Period 6 (from May 22 to June 18) closed with a drop in turnover of 6% at the Dutch auction of Royal FloraHolland. The turnover was thus €20 million less than last year.
The drop in turnover is due to disappointing sales to France as the Thursday before the French Mother’s Day was Ascension Day, and many French people were away for a long weekend. It was also lovely weather, practically throughout Europe, which also resulted in a drop in sales. And possibly the trade decided to play safe and buy fewer flowers and more plants. All in all, this resulted in a drop in turnover of 6% that was entirely due to the cut flowers.
In cumulative terms, the turnover shows a growth of 1.6%. The drop in turnover in this period is responsible for a reduction of 1.3%-point. In addition, period 6 had 2 fewer auction days compared with last year, although the drop in turnover is due not to quantities supplied but to lower prices.
Overall, the proportion of direct flows continues to increase. While in the past few periods the cut flowers varied by tenths of a percent, now the share of the direct flows rose by 4.4%-point to 34.5%. Only sales of hortensia in the direct flows lagged a bit behind, all other products showed a considerable growth. Among houseplants the share of the direct flows rose by 2.4%-point to 77.9% and among outdoor plants by 3.8%-point to 72.1%. This means the outdoor plants have almost reached the level of the houseplants.
Export value increased
The export figures for May from Floridata show a growth of 13%. This was evenly divided between flowers and plants. Those for France evidenced a drop ascribed to the disappointing Mother’s Day. The situation in the UK has become even more uncertain, and exports declined by 6%. Substantial growth was seen in other countries such as Germany (+20%), Poland (+25%) and Russia (+30%).
If we look at the growth figures for export in 2017 and the growth figures for Royal FloraHolland, we see that the growth at Royal FloraHolland is lagging behind the growth in export. It seems that increasing numbers of products are being exported, but not being purchased via Royal FloraHolland.
The supply decreased by 1% while the average price was 13% lower. In particular, the price-setting of roses was disappointing with a drop of 20%, both for products produced in the Netherlands and those produced abroad. Chrysanthemums and lilies decreased more than 10% in price. The decrease seen with Gerbera was restricted to 3%. Lisianthus was one of the few products that remained stable, and its average price rose by 4%.
Houseplants
The supply declined by just 1% while the average price rose by 1.5%. It turned out to be a stable period for houseplants, with few ups or down in the price-setting. The supply of Phalaenopsis lay 11% lower while Zantedeschia rose by 22%.
Outdoor plants
There were 5% more items delivered which were sold for 8% more. After the bedding plant season, it is now the season of the flowering perennials. Green plants also did well.
Source: FloraHolland
