|
|
The Flower Trade of the Netherlands
The tulip industry For many people, the definitive picture of Holland must include the following: a windmill, bicycles, a canal, wooden shoes and a carpet of flowers, almost always tulips. Flowers have become a central feature of the Dutch identity over the years, but apart from serving as a picturesque backdrop for countless tourists’ photos, they are a serious business here. In 2002, over EUR 3.4 billion sales were generated in auctions throughout the Netherlands. The Floriade, a major flower exhibition held once every ten years, is one of the most elaborate exhibition series in the world, often entailing several years preparation work. The tulip is the icon of the Dutch flower industry, having made its way up to become the most well-known of the flowers from the Netherlands. The tulip is, in fact, an immigrant to this land, as it originated from Turkey and only arrived here in the early part of the 17th Century. When tulips became popular, they were elevated to status symbols and prices rose. Between 1636-1637, the country was gripped in tulipmania, as prices were pushed up astronomically due to speculative trading. When the bubble of high tulip prices finally burst, traders were ruined and the government had to impose regulations to curb such speculative trading. The modern flower industry grew as a result of farmers being attracted to the higher margins from flowers, as compared to that for vegetables. As early as 1887, the farmers at Broek op Langedijk organised auctions to combat middlemen by selling at open prices, ensuring that buyers would not be able to manipulate prices to their disadvantage. Investments in infrastructure — initially flowers were sent by boat on canals — and knowledge (education, training and research) allowed the industry to mature. The boom at the end of the Second World War brought about rising incomes in Western Europe, creating a ready market for these flowers. With the development of air transport, the flower market has become global, and today, the Dutch flower auctions trade not only domestic products but also foreign produce. Blooming beds of flower in the flat countryside
On your way to the gardens, you drive past commercial fields packed in with the colourful flowers. In fact, if you are up to it, you might even want to cycle there for an authentic Dutch experience. Parking is free, and there is a bus service from Leiden Centraal station. Once there, you find that it is not only about tulips; there are hyacinths, daffodils and narcissus flowers. Tropical orchids are housed in glasshouses. Visitors take the opportunity to buy bulbs from the various growers’ stalls here. As the bulbs are harvested only after the bloom, you have to select the types that you want from the pictures in a book catalogue and they will ship it to you in the fall. Apart from buying for your own little garden, you can also visit the flower auction itself, where the world literally comes to buy flowers. The Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer has a visitors’ centre open all year round on weekdays, from 7.30 am to 11 am. The best time to visit is before 9 am, with Mondays being the busiest and Thursdays the quietest. Admission is EUR 4 for adults and EUR 2 for children below 11. You can walk around on catwalks from which you will be able to see much of the facility, where bulk batches of flowers are stacked on to the carts which make their way on a system of rails around the entire facility. The market serves an important function in “de-bulking” the batches, after they are sold. After sorting, the flowers then make their way to their buyers’ destination, which may be within the Netherlands, a truck ride away to another European country or on to the airport for export shipment. At the auction hall itself, there is a visitors’ gallery above the bidding floor. Carts laden with flowers make a brief appearance in the hall as buyers furiously make their bids for the produce displayed, and by the time the cart disappears again, its contents would have been spoken for and on their way to the next stop far from here. Almost 19 million flowers and plants are sold daily here.
|
|
|
Article Information
|
The flower market at
Aalsmeer (Bloemenveiling
Aalsmeer) is one of the most memorable institutions of the flower
business in the Netherlands. With trains of stacked carts loaded with
flowers running around the huge complex, the flower market pulses like a
beehive, except that here the bees are moving not just the pollen but
the flowers themselves.
Spring is a popular season for tourists because it is
the season of the flower bloom. One of the most popular places to see
the flowers in bloom is the Keukenhof Gardens, located not far from
Amsterdam. Conceived as a showcase for Dutch flower growers, it is an
open air exhibition that is ranked as the largest in the world. It is
open from about the end of March to May, and the best time to visit is
usually in mid-April, depending upon the conditions for the year. The
garden is open from 8 am to 7.30 pm daily, with an admission fee of EUR
12 for adults and EUR 5.5 for children.