Today, I got to learn all about the tulip industry from several different perspectives.
With an early start to the day, we visited the FloraHolland, the world’s largest international flower trade platform, at 7 AM, one of its most active hours. There, we walked through and witnessed the chaotic but methodical way flowers are transported through the facility to ensure that they are sent to the correct buyer in a timely manner. This visit reminded me of the overarching theme of this program, which is exploring how goods are transported from concept to customer. In this case, we were quite literally able to witness how the flowers made their way from growers to traders as they traveled through the center to prepare for shipment to their final destinations. As I walked through the facility, I got a big-picture perspective of all the interwoven technicalities necessary to run such a large business smoothly. In the case of flowers, time is an extremely important factor, as their freshness directly correlates to their worth. FloraHolland operates 24 hours a day to accommodate all sales times, locations, and deliveries. Another important aspect of this industry is to automate certain tasks to increase efficiency and accuracy. Though people were riding on tractors at every moment, lots of transportation was reliant on programmed tracks that organized flowers on their own, which made flower transportation a significantly easier process.
After visiting a large-scale flower trade center, it was a perfect change of pace to shift gears and see a local family-owned tulip farm next. De Tulperij is a tulip farm that has existed and grown for four generations now. There, they grow several types of flowers, but most prominently tulips. This was a shift in perspective from the previous place we visited because it allowed us to see other facets of the flower industry in Amsterdam, such as the process of growing the flowers and selling and breeding the bulbs. We were lucky enough to hear the owner of the business share his process of running his business on both a macro and micro level. I was surprised to learn that even such large farms that produce hundreds of thousands of flowers and bulbs per year place heavy emphasis on ensuring the health and quality of each individual flower. For example, flowers that appear “infected” must be immediately removed, as they can potentially ruin the pattern of other nearby flowers due to the insects that feast on both infected and healthy flowers. Overall, this visit provided great insight into large businesses from the supplier’s perspective, which is a viewpoint I do not often get to witness.
After our flower-filled morning, some friends and I decided to head to the beautiful district of Waterlooplein, where we visited a gigantic vintage flea market. It was completely different from any other vintage shop or flea market I have ever visited back home, as it had many items that I would never see in such great quantities. After our flea market detour, we met with the rest of the group at Kop Van Jut, a Dutch restaurant, to eat a traditional Dutch dinner. Though I was a bit skeptical at first, this ended up being one of the best meals I have had so far on this trip. As I grow used to Amsterdam and move past the initial shock of being in a new place, I am really enjoying immersing myself in Dutch culture in any way possible, and getting to try new foods, navigate the city, and learn about local industries and history has only been getting better and more interesting as the days go on.