How was December? Once every four weeks, CEO Steven van Schilfgaarde gives his view on the past period in the Roya FloraHolland website. This time, he talks more about the development of Floriday and the future of sector communication, among other things.
Market outlook
In November, cut flower product revenues were disappointing. The pluses compared to last year in the past few months failed to materialize. The problems with supply from Kenya are making themselves felt. After all, large volumes are involved. The surprisingly good pricing of Spray Chrysanthemum with a slightly lower supply is striking. For plants, unfortunately, it still remains very thin. Yields are lagging well behind cost developments. I sincerely hope that the tide will turn in the new year.
Start auctioning via Floriday
Since the end of November, we have been officially auctioning at our Eelde hub via Floriday. The clock is a crucial buying and selling method for many of our customers. To future-proof the clock, we have launched RFH Auction in Eelde. That's an app on Floriday that allows buyers to easily buy on the clock. Thanks to buyers' feedback, a number of functionalities have already been added to RFH Auction during the test period. So the future of auctioning knows Eelde as its birthplace.
Central Auctioning Plants
A second auction highlight is the full transition to Central Auctioning of plants. This has long been a great desire of growers and ensures more stable pricing. This was also immediately apparent in practice. This is a milestone to be proud of. Just like the complete switch to 100% Order Picking Plants, which was also completed last month. This enables new services, such as Stock and Order Picking.
Floriday update
We see that for plants, the use of Floriday in the way we like it, namely buyer-initiated transactions, is developing very well. Almost 70 percent of direct trade plants are already buyer-initiated. Only the large orders are often not yet handled through Floriday. With flowers, we have a long way to go. There we are at the beginning of buyer-initiated orders. Our commitment is to accelerate this further together. Recently, three experiments have been carried out in Floriday to expand trading opportunities for growers in auction presales. This is now getting a concrete follow-up. This is a great illustration of what Floriday makes possible in terms of new services.
Flower Council Holland
It is now known that LVVN minister Wiersma has approved the application for a General Confederation Declaration to fund Flower Council Holland. This means that not only members and buyers at Royal FloraHolland will contribute, but also those doing business outside us. Finally, a level playing field for the whole sector. Positioning and image of floriculture are a real concern. Fortunately, hard work is being done on a joint sector approach.
Visit to Africa
I recently visited our growers in Africa with Pieter Bootsma and Evert van Helvoort. A very big problem is the lack of cargo capacity from Kenya. Planes are under maintenance and airlines are shifting capacity for cargo transport from China to Europe and the US. So there is unpredictable capacity and rising prices for Kenya. Every effort is being made on many fronts to get more cargo available. Growers are working hard to get things right ahead of Valentine's Day, but this is a major challenge.
To conclude
As you know, I am leaving Royal FloraHolland. They were wonderful years and I am really proud of what we have achieved together over the past few years. This was my last contribution for the RFH website. Pieter Bootsma will also take over this baton from me.
Source: Royal FloraHolland