The Midlands Dahlia Society trip to Holland 08

Trip to Holland 15th - 18th September 08

FloraHolland - the largest Flower Auction in the world

How do you get almost any flower from a grower to a customer - anywhere in the world - within 24hours? That is the achievement of FloraHolland. Full details can be read in their brochure (click here). It is 'owned' by approx 6000 members whose flowers are auctioned in 12 auction halls at 6 locations.

FloraHolland Trolleys of flowers
1st view inside the 100 acre site. On the hall floor the trolleys containing the different flowers are moved around, around and around!

FloraHolland visitor balcony
There is a balcony around the viewing hall for visitors.

FloraHolland trolleys going for auction Flowers for auction are packaged up by the grower and transported to the auction in the evening and placed in a refrigeration area. During the night the blooms are quality assessed.
At 6.00am the auctions start. In total FloraHolland has 39 auction 'clocks' with an average of 116,000 transactions per day. In the photo the trolleys are entering the auction room.

FloraHolland Flowers being auctioned

In this auction room two 'clocks; are going simultaneously, you can see the trolleys with the flowers being auctioned underneath the screens. These screens show the price per bloom, the grower and other pieces of information. As buyers place their bids, the big clock on the screen shows the bid price.

FloraHolland trolleys being sorted prior to shipping

Once sold the trolleys have to be sorted again to get orders to a particular customer all together and sent to the shipping bay.

Back to Trip Report