The top three items shipped for Valentines Day include greeting cards, chocolate candies, and flowers. More than one and a half billion flowers are shipped for Valentine’s Day alone, with nearly one hundred thousand pounds of chocolate going in tow as well. Though most cards are handled by the USPS, many are included in parcels that ship through FedEx and UPS. These two shipping leaders are met by the year’s most unique challenge, as all of the most popular items to travel are considered fragile. Europe and the US ship the most chocolate for Valentine’s, leading to a nearly equal spread between air and ground shipping. Columbia and Ecuador love February Fourteenth, shipping just under ninety percent of the flowers that are given for the lovely holiday. These shipping statistics and more inform a busy holiday for UPS and FedEx.

Columbia and Ecuador are the world’s leading exporters of flowers; flowers are the leading gift for February fourteenth; UPS and FedEx are the top two companies that get flowers from Columbia and Ecuador into the hands of eager wives on the national day of love’s celebration. The numbers tell an interesting story.

Columbia exports more than one billion dollars in flowers each year. Just over a quarter of their total flower exports take place during the month of February. One hundred and ten million roses will be gifted for Valentine’s, and that does not include other flower breeds. What that means for UPS and FedEx is that they need to have sophisticated shipping solutions to take advantage of an enormous bulge in shipping for a small period of time.

All shipping has its challenges, and moving flowers is one of the most difficult tasks for shipping companies. No amount of shipping specialty is worthwhile if the techniques cannot produce a perfectly blooming flower for its intended recipient.

Considering the composition of the items being shipped, UPS and FedEx both need to have systems to ensure timing and maintain their high shipping statistics. They need to have methods to protect fragile parcels. Then, they have to consider climate control. Finally, because flowers have a short shelf life to look and sell their best, UPS and FedEx both have to have unique shipping solutions.

Not surprisingly, both companies not only live up to the shipping challenges, but also have designed unique solutions for going above and beyond these challenges. In order to have the freshest flowers, flower growers in Columbia and Ecuador begin cutting roses while the flowers are still buds in January and storing them at freezing temperatures to put the flowers into hibernation. Freezer trucks transport hundreds of thousands of roses to airports, where UPS and FedEx fly the flowers to Florida for further transportation. From Florida, the roses will be flown or driven all around the nation.

During the short one or two day transport from Florida to their final destination, the roses begin to thaw and continue their bloom. By the time the flowers reach their home, in the hands of loved ones, they are well on their way to the perfect bloom. UPS and FedEx have done most of the hard work to make sure the flowers traveled safely and arrived in time for the holiday.

Aside from Mother’s day, Valentine’s Day is the leading day for sales of flowers, but unlike May, when flowers might come from locations in the US and nearby Mexico, February forces those who want the best holiday choices to look south to the warm southern hemisphere. Farmers in South America prepare their entire farms to deliver shipments of flowers on February 14th and May 11th. For any business where just a several days dictate a majority of the year’s income, having solutions like FedEx and UPS to urge along precision is a satisfying peace of mind.

As with each holiday rush, Valentine’s Day shippers rely on error free solutions from shipping companies. Between the five most major holidays each year, Valentine’s brings in a major part of UPS’s and FedEx’s yearly revenue. Online sales, shipments, and orders are changing the way that every holiday functions. UPS and FedEx have both anticipated the curve and maintained the most competitive edge in the field. So whether you plan to ship or receive flowers, chocolates, or cards for the holiday season, FedEx or UPS should be your first choice.