The first new column of the new year from Royal FloraHolland is written by auctioneer roses Erik Wassenaar. He looks back on the year behind us and gives a glimpse of 2024.
On behalf of all auctioneers, I would like to wish everyone a fantastic but, above all, healthy 2024. As an auctioneer, I look back on a year in which a lot has happened. 2023 started with a more than fine price level until after Mother's Day. From then on the prices started to drop and they didn't really pick up, except for a few weeks or day(s). For plants, we saw that summer prices were reasonable, and autumn showed the same picture as for flowers.
Milestone: central auctioning of roses
The highlight was, of course, the further expansion of central auctioning, from only clock C06 to all rose clocks. The plan was to roll out central auctioning within roses by the end of Q3, the beginning of Q4 2023. I had doubts about this; so much had to be done! But after a very intensive process, in which we as auctioneers were of course, very closely involved, November was the month that the big step was taken: central auctioning of roses, a milestone in the existence of flower auctions.
I have never had so much bundled supply and buying power on "my" clock: a great result! After just under two months, it is still too early to say anything structurally about the course of central auctioning. But overall I can say that it is a success. There are and always will be points of attention, even apart from central auctioning. We ask for feedback from our suppliers and buyers. We try to accommodate or adjust this as well and where possible. We currently have 5 central clocks at Royal FloraHolland. If I take a look ahead to 2024, I foresee that this number will be further expanded.
Special weeks
The weeks around New Year are always special for an auctioneer. They are short weeks, and many people enjoy a long weekend or a short vacation. This was not noticeable in the pricing of the roses. Red roses did fine, and the white roses also ran well, as did the other colors. There were decent numbers on the clock(s), but that makes sense when the auction is closed for extra days. The first week of 2024 started well, but gradually, the price did drop slightly. As for cut amaryllis, it was a very different year than the year before. Then the season started very well but collapsed completely at the end of the year. 2023 started moderately but much more stable, with even good prices at the end of December. This finally made it a reasonable season.
As for plants, we had little supply on the clocks last over the weeks. Green houseplants were on the rise in terms of both supply and pricing. The first auction day was reasonable to mostly good for almost all plants in terms of pricing. Daffodils did very poorly at the start of 2024. The supply of the clocks was still low across the board.
Time to wait until Valentine's Day
In the coming weeks, we are sort of waiting for Valentine's Day. Until then, pricing will largely depend on the numbers of flowers and plants offered by growers on the clocks. Weather is also a significant factor. If the weather is nice and open and not too cold, production will remain at a decent level.
Are you a buyer or supplier and want to know more about marketing or buying through the auction clock? Contact Royal FloraHolland's Customer Contact Center (tel +31 (0)88 789 89 89) and ask for an auctioneer or account manager. They will be happy to personally show you around the growing world of flowers and plants.