Today was a day full of flowers and fun. We saw the ins and outs of flower business and the supply chain in The Netherlands, and we not only saw it from the producer side at De Tulperij Tulip Farm, but we saw it from the supplier side side at Royal FloraHolland. For background, Royal FloraHolland is the largest flower auction in the world.

We started the day off bright and early at 6 am with a private transfer to Royal FloraHolland where we walked the full length of the warehouse on a self guided tour. It is HUGE. The reason for the large warehouse is because they have to store all the flowers they sell. The way they sell their flowers are through an auction process. Buyers can make their purchases from the auction room or from anywhere in the world through the internet. The auctions are led by an auctioneer and an auction clock numbered from 1 to 100 around which a red lamp moves. They use a Dutch auction, of course, which is a little different than an auction in the United States. A Dutch auction starts at a high price and goes to lower prices. These prices are represented on the clock through the movement of the lamp. Moving onto the flowers and supply chain side, The Netherlands is the most important exporter of flowers and plants in the world. The sandy soil and naturally irrigated fields make for a perfect condition for plants and flowers, especially tulips. Many of FloraHolland’s products are grown in the Netherlands, but the rest of the supply comes from Africa, Latin America, and countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. With its place in the chain, FloraHolland is a significant contributor to The Netherlands’ leading position as a country of flowers and plants.

After the Royal FloraHolland tour and having some fun with their interactive green screens, we got another private transfer to De Tulperij Tulip Farm. The tulip farm was great opportunity to take amazing pictures and see the rural side of The Netherlands. I also gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from this tour because I didn’t know much about flowers and flower farms. First, I learned that there is no need for an irrigation system in The Netherlands because they are below sea level. The sandy soil is always wet, making for a perfect a condition for the flowers. I found this really interesting, and it was cool to brush the soil aside and see visibly wet soil. I also learned that the farm is a bulb grower. They research and experiment ways to make the bulbs bigger because bigger bulbs make bigger tulips. They also find ways to multiply the bulbs more efficiently and create more species through mutation. So, they sell tulips AND bulbs. For the supply chain side of the company, De Tulperij is the supplier. They supply their flowers to businesses such as Royal FloraHolland, which we saw earlier in the day. They are a very important aspect of the supply chain because without them there wouldn’t be enough flowers at the auction, causing shortage of flowers in stores or whatever their final destination is. Being the supplier is an important role because their actions can affect the entire supply chain.

My favorite part of the day was the tulip farm because I enjoyed going to rural area of The Netherlands for the first time. I learned a lot about flowers, the supply chain of the flower business, and got to see another side of The Netherlands.