Officially known as the Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer (VBA), the auctions
themselves start at 6:30 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., visitors are admitted
for a self-guided tour that runs a half-mile through the main
operations of the massive building and allows a peek at four of the
five auction rooms.
From a catwalk suspended 20 feet above the climate-controlled
distribution hall, visitors look down on thousands of three-tiered
trolley carts packed with 12,000 varieties of cut flowers and
potted plants. The carts, each the size of a Sub-Zero freezer, are
stacked with buckets of roses, tulips, hyacinths, lilacs, orchids,
hostas, hydrangeas, chrysanthemums ... It's an ocean of flowers.
Red roses predominate, as they are top sellers worldwide. But even
with those, tastes vary: Some countries prefer long stems, others
want large-headed roses that make a statement with a few stems.
Roses and tulips are the most popular flowers exported to the U.S.,
which along with
Japan accounts for 10 percent of Aalsmeer's
business.
Blue-jacketed workers quickly hook the carts together and use small
electric scooters to pull lines of carts - as many as 10 or 20 - to
the auction rooms or, after they're sold, to the shipping area. "On
the slowest day, we have more than 10,000 trolleys," says Dirk
Hogervorst, manager of the cooperative's 13 auction clocks, quality
control, and daily operations. "On the busiest days - before
Valentine's Day,
Christmas, or Mother's Day - more than 30,000."
Even on so-called slow days, some 10,000 people are involved in the
sale, preparation, and shipment of blooms, and they do not dawdle.
The auctions may start early, but that doesn't make the day longer;
they're finished by noon. At Aalsmeer, they say, "The three keys to
the flower industry are quick, quick, quick."