"With Chinese New Year in mind, the demand from China for red berries, such as the Ilex, is increasing. Although floriculture is still popular in their own country, Chinese people also like to be surprised by special products that are not grown there", Martijn van Os of Royal FloraHolland tells us.
FloraHolland has been active on the Chinese market since 2016. "We facilitate the arrangements between suppliers and Chinese customers with logistical, financial and sales services," Martijn explains. "We offer a cold chain of Dutch quality, we can guarantee payments and help with the sale of flowers to Chinese parties without the language and cultural barriers."
E-commerce
The development of a digital platform is in full swing and that is an important point for the future. "In recent years we have seen strong growth at E-commerce parties. Also because of these companies, a new group of buyers has emerged in the younger generation that buys flowers for themselves."
Opportunities and challenges
Looking to the future Martijn expects that the import will continue to grow, but there are also opportunities for high-quality crops in China. "Local production is the most important supplier on the Chinese market and is increasing in strength. For suppliers there are quite a few challenges in supplying the Chinese market. For example, the supply chain remains a challenge, so that quality of flowers is not optimal when in use. We also see that consumer confidence in China is not going to increase in the short term, partly due to the trade war. Royal FloraHolland is therefore firmly committed to providing services so that parties still can do good business in China. With trusted, legal logistics and guaranteed payment." 
For more information:
www.royalfloraholland.nl