What impresses you most about your work?
The speed of the flower wholesale — is huge and everything is constantly evolving towards automation and robotization. I enjoy facing new challenges, listening to my customers and finding ways to fulfill their needs. We are now focusing a lot on building a community, we are aware that most of our customers have been with us for many years, some even from the very beginning. That's why we want to repay them and constantly remind them how much we value them. For such purposes, among other things, our newly opened Cash & Carry space on the outskirts of Prague was created. Where we want to meet our customers and celebrate the uniqueness of flowers and our union.
How did you come to flowers and what was the turning point that sowed the seed of your passion?
I have been in the flower shop environment since I was twelve thanks to my parents. At 18, I started driving a truck for flowers to the stock exchange to Holland, where every week I sat physically at the auction and shopped. After about a year, I had it so learned that I wanted to go into it myself. All that was needed was to arrange the administration for the purchase rights, that is, the purchase card and the account in the Dutch bank, and I started buying.
So it's that simple?
I say "just that", but it wasn't easy at all — at the time it was a small miracle that we managed to do it. And I didn't take it lightly either. I lived a short distance from the flower exchange for two years and only lived by buying flowers. From morning to evening, I was at the stock exchange, shopping, packing flowers into trucks and delivering them to customers. I benefit from this period to today and feel it was that breakthrough moment when I became a true flower merchant.
What was the biggest wow thing you learned on the exchanges?
At first it was all new and about flowers, and how the demand for different species works. Of course, the Aalsmeer stock exchange itself is an indescribable experience, and those who have not experienced it will not understand. Today, the most fascinating thing for me is that in 10 years we have moved from a garage to a top flower player in the Czech Republic and Slovakia thanks to a perfect mastery of purchasing technology and understanding of logistics processes. Of course, the ambitions are ever greater, so we are constantly trying to improve our services so that we can keep moving forward.
What is it like on the stock exchanges now? How do flower prices move and what are the price differences between different varieties and flower qualities?
The prices of flowers are classically determined by demand and supply. Prices can vary by up to hundreds of percent, which is determined by the season, holidays such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Women's Day and so on, but also by variables such as weather, currency exchange rates, the price of consumer commodities... There are dozens of aspects. In the last period, it was, for example, the price of gas, the price of diesel, but also anti-government demonstrations, in which there will be a blockade of the airport and suddenly there is a blackout of certain product. That product must be replaced by another, and this will significantly increase the price. It can really be anything, a few years ago an active volcano in Iceland that crippled air travel and waved away flower prices.
The rarity or popularity of a particular species certainly also plays a role in determining the price. How does the price arise in this regard? Who decides on the uniqueness of a given flower?
This is a question more of for to the grower, but in general, a flower is rare and only rare if there is more demand for it than the supply is. This is due, for example, to a unique color or a unique mix of several colors, a new shape, an extra large flower, just some peculiarity. People crave originality. In the same way, seasonality also affects the price. In general and logically, there are fewer flowers in the winter period, and therefore prices go up. As the sun increases, there is more supply and the price goes downward more often.
When you go to the stock market, do you know exactly what you are going to buy? Or do you know that you need roses, but you decide on a specific type only when auctioning according to quality, price, offer?
This is theme for a book, but in a nutshell: It's the season, demand and supply that decide. The first priority for us is the quality, the range and then the price. We have verified growers that we work with regularly, and we know that their product is of good quality. In the same way, over the years, we already know what customers want, and we need to have those products. We try to have as wide a range as possible, but everything has to be balanced so that the goods sell quickly and the goods can arrive fresh. At the same time, you also need to think about logistics when buying. Trucks are not allowed to drive half-empty and no goods can remain in Holland. Therefore, for me personally, a sense of assortment and quantity plays a huge role in the purchase.
How is it with online participation in the stock exchange? Has it changed the course of bidding and shopping?
Certainly, with KOA's remote shopping option we can buy from one location at multiple auctions at once. Physically, only the old matadors are sitting at the auction today, and there are only a handful of them left. When I was at an auction in Rijnsburg recently, it made me sad. It used to live there, the grandstand was filled with several hundred people, bustling like a market place, and it had that intoxicating charge and energy. It's very sterile today. We all sit at the computer and boy from our offices. On the other hand, of course, it expands our possibilities. There are a large number of buyers from all over the world, so purchases are reduced to smaller units and it is more profitable for growers. Even our larger customers today shop at KOA and we just provide transportation for them. A lot has changed, but even this new form of buying is interesting and we can still improve a lot.
