As many of you know I was in Belgium and Holland several weeks ago. I am still trying to post all of the many adventures I had while I was away. One of the main reasons I longed to go to Holland was to see the Aalsmeer flower auction. This auction is the largest trading market in the world. The facility is the size of Monaco, that’s right the Aalsmeer auction is as large as the country of Monaco. 21 million stems A DAY are traded at this auction as well as 2 million plants. The property also has a barber shop, a fire dept, a police station and a bike shop. Many of the employees ride their bikes through the buildings to get to where they need to be, having a bike shop on the property was a must.

There are several theater style rooms where buyers sit and watch the product as it comes by on a conveyor belt.

A large electronic board is in the buying room. This board grades the product and discloses things like age of stem, market value, name of the grower, the country of origin, the color of the bloom and the stem length. The highest and fastest bidder wins.  Unlike some auctions there is a stopping point. The product must meet the lowest bid requirements, if the product is not purchased at fair market value the flowers are destroyed. OUCH!!!

The facility also has a testing room. New varieties are placed in this room. This room is kept at a standard room temperature.  The flowers are graded and watched to see how they will perform as cut flower product. Each stem goes through the same wholesale experience, the flowers are boxed and shipped to this room. The performance of each variety is documented and studied. How a particular variety does in this room will indicate if it will be released to the public.

I hope this rose passes, she is a beauty.

I think this variety failed the test!!

Another fail!!

Epic fail!!!

Back on the floor, employees are racing from station to station picking up orders and checking the product in at check points. The employers or managers know at every moment where a flower is and where an employee is. Before the checkpoint system was designed, an employee could hide in the flowers to catch a little nap. BUSTED!!!

While at the auction we got a private tour of Holex. This company is responsible for getting the product boxed and shipped to the varying wholesalers, many of which are in the United States. A long hall or tunnel connects the auction house and Holex. The flowers are driven down these tunnels to get to the Holex refrigerated area where they are packaged and shipped. Our friend Joost Bonegaerts from Florabundance was responsible for getting us this very special and very up close tour. Holex is the company Joost uses to get his product to California. The above picture is of Joost and his wife. It was wonderful to see both of them in Holland after seeing them only a month before in NYC. Lucky us!!!

The flowers are inspected many different times before they are sent from the auction. Here an inspector is shaking blooms looking for bugs.

I think this bunch passed!!!

Another hat of the day post. Notice at this point, I am so tired I cant even open my eyes!!!

Seeing how the boxes were packed and the process they go through to catch a ride to the USA was very interesting. It certainly helps me to understand the cost of a flower and to remember to charge for its true value. It’s an expensive adventure that each and every bloom takes to make it to my front door in Virginia.