San Francisco
organicbouquet.com
Organic Bouquet founder Gerald Prolman, who landed on the cover of FSB in 2006 with his six-foot roses, recently passed the baton to his senior management team in order to pursue a new business venture. Prolman remains a stakeholder in the company, which he ran for nine years, and has been retained as an advisor to the board of directors. Claudio Miranda, former chief marketing officer and founding executive at Organic Bouquet, was named the new president.
Revenue has grown steadily this year for the San Francisco, Calif., company, which specializes in environmentally friendly floristry. Miranda says the demand for the company's exotic six-foot roses has been overwhelming - the flowers have exceeded sales expectations each year. To stabilize demand and production, Organic Bouquet now sells them primarily to event planners and high-demand markets like Russia, where they fetch top dollar. Last Valentine's Day, the company allocated limited quantities to its most loyal customers, and released the surplus to those who signed up on a long waiting list.
In 2009, the company plans to continue developing its Charitable Bouquet program, which donates a portion of the flowers' purchase price to an affiliated charity. - Emily Maltby
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