Wholesalers set a wide variety of requirements (based on their clients’ requirements) that may differ from the general auction specifications. Roses are often shipped without plastic sleeves to avoid the build-up of humidity. After arrival, the roses are often repackaged at the auction or by specialised importers. They are usually put into plastic flower containers and supplied to the auction in the Netherlands or redistributed to an exporting wholesaler. The Schnittblumen Holland is nowadays testing the auctioning of the cut roses without unpackaging them from the cardboard boxes, in order to improve the efficiency of the logistics process. Experts believe that the production focus has moved from traditional growers to countries where the climates are better and production and labor costs are lower.
The humid, salty air, perfect aeration and acidity proved a match made in heaven. The cold ‘shocks’ flower bulbs, which they need to grow from a marble to the size of a small tennis ball. This is the weather preferred by spring flowering bulbs , whereas summer flowering bulbs prefer the dark. The Dutch themselves prefer to be warm and dry while enjoying the light so they tend to complain about the weather. The arrival of tulips in the Netherlands brought new color to the country. We’re now also known for DJs, cheese and soccer , but flowers remain our top export product representing an annual revenue of 6.2 billion euros.
Note that although improving your cold chain management may be a challenge, the higher product quality should also improve your profits. GLOBALG.A.P.GLOBALG.A.P.is a B2B scheme originally focusing on Good Agricultural Practices. Has been the most important scheme for fruit and vegetables for years, but it is gaining importance for roses as well, especially with regard to sales to supermarkets. Since the Netherlands is an important exporter, Dutch wholesale traders have to comply with industry standards.
In North America, Mexico dedicated the third biggest land area in the world in 2019 (22,700 hectares ~ 56,092 acres, and growing) to the production of ornamental flowers. Despite that, only 5% of the total flower production is currently being exported, mostly to the United States, Canada, and Europe. However, the high technological development in most flower production centers, like Villa Guerrero, State of Mexico, make possible a world-class quality in flower production. The floral industry in Mexico, is represented at a national level by the Consejo Mexicano de la Flor but there are numerous organizations of flower growers or state and regional scope. Mexico offers several advantages for flower companies in the United States and Canada in comparison to many already well known flower production countries like Colombia and Ecuador. Perhaps the biggest advantage is that the most important centers of massive flower production in Mexico, like Villa Guerrero are at only 653 miles, or approximately 13 hours driving from Laredo, Texas.
They must be cooled, pruned, graded, bunched, appropriately packed, and stored in the cold room. Most clients or markets have specific requirements for flowers and packing. Many flowers in a box or too few flowers can cause damage to the flowers during transit. Those flowers, on arrival, fail the quality check at the distributor’s warehouse and are discarded.
