Dutch Flower Auctions

FloraHolland - the biggest flower auction in the world

As most of you already know, Holland is by far the most famous country in the world if we talk about cut flowers and plants, but also bulbs. More than 60% of the complete world trade in flowers and plants takes place through flower auctions in Holland. So it is not strange that FloraHolland, established more than 100 years ago, is the biggest flower auction in the world.

In total around 650 flower and plant wholesale and exporter companies are located in Holland, mainly located at FloraHolland. The flowers will be exported all across the world. For Holland, the biggest export country is Germany, followed by the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Belgium and Russia. But the flowers will also reach the Baltic states, the United Arab Emirates, USA, China and a lot more. Popular flowers in Holland are roses and tulips. Mainly in Noord-Holland there are many tulip growers and that’s why it is also one of the national symbols. More than 80% of the flowers are being exported to other countries. The total amount of export was €5.2 billion in 2013. Wholesale and export companies buy their flowers and plants using the auction system called the clock. Invented in the 17th century to sell bulbs and became incredibly popular, but is starting to become very infamous these days. Growers from all over the country sell their flowers at the FloraHolland auction clocks. The price of flowers or plants at the clock is set high and the clock starts ticking down from 100. The price falls down when the clock is ticking. The person who makes the first bid gets the cart. When you buy the flowers too fast, you will probably overpay. But when you wait too long, you will go home empty handed without flowers and your boss will not be happy. So at the auction clocks, timing is everything. You can either leave the flower auction with beautiful flowers for a way too high price, just a good price or a very good, actually low price.

A lot of companies also buy their flowers and plants straight from the grower without using FloraHolland, to make better price agreements, to arrange special packaging types and save costs. The biggest flower auction in the world has faced some tough years because of the economic and financial crisis, just like the growers, exporters, importers and wholesalers. There is a lot of international competition and some foreign companies, who used to buy flowers from Dutch flower export companies (mainly located at FloraHolland auctions), started buying their flowers straight from growers in developing countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Colombia and Ecuador to save money. This is a serious threat for the Dutch floral industry and also for FloraHolland and already led to a lot of bankruptcies to Dutch flower exporters and growers. With their new mission FloraHolland aims to help her members with better margins and make sure there will be more people who buy more flowers and plants in 2020.

  For more information, please visit www.flowercompanies.com

How can I find new customers in the floriculture industry?

Introduction to Floriculture Industry

The floriculture industry has faced tough times since 2009. Before 2009 there was a strong growth in the global floriculture industry, especially in the export. Cut flowers are the main products in the global trade and living plants are mainly regionally sold products. Also, cut foliage and flower bulbs are the counterpart of floriculture. Since 2009 the economic and financial crisis has also reached companies in the floriculture industry. Their international competition has increased, and the production and export from countries like Colombia,Ecuador, Ethiopia and Kenya became more significant because of good production conditions and lower costs. Experts say that the international competition will only grow bigger. Because of the increasing competition, a lot of companies are looking for new customers. In this blog, you will read about the different possibilities to search for new customers and things to pay attention to. 

The global export of floriculture products was more than $20 billion in 2013. Holland has by far been world’s biggest hub for the industry for years. However, recently the total share of floral export decreased from 58% in 2003 to 52% in 2013. Unfortunately, a lot of growers, exporters, and wholesale companies have lost the competition against the economic and financial crisis. A lot of other companies have to work hard to gain enough business to survive. Foreign customers buy their flowers in other (mostly South-American or African) countries for lower costs or buy their flowers directly from the grower instead of import companies to reduce costs. Some big supermarkets do the same, they contact the growers and import flowers straight from the source. The economy is changing and so is the floriculture industry.

New customers

Some companies stick with the same customers for years, others are constantly looking for new ones, to keep (or grow) their business. Very often new clients will contact flower export or wholesale companies directly to buy flowers. Also, salespeople search for potential customers and do their best to get enough business for the company they work for. Joining or visiting fairs and events is also important to meet new clients. This way you can show them a part of your products and promote your company. When you are a visitor, you can see the products of different companies and compare them.

Should I do business?

When you have found a potential client, or he has found you, what will be the next step? What do you know about these potential clients? Should you do business because they claim to be one of the biggest companies in their country? And of course, they can’t pay all orders in advance so they need a credit limit for this which means you should be able to trust your customers. A lot of companies do not know what to do and just send the flowers, because they need revenue and they want new clients. Unfortunately not every client has good intentions and in some cases, they can’t pay all debts, or don’t even pay at all. The number of bad debtors in this industry is enormous. There are a lot of criminal activities, especially in East- and South-European countries.

When you haven’t done business with a new client before, it is important to check a few things first. We advise you to do a background check for every company you do or want to do business with. You can use different websites, for example for the floriculture industry you can use Agro-Check.nl.   

 For more information, please visit www.flowercompanies.com