South Florida logistics hub handles massive romantic bouquet operation as cargo warehouse transforms into flower empire weeks before February 14
Miami is America’s flower capital. While Cupid gets credit for Valentine’s Day romance, the real magic happens in a cargo warehouse at Miami International Airport, where agricultural specialists process approximately 990 million stems of cut flowers in the weeks leading up to February 14. The scale is staggering: around 90% of all fresh cut flowers being sold for Valentine’s Day in the United States flow through Miami, with the remaining 10% passing through Los Angeles.
Roses, carnations, pompons, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, and gypsophila arrive on hundreds of flights, mostly from Colombia and Ecuador, on their journey to florists and supermarkets across the U.S. and Canada. It’s a massive logistical operation that transforms Miami into the heartbeat of American romance a role that requires precision, speed, and coordination at scale that few industries match.
“The mother, the wife, the girlfriend in Omaha, Nebraska, that gets their flowers for either Valentine’s or Mother’s Day, chances are those flowers passed through our airport,” Miami airport director Ralph Cutié said, capturing the geographic scope of the operation. That statement applies across the country: if someone receives flowers on Valentine’s Day, odds are overwhelming those stems transited through Miami’s cargo facilities.
The Flower Logistics Empire
Miami’s largest flower importer is Avianca Cargo, based in Medellín, Colombia. In preparation for Valentine’s Day, the company transports approximately 19,000 tons of flowers on 320 full cargo flights more than twice as many flights compared to normal operations. The concentration is striking: red roses dominate the selection, accounting for more than 50-60% of Valentine’s Day flower shipments.
“We fly flowers for the whole year, but Valentine’s is special,” Avianca CEO Diogo Elias said. “Much more concentrated on roses, red roses especially.” That specialization reflects customer demand Valentine’s Day is fundamentally a rose-focused holiday, with red roses representing the ultimate romantic gesture.
The volume of flowers flowing through Miami is remarkable. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the airport will process nearly one billion stems in the weeks before Valentine’s Day. The flowers represent one of Miami International Airport’s largest import categories. Last year, the airport received almost 3.5 million tons of cargo total, with flowers accounting for approximately 400,000 tons. More than a quarter of those annual flowers ship before Valentine’s Day, marking a 6% increase over the previous year.
The Price Increase Reality
Customers shopping for Valentine’s flowers will face higher prices this year. Christine Boldt, executive vice president for the Association of Floral Importers of America, identified the cause: tariffs placed last year on imports from Colombia and Ecuador, combined with a new minimum wage enacted this year in Colombia.
“This adds significant dollars to the bouquets that are coming in,” Boldt explained. “Every consumer is gonna have to face additional costs.” The economic impact is real and direct the tariff and wage increases ripple through the supply chain, ultimately hitting consumer wallets at the point of purchase. For someone buying a dozen red roses, the additional costs represent a measurable expense increase compared to previous Valentine’s Days.
That price pressure exists despite or perhaps because of the massive volume flowing through Miami. The economics of flower importation are delicate, dependent on stable trade relationships and predictable labor costs. When tariffs increase and wage floors rise, those costs get absorbed somewhere in the supply chain. Importers don’t absorb them entirely; florists don’t absorb them entirely; ultimately, consumers absorb a significant portion.
The Infrastructure Behind Romance
What makes Miami’s flower operation remarkable isn’t just scale but the infrastructure required to maintain it. The airport must handle rapid processing, quality control, and distribution at volumes that would strain most logistics operations. Every stem needs inspection, verification, and routing to the correct destination across North America.
The operation is so significant that it defines Miami’s relationship with agriculture and international trade. For weeks before Valentine’s Day, the airport transforms into a flower empire a specialized logistics operation entirely focused on moving one product category with unprecedented velocity and scale.
For Valentine’s Day shoppers across America, the experience is simple: choose flowers, pay the price, give them to someone you love. Behind that simple transaction lies one of America’s most impressive supply chain operations, centered in Miami and powered by hundreds of flights from South America, all coordinating to ensure that romance reaches its destination on time.
