Today we woke up early to travel to the warehouse of one of the flower auctions held in the Netherlands. The warehouse was extremely large and bustling with activity as flowers were being sold and shipped in real time. The ability for all this selling to occur online, in real time, to corporations across the globe thanks to the internet is an impressive display of the impact that technology has on the supply chain. Before the internet, auctions had to occur in person but technology allowed this market to rise to levels not before possible, reaching a truly worldwide audience.

We then visited an earlier step in the supply chain of flowers by visiting a farm that grows a small percentage of the millions of flowers sold by The Netherlands each year. Before taking many fun pictures in the flower field, we learned about the process used for growing such a large quantity of the crop. Dean Jansze, the owner of the farm, explained the different steps he takes to grow the flowers and described the sustainability techniques he and other farmers in the industry practice, such as crop-rotation, composting unused parts of the flowers, and carefully removing diseased crops to save the rest. 

It is interesting that the process for selling a tulip starts long before the tulip is sold as it takes time to plant and grow the flower. Just like the cheese produced at the place we visited yesterday, these products take time before they are ready for the market, meaning there is a lag between a change in consumer demand and the supplier responding by modifying the amount they produce. In addition, when finding new tulip varieties, it takes about 20 years for the farm to cultivate enough bulbs to bring to market and still have bulbs to plant in the next season. This time dedication again displays the complexity of the supply chain for a product even as simple as a flower. 

Dean Jansze mentioned yet another step in the supply chain when he talked about the place that he gets the bulbs from when starting a new variety of flower. At this location, scientists work to develop and test new plant varieties before giving it to farmers like him to multiply and sell. This small detail in his discussion made me realize how many different types of employees specializing in different things are required for the sale of such a simple crop. There are the scientists who help create the species of flower, the farmer who helps grow and multiply them, the auction employees who help transport, sell, and organize the flowers, and countless other people.

Finally, today’s word of the day is afmijnzaal which refers to the room were flowers and plants would be bid for. Directly translated the word means “mine room” because when the auctions used to take place in person, auctioneers would shout the word “mine.” The idea of trading stocks began with Dutch flower bidding and, while it has expanded much beyond just trading flowers, tulips continue to be an important part of The Netherlands’ economy.

Here is another interesting thing I found: drink bottles are differently shaped here to fit in bike holders. What a subtle but interesting cultural difference!