Getting ready for 300 million Valentine flowers

February 14 is Valentine's Day, when lovers traditionally surprise each other with flowers. In the video below, grower Aad Fransen, Reinier Elbertsen from Hilverda De Boer, logistics team manager Tjeerd Zwart and auctioneer Erik Wassenaar tell us how they are preparing for the Valentine's Day peak.

"We trade an estimated 300 million Valentine flowers through the global marketplace of Royal FloraHolland. Roses, tulips and chrysanthemums are the top 3 most important flowers. In addition, around 20 million plants are auctioned at the clock.

This extreme pressure demands lightning-fast logistics processes and a solid collaboration within the horticultural sector. Together with you, our members and buyers, we do everything possible to surprise consumers around the world with a wide-ranging assortment of flowers and plants." Royal Floraholland. 

Valentine flowers in all shapes and sizes
"We are already in the starting blocks for the Valentine's Day supply. I auction roses, but we have lots of other varieties, like tulips, chrysanthemums, orchids, etc…," explained Erik Wassenaar, roses auctioneer at Royal FloraHolland, enthusiastically.

Offering roses via online trade platform FloraMondo
Grower Aad Fransen of Fransen Roses said, "We harvest 15% more roses than normal. In FloraMondo we put our roses on sale and sell them in advance. We also use Auction Presales, an increasingly popular option."

Extreme pressure on Valentine's Day: extra effort
"The logistics process is also ready for the Valentine's Day period," affirmed Tjeerd Zwart, logistics team manager at Royal FloraHolland. "We employ more people and have improved our logistics process." Reinier Elbertsen of exporter Hilverda De Boer added, "We sell three times more than normal. Our profit consists in having the products sold quickly available."