Presentation of the FloraHolland flower auction annual figures
A good 2010 financially; sector-wide cooperation needed more than ever
FLORAHOLLAND, 24 May 2011 — With annual sales of over €4.1 billion, 2010 was a good year for the FloraHolland flower auction. Price recovery was the principal reason why sales increased by nearly 7 per cent. In excess of 12 billion flowers and plants were sold over the year through the cooperative’s five Dutch locations at Aalsmeer, Bleiswijk, Eelde, Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg.
Presentation of the FloraHolland flower auction annual figures
A good 2010 financially; sector-wide cooperation needed more than ever
FLORAHOLLAND, 24 May 2011 — With annual sales of over €4.1 billion, 2010 was a good year for the FloraHolland flower auction. Price recovery was the principal reason why sales increased by nearly 7 per cent. In excess of 12 billion flowers and plants were sold over the year through the cooperative’s five Dutch locations at Aalsmeer, Bleiswijk, Eelde, Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg.
“But even this price recovery was not enough in and of itself to put the growers and traders on the road to profitability,” General Manager Timo Huges said as the annual figures were unveiled. “So more than ever, it’s crucial to work closely with producers and traders to unlock the market potential that we see.”
The cooperative auction organization, whose production and sales are increasingly international in nature, marks its centenary this year.
Money back to the members
The auction’s robust financial health has allowed some money to be returned to its members. “We’ve been able to hand back €19 million to our members, which is half of the money paid in 2010 in member loans — giving them a bit of a breather,” says Financial Director Erik Leeuwaarden. “With a solvency of 23 per cent and a solvency base of nearly 47 per cent, our cooperative has a sound base.”
Over both 2010 and 2011, FloraHolland has been investing €75 million, especially in logistical resources (such as standardizing the fleet of auction trolleys) and in expansion opportunities for its customers, wholesalers and exporters.
The rise and rise of digitization
Sales at the auctions are becoming more and more virtual. Around 50 per cent of cut flower sales via the auction clock are now processed through Remote Buying (KoA), a system that lets the buyer — whether present in the auction room or anywhere else in the world — make their decisions based on digital information. Over 70 per cent of total flower and plant sales are traded without the buyer ever having physically seen the product at the clocks or at FloraHolland Connect.
Digital information is also increasingly important for sales via FloraHolland Connect, where it is provided in services like supply catalogs. FloraHolland Connect arranges its commercial operations around the various market segments and is increasingly developing into a commercial knowledge center.
The auction clock remains, as ever, a strong sales instrument and one that is being heavily invested in. All locations now have projection clocks, enabling image auctioning (auctioning without the product physically appearing at the clock).
Internationalization
Veiling Rhein-Maas in Herongen, Germany is a joint venture between FloraHolland and the German organization Landgard. The former FloraHolland location at Venlo was merged into this joint venture in late November last year. So far, Veiling Rhein-Maas has been achieving higher sales than had been predicted.
Production and sales are becoming increasingly international in nature. Also in Germany last year, the logistics hub of Tradepark Bremen was set up in partnership with the Flower Nursery Products Wholesale Association (VGB).
By integrating the TFA import auction, FloraHolland has been able to offer growers and traders more market opportunities and a broader, more in-depth assortment. It is partly thanks to this move that the number of overseas members of the cooperative has grown to over 500.
FloraHolland centenary
At the end of 2011, under the motto of “FloraHolland — 100 Years’ Color”, the auction will be celebrating the fact that the first cooperative flower auctions in the Netherlands were established a hundred years ago. For a whole century, growers across the country and far beyond its borders have teamed up in cooperative auction organizations. Thanks to these auctions, growers and traders have been able to specialize. “Working together, they built up this global floriculture chain, which contributes so colorfully and powerfully to the economy. For me, this centenary is first and foremost to honor all those entrepreneurs,” Huges explains. “Because these entrepreneurs’ collaboration paved the way for the robust floriculture chain that we know today.”
