INBOUND
If you’re looking for proof that we live
in an on-demand world, look no further than the latest stats on e-commerce
food deliveries on Super Bowl Sunday.
The big game triggered a sharp spike
in online food and beverage orders on
Feb. 2—when the Kansas City Chiefs
outplayed the San Francisco 49ers—
compared with the previous week, a
presumably normal Sunday.
One of the biggest impacts was a
spike in alcohol deliveries starting at
9 a.m. on game day and peaking at
300% of normal levels, according to
Onfleet, a San Francisco-based startup
that provides logistics management
software for last-mile delivery operations. To find out what people ordered
before, during, and after the Super
Bowl, Onfleet analyzed delivery data
from all over the country the day after
the big game.
As for online food orders, Onfleet
says it found that among Super Bowl
viewers at least, “post-game munchies
are a thing.” The software company
saw a surge in restaurant deliveries
of nearly 300%—pizza, anyone?—
immediately after the game.
One of the more surprising findings was that while Americans didn’t
hesitate to order food and beverages
(and even cannabis) for home delivery, they did not take advantage of
grocery delivery that day. Despite the
dizzying growth in the e-commerce
grocery sector in recent years, grocery
delivery volumes never rose above a
brief peak of 1.5 times normal traffic.
“One theory is that party hosts need
time to marinate those famous Thai-chili chicken wings, or turnaround
times just haven’t gotten fast enough
to handle the pressures of game-day
hosting,” Onfleet said in a release.
“Whatever the case, grocery delivery
hasn’t quite entered the big dance yet.”
You can find Onfleet’s lighthearted
analysis along with a graph juxtaposing
delivery activity with various game-day
events at https://onfleet.com/blog. ;
Hungry like the wolf
Mariners are some of the hardest-working logistics professionals in global
trade, enduring weeks away from home, cramped living quarters, and
howling ocean storms. Now, a metal sculpture has been erected to honor
seafarers, serving as a tribute to both working
mariners and those who have lost their lives at
sea, according to the Port of Oakland.
Unveiled in January, the abstract scupture,
titled “Sea Remembrance,” is a large braided
metal ring that stands on a pedestal in Oakland’s
Port View Park. The sculpture is located next
to the International Maritime Center (IMC), a
nonprofit organization that supports passing seafarers.
Appropriately, the ring was created by an artist who happens to be a
mariner himself. Sculptor James Allen King is a member of the Sailors’
Union of the Pacific and works as a ship’s bosun, overseeing the team that
maintains the ship’s rigging, anchors, cables, and other equipment.
“Seafarers make costly sacrifices being away from home for months at
a time,” IMC chapter director Capt. Margaret Reasoner said in a release.
“The sculpture honors them for their hard work and perseverance, and
serves as a memorial for the mariners who gave their life at sea.” ;
Oakland’s “Sea Remembrance” sculpture
honors mariners
Ask most retailers about “peak shipping season” and they’ll probably
tell you stories about the Christmas
holiday rush. But talk to anyone in
the floral trade, and you’ll hear a
very different story.
For those in the floral game,
crunch time is the runup to
Valentine’s Day—the short window in January and February when supply
chain partners around the globe work feverishly to deliver literally tons of
blossoms to flower shops in time for the holiday.
Just look at American Airlines Cargo, which says the two-week span from
Jan. 29 through Feb. 13 is one of its busiest periods of the year. In 2020,
American moved 417 tons—about 920,000 pounds—of cut flowers out of
Amsterdam (which is home to the world’s largest floral auction), a 15%
increase over the 358 tons (790,000 pounds) of flowers it moved in 2019.
From Amsterdam, American either flies them directly to Philadelphia or
trucks them to London’s Heathrow Airport to be flown to destinations
throughout the U.S.
Numbers were also up for the Santiago, Chile-based cargo airline Latam
Cargo, which says it flew more than 210 Boeing 767-300 aircraft out of
Colombia and Ecuador between Jan. 14 and Feb. 10. Those planes carried
12,600 tons of flowers for the 2020 Valentine’s Day season—45% more
than in 2019—landing in the U.S., the Netherlands, and China with loads
of roses, carnations, and other blossoms, Latam Cargo said. ;
Where have all the flowers gone?
