standard commercial refrigerator for your cold floral storage. This is actually not the case. Flowers need high humidity and gentle airflow to remain fresh and beautiful. The average commercial cooler actually creates low humidity because most food items remain the freshest in this type of environment. In addition, rapid air movement helps maintain low humidity in most commercial coolers and this fast air flow can easily hasten the dehydration of your flowers and cause inventory loss.
In contrast to a standard commercial cooler, a floral cooler is specially designed with the delicate features of flowers and plants in mind. Floral coolers utilize high humidity and low air flow to protect the petals, leaves, and stems of flowers. These coolers are equipped with low velocity evaporator coils to ensure that air movement is slow and gentle. This ensures that petals and leaves do not become dehydrated and dry out. Floral coolers are also designed to keep humidity high even at the low temperatures flowers need to be stored at. High humidity also works to protect and preserve the different parts of flowers and plants so they look their best when your customer purchases them.
Flowers remain their freshest if they are stored at 33-35 degrees Fahrenheit directly after being harvested. This means your cooler needs to be able to maintain this temperature in order to properly store your inventory. A humidity and temperature monitor can help you make sure your floral cooler is working properly and your products are stored safely in a way the keeps them fresh.
While floral coolers often cost more upfront than your average commercial cooler, your inventory will last longer and your customers will be more satisfied with your product when it is stored and cared for properly. You’ll lose fewer flowers to dehydration, bacterial infections, and stem wilt. With a longer shelf life, your inventory loss goes down drastically and your customers will come back for more. At Bush Refrigeration, we offer a wide range of different floral coolers. Reach out today to find out more about our available walk-in floral coolers.
Sources:
http://www.flowershopnetwork.com/blog/floral-cooler-versus/