Our week started early Monday morning with a tour of the Aalsmeet location of Flora Holland, which is the largest flower auction in the world, and located on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Holland is known for its tulips, and agriculture fairs well here due to The Netherlands’ fertile soil and abundance of water. The auction trades flowers from all of Europe, and the operation is quite incredible.
The market opened originally in 1915 and the first building to house the auction opened in 1972. It is a cooperative operating five days per week, completing approximately 1,200 transactions per hour, moving 20 million “stemmed” flowers through per day. It is the most massive operation I have ever seen! Because flowers have a limited “peak” and short lifespan, the auction is a constant hustle of movement, buying, selling, transporting, with flowers traveling thousands of miles from the grower/seller to the auction to the buyers within 24-48 hours. Flowers may be grown in the south of France, transported to the auction for sale, and could end up right back in the south of France in a corner market. There are strict guidelines regarding minimum quality and price that buyers must adhere too.
This location of the auction has five auction rooms, but 12-15 auctions going on simultaneously as a few are online, and some rooms have 2-4 “buys” going on simultaneously. The auction bidding works in reverse, starting at the high price and working down to a minimum. If a flower does not bring the minimum price, it is composted for fertilizer, not sold for less or given away. This is the only way to protect the market, but is done in a sustainable way.
The property we toured is 775,000 square meters and there are 1,800-2,000 employees at the auction and 10,000 on the whole property. Our tour guide calls it the Flora Holland “village”. This auction location is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest center for trade in the world. It was truly amazing and so beautiful, definitely a highlight of the trip thus far for me in regards to business learning.
We had an afternoon lecture at InHolland University, in Harlem, Holland, the partner school for the program for our visit to Holland. It was given by a professor who I had much in common with. Professor Wes Wierda is a former singer/songwriter, who has been teaching marketing and economics at InHolland University for the last years, specializing in branding, events, and multi media. He and I chatted afterwards and exchanged contact information, as he also works with several European advertising agencies and film directors as an agent to pitch songs for ad campaign and film projects. I plan to send mp3’s of some of my songs to him when I return home….. you just never know!
Chris and I went to the Anne Frank house and museum Monday evening after returning to Amsterdam. The weather was so nice, the streets and canals are so beautiful, and it was a nice walk from central station to the museum, which was about 12 blocks. This tribute to the Frank’s experience in hiding is a must see for anyone that comes to Amsterdam. We have all heard of her diary and its expression of emotion and feelings of a 14 year old Jewish girl and her family, hiding to stay alive, but being in the actual rooms, seeing the artifacts, hearing the video testimonies of those who helped, as well as Otto Frank, Anne’s father and the only survivor, is a humbling encounter. The preservation of this historical place is one of the most impressive I have ever seen. The architects and designers created an easily navigated tour through four floors of a main building (office front) and the annex area where the Franks and the Van Pel families lived. The experience was so rich with information and an environment that stirred the emotions and touched my heart. It was a truly moving experience.
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