Photo: Tibor Bognar / The Image Bank / Getty Images
FLORIDA - In the lead-up to Valentine's Day, Miami International Airport (MIA) has processed approximately 940 million stems of cut flowers, ensuring a plentiful supply for the holiday across the United States.
This significant influx underscores MIA's pivotal role in the floral industry, as it handles about 90% of the nation's fresh-cut flower imports for Valentine's Day, with the remaining 10% passing through Los Angeles.
The majority of these blooms, including roses, carnations, pompons, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums, and gypsophila, arrive from Colombia and Ecuador on hundreds of flights.
Avianca Cargo, based in Medellín, Colombia, stands as MIA's largest flower importer.
In the three weeks leading up to February 14, the company transported about 18,000 tons of flowers on 300 full cargo flights.
Diogo Elias, Avianca Cargo's Senior Vice President, noted, "We transport flowers all year round, but specifically during the Valentine’s season, we more than double our capacity because there’s more than double the demand."
Flowers remain one of MIA's largest import categories.
Last year, the airport received over 3 million tons of cargo, with flowers accounting for nearly 400,000 tons, valued at more than $1.6 billion.
In January and February alone, MIA handled 1,500 tons of flowers daily, totaling 90,000 tons worth $450 million.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists play a crucial role in this process, inspecting the flower shipments to prevent the introduction of harmful pests and diseases.
Invasive species have historically caused significant economic and environmental losses in the U.S., making these inspections vital.
Recently, trade tensions threatened this floral influx. President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on Colombian imports after Colombia initially refused to accept U.S. deportation flights.
However, the dispute was resolved when Colombia agreed to accept the flights, leading the U.S. to withdraw the proposed tariffs.
This resolution was crucial, as Colombia supplies approximately 80% of the flowers sold in the U.S. for Valentine's Day.
With the trade dispute settled, MIA continues to serve as the primary gateway for Valentine's Day flowers, ensuring that florists and retailers nationwide can meet the holiday's high demand.
