NL: Mother's Day sales better than last few years

Mother's Day saw a lot of action, extra turnover and relatively high prices at wholesalers in flowers and plants, a huge improvement compared to the last few years. According to industry organization VGB, it really was peak sales. Mother's Day was celebrated last Sunday in countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and Austria.

 

"An old-fashioned Mother's Day," says Jan De Boer, director of Barendsen's export company in Aalsmeer. "Better than last year." This opinion is shared by other exporters and domestic wholesalers. "Amazing," says Jerry Rouwenhorst of cash and carry center Willemsen Flowers in Apeldoorn, a company that caters to florist-shopkeepers. "We were completely out of stock on Monday morning. Saturday afternoon, many retailers came over here to replenish their supply." According to him, a lot of orders were also received through numerous internet delivery services - including Topbloemen and Fleurop – by the associated florists. Garden centers also sold a lot.

So-called line riders, wholesalers who visit stores at home and abroad with flower-filled trucks, say sales were better than last year. "I am very satisfied," says Henk Knipscheer, a wholesaler. "When I came back, I did not even have enough flowers left for my own wife, I had to go out and buy some. Everything I had in stock was sold."

The focus on Mother's Day traditionally is mostly on red roses, but in recent years other kinds of flowers are increasingly popular, with pink and pastel tones becoming the preference of the consumer. Traders also mention remarkable sales of peonies, lisianthus and hydrangeas.

 

The prices of the flowers on average were slightly higher than other years, which was stimulated by the great demand. Most traders say they paid 10 to 12% more than last year. Also the supermarkets sold a whole lot of flowers. More and more export companies buy directly from growers and make price arrangements beforehand. But prices were also higher in that sector.

 

Flowers bought by auction clocks on Monday and Tuesday were too expensive for many German florists, which meant in particular for line riders that demand was somewhat disappointing, but in the rest of the week before Mother's Day the prices were "more friendly", as they say in trade circles. However, many florists did not buy enough, according to Koen Heijl of W.K. Heyl, a Dutch company active in Germany. "Florists are often too careful. Some had to say 'no' at the end and that is not positive advertising for the sector," says Heijl. He noticed that where roses are concerned, the spray rose is becoming more and more popular. "It was striking that the Germinis remained undervalued compared to the entire assortment."

 

The weather and quality of the bouquets played a part, some traders say. "It was sunny everywhere but not too warm. That's great for selling our products," says De Boer.

Compared with last year, more flowers and fewer plants were sold, says Marcel Zandvliet, spokesman of the thirty operating companies of Dutch Flower Group (DFG), the largest export company in the ornamentals sector. In supermarkets, the mixed bouquets did well, this year especially in the slightly higher price ranges. "The bouquets sold better than last year. Our sales to Italy were less because of their solid domestic production."

 

The trend is continuing that more and more orders arrive at a late time. "We had to deliver in a hurry on Saturday and even on Sunday, so on Mother’s Day itself," was mentioned.

 

Although mainly bouquets of cut flowers were given to mothers, plants are also still performing better in recent years. It concerns mainly blooming houseplants and complete arrangements of plants on bowls.

Royal FloraHolland: €6.5M increase in Mother's Day turnover
Also at Royal FloraHolland reported better sales compared to last year. The week before Mother's Day, the total turnover was € 137 million, an increase of € 6.5 million. Around the world, FloraHolland sold:

• 254 million cut flowers
• 20 million houseplants and
• 15 million outdoor plants.

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"Business keeps booming"
It's a tense period because the demand for trolleys increases precisely in the peak period. As Marcel Claessen told FloraHolland on 13 April 2017, "The trend of buying small quantities has been around for some time. But recently, it became evident that trolleys are handy for more and different parties in all types of flows. Royal FloraHolland was also surprised by this departure from the trend. The situation is made worse by the fact that business is booming. Thus, while the clock is declining, the demand for trolleys is increasing."

Processing and end times unexpectedly under pressure
The increasing use of trolleys and the small scale of purchases put the processing and end times unexpectedly under pressure. What has Royal FloraHolland done to fix this undesirable situation? "At several crucial points, the process at the three export locations has been adjusted. This makes more trolleys available, but extends the processing time and makes the end time later. They have also periodically imposed Internal Overnight Hiring. It did make more trolleys available but led to more work and expense for the trade."

"Once this peak is over, Royal FloraHolland shall evaluate the process. For the long term they shall explore where the need is acute and how they can respond to that."