The Mt. Eden group of companies is a California based, third generation business with a 104 years of experience in the floral industry. Having started exclusively as a rose grower selling in the San Francisco flower market, Mt. Eden became vertically integrated and diversified over the years. The company now distributes floral products through many different channels.

Mt. Eden has a wide range of products, services and locations. Wholesale product offerings include imported and domestic fresh flowers, cut greens, and bouquets, as well as domestic and imported floral supplies. Mt. Eden's imported fresh flower program includes flowers from Ecuador, Columbia, Mexico, Thailand and Hawaii. Products from these areas will expand in volume and variety in the future. The domestic flower program includes flowers available from every domestic production area.

Handtied Bouquets® lead the parade of products that Mt. Eden offers to our customers. The open look of the bouquets is enhanced by the use of the many California seasonal flowers available from west coast flower producers.

Mt. Eden carries more than fresh flowers. A full line of floral supplies boasts over 10,000 items. Mt. Eden's floral supply inventory has the depth and diversity to service the basic supply market as well as appeal to high-end designers. Both Spring and Christmas novelty items, for example, are purchased for a particular merchanding "look". These "looks" are featured in Mt. Eden's stores and two symposium style shows each year, which are among the largest individual wholesale shows in the United States.

Greenhouse products include standard and miniature carnations as well as the new dwarf miniature carnation potted plant. The dwarf miniature carnation potted plants and other items have been developed through selective breeding and plant hybridization at our joint venture with a Japanese trading company.

Production and distribution are accomplished via a network of greenhouse, wholesale and shipping facilities located in the San Francisco and Los Angeles flower markets, and in Hayward and Mountain View, California. With a history of strength, stability and with an ongoing commitment to innovation and change, Mt. Eden has vigorously made the changes necessary to thrive in the 21st century.

How Mt. Eden Started

Nearly a century ago, a Japanese immigrant named Zenjuro Shibata started the Mt. Eden Nursery Co. in Hayward, CA. The company's first crops were vegetables and field flowers. The first greenhouse was built in 1918 to grow carnations. By the mid 1930's Mt. Eden chose roses as it's main crop. The company nearly ended, however, because of the disruption to the family caused by World War II and the internment of Japanese-Americans during the war.

After the war's end, Mt. Eden came under the leadership of oldest son, Yoshimi Shibata, supported by his 3 younger brothers. The 50's saw the younger Shibata expand the company beyond rose growing. First, Shibata started a rose growers co-op with 9 other growers and called it the "Rose Pool", so named because the growers "pooled" their inventories daily under the Mt. Eden label.

The aggregate pool production enabled Mt. Eden to become the largest rose grower in the U.S. A separate company, also named Mt. Eden Nursery, was started to market and distribute the Rose Pool's flowers nationally through the wholesale distributors. A chrysanthemum breeding and propagation company named California-Florida Plant Co. was also started in the 50's. CFPC's mission was to supply Mt. Eden chrysanthemum growers with good quality plants and the newest varieties.

The 60's were marked by expanding production in the Salinas Valley. Mt. Eden and the Rose Pool growers tripled their rose production during the late 60's and early 70's. Mt. Eden was selling an average of 150,000 stems of roses a day.

In the 70's, Mt. Eden expanded into the terminal wholesale business and began to sell seasonal flowers from third party growers as well as domestic and imported floral supplies.

In addition to the wholesale operations started in Northern California, Mt. Eden also expanded to the  L.A. Flower Market in Southern California when GM Floral was started there.

The 80's saw the domestic flower production plateau, including Mt. Eden's. Mt. Eden's distribution business, however, continued to grow and expand during this time. Floral supply sales nearly tripled, sales to supermarkets started, and Mt. Eden started to sell offshore flowers.

The 90's were a time of decision, change, and charting the future for Mt. Eden. The company had to create and execute a new business model based on the realities of an over supplied world market. At the same time, the company transitioned from the second to the third generation. The new millennium will be a time of challenge and opportunity for Mt. Eden Floral Company. The company expects to grow existing businesses and, as in the past, expand into new areas of floral distribution.

The Early Years:

Late 1880's - Early 1940's

Shimi's father, Zenjuro Shibata came from a small fishing village in the southernmost island of Japan where the Shibata family owned a fish auction house.  Since Zenjuro was the younger of two sons and family businesses were passed down to the oldest son, he decided to work his way to America around 1898. He worked briefly on Sugar plantations in Hawaii, next in an Alaskan fish cannery, then in the Northwest lumber mills.

Zenjuro finally made it to San Francisco in the early 1900's. After several years of odd jobs, he eventually found that he could make a living by growing and selling flowers. He then risked all that he had earned to buy a small three acre plot of land on 105th Ave. in Oakland where he built some greenhouses. That was the beginning of the Shibata flower business. He later told his son Shimi that he could see the fires of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake from his flower greenhouse in Oakland. Zenjuro had an arranged marriage to Koyuri Otsuka in 1913 and started a family.

In 1918 he purchased 26 acres of land for flower growing in Mt Eden Township near Hayward and Mt. Eden Nursery was born.  Traveling by ferryboat, he sold his flowers in the San Francisco Flower Market.

In the 1920's, Zenjuro and Koyuri started building a Japanese tea garden on the low part of the property that flooded.  Even though times were hard, Zenjuro and Koyuri managed to build a tea house to go with the garden during the Great Depression of the 1930's.

On December 7, 1941 everything changed when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.  Executive Order 9066 declared that all persons of Japanese descent had to be "evacuated" to one of 10 prison camps located in the western U.S. In the eleventh hour, Shimi, at 27, arranged to lease the nursery to William Zappettini Sr. during the family's absence.  After WWII the Shibata family returned to rebuild their nursery.  All four Shibata sons had served in the US Military

Post War Expansion

Mid 1940's - Late 1950's

At 32, Shimi married Grace Eto in the garden where he'd grown up.  Shimi had seen the success of the Denver Wholesale carnation "pool" and created the Mt. Eden rose pool in the late 40's.  Ten independent rose "growers "pooled" their flowers under the Mt. Eden brand and shared production data and techniques.  This enabled Mt. Eden to start shipping roses to the eastern wholesalers on a large scale.  Shimi was one of the first to ship flowers by air on the newly founded Flying Tigers all freight airline.

The rose pool worked so well that in 1956 Shimi started the "Mum Pool" with chrysanthemum growers, allowing him to ship chrysanthemums to the eastern wholesalers.  The growers' production was limited due to the lack of a winter supply of mum cuttings.  So Shimi started the California-Florida Plant Co. to produce cuttings for the growers and fill the void.

Mt. Eden Expands Production & Distribution

Early 1960's - Late 1970's

In 1963, Shimi met a group of immigrants from Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan who were interested in the flower business.  With financing from Sumitomo Bank, they started Salinas Greenhouse Company and built 540,000 sq. ft of glass greenhouse, one of the largest commercial greenhouses in the U.S. at that time. Carl Schultz from Ickes-Braun Glasshouses, Inc. worked with Shimi to design a totally new type of greenhouse suited for the California climate.

In 1968, Shimi started Monterey Greenhouse by building 500,000 sq. ft. of IBG rose greenhouses, also in Salinas.  Shimi continued to expand in 1972 by building Carmel Greenhouse, a 400,000 sq. ft. greenhouse facility next door to Salinas Greenhouse.  The other rose pool growers followed Shimi's lead and also expanded in Salinas pushing the total rose production that Mt. Eden handled to over 3,000,000 sq. ft.  The company had to market an average of 160,000 stems of roses every day.  However, the early 1970's were pivotal years for Shimi and Mt. Eden Nursery for other reasons besides expansion.

In 1970, he became the president of the wholesale florist's trade organization, The wholesale Florists and Florist Suppliers of America (WF&FSA).  About the same time, he also took an extended trip to Colombia to evaluate the fledgling flower business there.

As WF&FSA president, Shimi gained an important understanding of U.S. flower distribution and the floral supply business.  From his South American trip he saw the huge economic advantages the South American growers had over U.S. growers.  He realized the long term impact these growers would have on Mt. Eden's core growing and shipping business.  He decided to stop building greenhouses and expand the wholesale side of the business.  From that decision, Mt. Eden started selling floral supplies in 1973.  During the 1970's wholesales branches opened or expanded in the S.F. and L.A. Flower Markets, Mountain View, and Hayward.

The Beginning of Change

Early 1980's - Present

By 1980, Shimi's predictions about the impact of South American flower production had come true.  80% of the chrysanthemums and carnations sold in the U.S. came from South America.  Roses would be next.  Mt. Eden started selling to supermarket chains and began to buy offshore flowers from brokers in Miami when local production was low.  The company gained valuable experience by seeing offshore quality first hand.

California was the last stronghold for domestic carnation production and needed quality plants.  At the same time, many of Cal-Florida's chrysanthemum cutting customers had gone out of business because of offshore competition.  So in 1989 Shimi decided to change Cal-Florida's main business to carnation propagation and move this company to Salinas a joint venture with Sumitomo Trading Co.

By the early 1990's nearly half of the cut roses sold in the U.S, came from South America.  Mt. Eden's wholesale business had to find new channels through which to market flowers.  The company diversified its customer base including doing fulfillment for Calyx & Corolla, who had pioneered selling flowers directly to consumers and shipping via FedEx.

In 1995, after his own open heart surgery and the sudden death of his brother PA, Shimi and the two other Shibata families decided to separate their business interests in the various Mt. Eden companies.  Shimi's family retained the Mt. Eden name and the majority of the business entities.  In 1996-97 Mt. Eden's wholesale business went through a complete organizational and facilities re-structuring to prepare for the future.  In 2001, Carmel Greenhouse, Mt. Eden's last rose growing facility, was converted for use by Cal-Florida's expanding potted plant business.  In 2003, Salinas Greenhouse was sold to Matsui Nursery to be used for potted orchid production.

Mt. Eden has gone through tremendous change in its 100 year history with the survival of the company sometimes in doubt.  But with 100 years of history as a teacher and with experience as a guide, the company is doing what it has always done, adapt to change and look for future formulas for success.

Yoshimi "Shimi" Shibata:

Life Chronology and Achievements
 

1916	Born to Zenjuro and Koyuri Shibata in Oakland, CA.
1918	Father buys Mt. Eden property.
1920	Mt. Eden Corporation is formed in the names of Shibata children.
1931-35	Attends Hayward High School
1935-37	Attends UC Berkeley for two years.
1939-40	Attends Ohio State University.
1941	(December 7) Pearl Harbor is attacked by Japan.
1942	(February 19) Executive Order 9066 is signed, leading to the eventual forced removal of Japanese Americans  from certain areas on the West Coast.
1942	(March) Shimi leases his land and businesses to William Zappettini, one of his customers.  The Shibata  family "voluntarily" relocates to Marysville to avoid being interned.  Shimi and the family begin working in the fruit  orchards.
1942	(July) The Shibata family is interned at Tule Lake War Relocation.
1942	(December) Begins job as the assistant general manager of Tule Lake Cooperative Enterprise.
1945	Returns to take back Mt. Eden Nursery, family eventually follows.
1945	(June 25) Drafted into the U.S. Army.
1947	(May 17) Zenjuro dies at the age of 67.
1947	(September) Marries Grace Eto of San Luis Obispo in the  Japanese garden at Mt. Eden.
1949	Forms rose pool and joins Roses, Inc.
1950	(March) Naomi Shibata is born to Shimi and Grace.
1952	(November) Robert Shibata is born to Shimi and Grace.
1955	(July) Michael Shibata is born to Shimi and Grace.
1956	Decides to form the mum pool with chrysanthemum growers. California-Florida Plant Company (CFPC) is established to grow mum cuttings year round.
1963	Shimi starts Salinas Greenhouse Company with eight partners who had immigrated Kagoshima Prefecture. The 540,000 square feet of greenhouse is built for the cultivation fo carnations and mini-carnations.
1968	(Janurary 25) Shimi's mother, Koyuri, dies at the age of 73.
1968	Monterey Greenhouse is built; 500,000 square feet of greenhouse are designed to produce cut roses. Mt. Eden starts using computers.
1972	Elected president of the Wholesale Florist & Florist Suppliers of America. Carmel Greenhouse is built to produce cut carnations. Enters into the floral supply business. Takes trip to South America with brother Jerry to evaluate the colombian flower industry.
1973	Plants the first WF&FAS trade fair with John Van Hanford. Appointed chairman of the second World Kendo Individual Championship in San Francisco.
1976	Carmel Greenhouse stops growing carnations and starts producing roses.
1980	GM Floral Co., a joint venture between Growers Wholesale and Mt. Eden, is established in the Southern California Flower Market. Mt. Eden International begins exporting to Japan.
1983	Mt. Eden opens second location in the California Flower Market in San Francisco.
1984	Graduates from University of California, Davis along with his son Michael.
1987	Receives a Japanese medal - Order of the Rising Sun, Fourth Class - from the Japanese government.
1989	CFPC Salinas is opened in Partnership with Sumitomo Corporation.
1998	The Mt. Eden Nursery site is leased to a commercial developer. High-tech R&D buildings are built, but the Japanese garden and teahouse are preserved.
2001	Carmel Greenhouse stops growing roses and is retrofitted and leased to CFPC.
2003	Salinas Greenhouse is sold.
2006	(June 25) Celebration at the Japanese garden for Mt. Eden's 100th anniversary, Shimi's 90th birthday party and release of Shimi's memoir, Across Two World: Memoirs of Nisei Flower Grower.
2006	(June 25) Celebration at the Japanese garden for Mt. Eden's 100th anniversary, Shimi's 90th birthday party and release of Shimi's memoir, Across Two World: Memoirs of Nisei Flower Grower.

Yoshimi "Shimi" Shibata is a man who has played many roles to a variety of people and organization.  Some of his more notable roles and accomplishments are listed here.

Personal and Business Roles - Japanese American, Nisei, Brother, Oldest Son, Flower Grower, Boss, Entrepreneur, Husband, Leader, Father, Innovator, Partner, Advisor, Friend, Teacher, Patriarch, Grandfather, College Graduate, Great Grandfather

President - Wholesale Florists and Florist Suppliers of America, California Floral Traffic Conference, Civil Right Defense Union

Vice President - Japanese Chamber of Commerce-Northern California
Board of Directors - Sumitomo Bank, California State Chamber of Commerce, Wholesale Florists and Florist Suppliers of America, Roses Incorporated , Society of American Florists, California State Florists Association, California Floral Council

Board of Trustees - SAFE Endowment, National Association of Wholesalers SAF Wholesale council

Special Recognition Awards - Holbrook Palmer Park, Roses Inc. -Rose Endowment Fund. Crystal Star Award, Salinas-Watsonville Flowers Growers, Mt. Eden Rose Pool, American Floral Marketing Council, National Japanese American Historical Society, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California at Davis Award of Distinction, Japanese Communities of the East Bay, Monterey Bay Floral Council

Hall of Fame - SAF Floriculture Hall of Fame, California Ornamental Research and Education Foundation Hall of Fame