From bulb to bloom, the remarkable journey of Dutch tulips

Measuring tulip stem length at Boots Flowerbulbs, the industry is increasingly data-driven.

In a concerted effort to boost tulip bulb exports and create tulip flower aficionados worldwide, 12 Dutch bulb businesses threw open their doors between 13-15 March 2024 as part of the annual Tulip Trade Event (TTE). All are masters in maintaining and controlling bulb quality and ensuring product availability for their international customer base. In speaking with industry leaders, it was apparent the tulip’s rise to prominence and market expansion are ongoing. However, exporters also need to watch the critical drivers of risk closely: societal, phytosanitary and, last but not least, meteorological factors.

In an awakening spring, the TTE event offered 3,000 tulip professionals a rare glimpse of ordinarily off-limit spaces, including processing areas and cold stores.

A mixed crowd of breeders, bulb farmers, cut tulip growers, trade and press discussed the overall state of the tulip industry while assessing the quality of the ‘good old’ and newest in tulip breeding.

Invites heard first-hand how the Dutch bulb trade uses century-old tradition and expertise, coupled with great technology and best practices in bulb management and storage, to help cut tulips forcers abroad produce the cream of the crop.

Each of the twelve exhibiting companies put up a magnificent tulip show, enabling visitors to acquire an overarching view of what is currently on offer in the Netherlands.
Anthos, the industry body for the Dutch bulbs and perennials industry, organises the Tulip Trade Event in association with its marketing division, iBulb.

Participating companies included P. Aker, Amsonia, Boots Flowerbulbs, Borst Bloembollen, BOT Flowerbulbs, Haakman Flowerbulbs, Holland Bulb Market, P. Nelis, Nord Lommerse, C. Steenvoorden, VWS Flowerbulbs, and Jan de Wit en Zonen.

The stats

Flower bulbs – think spring flowering tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, and crocus, but also summer flowering lily and niche-type bulbs such as Eucomis – and the Netherlands are intrinsically linked.
The country’s area dedicated to commercial flower bulb production spans 28,000ha across various bulb farming heartlands, including the Dune and Bulb Region southwest of Amsterdam and the provinces of North Holland (Westfrisia), Friesland, Groningen, Drenthe, Zeeland, and Flevoland.

Dutch farmers produce between 8.5 and 9 billion flower bulbs annually, but this figure is only a rough estimate as it depends on weather conditions. The Netherlands is by far the world’s leading flower bulb producer. The country accounts for 70 per cent and 90 per cent of the world’s flower bulb production and trade, respectively. In production, its nearest ‘counter-seasonal rivals’ are New Zealand, Chile, and France.

Countries such as China have tried to replicate the massive success the Dutch achieved in growing tulip bulbs, but repeatedly, the tulip proves very picky about soil and climate. Moreover, a more than century-old eco-system of breeding, research, mechanisation, robotisation, and cross-sector collaboration is, just like Rome, not built in one day.

Close to home, in Denmark and even so in North Germany, bulb farmers are trialling bulb cultivation in coastal areas. It is difficult to say, but climate change may move bulb farming further north.

The Dutch reign supreme in foreign markets, and the value of bulb exports is between €800 million and €900 million.

It is important to note that outside the Netherlands, notably in the UK, France, Chile and New Zealand, a sizeable number of Dutch flower bulb businesses account for direct export trade flows bypassing the Netherlands. The export value of this trade remains unknown.

With a market share of 65 per cent, bulb exports to the non-EU are prominent. The United States continues to be the key export destination for the category. The United Kingdom and China are the following biggest non-EU markets for Dutch bulbs.

Other countries outside the EU with strong demand for Dutch bulbs include Japan, the UK, Canada, Norway, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, Colombia, and Vietnam.
Within the EU, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Sweden, and Finland are among the Dutch bulb exporter’s major trading partners.

The tulip is by far the most iconic bulb flower and Dutch landmark, occupying approximately 46,4 per cent of the total land dedicated to commercial flower bulb production. There are 13,000ha of tulip bulbs grown in the Netherlands. The total output of Dutch tulip bulb farmers is 6.5 billion bulbs, of which 1.25 billion are sold in dry packs, 3.75 billion are cut tulip forcing in the Netherlands, and 1.5 billion are exported.

Of the estimated 200-250 Dutch cut tulip forcers, it is believed that 80 per cent run large-scale, fully or semi-automated farms, growing cut tulips hydroponically for the mass market.
A handful still uses peat-filled crates in production, while a minor five per cent grows their tulips in the open, targeting the high end of the market. For big and small enterprises combined, the annual output is an estimated 3.5 billion cut tulip stems per year.

Interestingly, the world’s largest flower auction and logistic hub, Royal FloraHolland, ‘only’ trades between 800,000 – 1bn cut tulips per year, resulting from an exodus of tulip forcers in the mid-2010s.

Industry professionals use a pleasant Dutch expression for this remarkable ‘tulip-exit’, saying that the auction back then ‘allowed the bird to jump over the cord’. In other words, the auction missed out on the opportunity to address a tidal wave of discontent among cut tulip growers. The latter blamed the auction for charging a relatively high commission rate for every tulip stem sold while, in turn, providing little to no added value regarding opening up new markets or customer data.

With the mass market as their primary customer and sales modelling on long-term retail contracts, these ‘dissident’ growers know their customer base and market inside out. Hence, they bypassed the auction.

A large portion of Dutch-grown tulip bulbs are exported. Up to 50 per cent of these export bulbs are used to grow cut flowers, with the remaining 50 per cent used for pre-packs for gardens. Companies such as Fred de Meulder (with their recognisable dromedary logo), Van Zijverden, Langeveld, De Ree and JUB are the more prominent players of what is called ‘dry bulb sales’.

Insiders know that the dry bulbs business has a status apart. It requires a different mindset, as selling bulbs to garden retailers is centred on the shopping experience, point of sales presentation, attractive packaging, and creating footfall.

The Dutch tulip industry provides employment to approximately 20,000 people.

The bulb trade’s supply chain position

The Netherlands is a powerhouse across all disciplines in tulips: breeding, bulb farming, flower forcing and bulb export trade. The latter finds itself in the middle of the cut tulip supply chain.

The tulip bulb exporters purchase bulbs in bulk from the bulb farmers—a blend of arable crop growers, cattle, and dairy farmers—and offer processing services, temperature-controlled storage, quality/inventory and order management, and a global distribution network.

Bulb traders are a crucial link between bulb farmers and flower forcers worldwide. They allow farmers to focus on bulb production and growers to concentrate on flower forcing. Collecting and exchanging valuable feedback upstream and downstream of the supply chain is integral to their job.

Joris de Waard, purchase manager at P. Aker, puts it like this, “Upstream, we need to be constantly updated about harvesting dates, varieties, and at what temperature bulb farmers store their bulbs. Downstream valued feedback is regarding stem weight and length of different stocks. Equally helpful is information about on-trend varieties and market demand for specific colours.”

In the Dutch tulip trade, generation after generation has built on the previous one’s expertise and knowledge while also adapting to embrace new varieties, business strategies and technologies.
In an era when startups disappear as quickly as they emerge, Dutch bulb trading companies have continued to blossom, more often than not, for over a century.

Take Jan de Wit & Zonen from Enkhuizen. Third-generation Jan de Wit, a member of the company’s current board of directors, explains that his namesake grandfather founded the company in 1922, growing vegetables and potatoes. De Wit recalls, “In 1922, he began growing his first ‘William Copeland’ Darwin tulips. His seven sons and nine grandsons continued the business, and the fourth generation members are already on board.”

The company outlasted the reign of the Netherlands’ three latest queens, Wilhelmina, Juliana, and Beatrix. It survived international crises such as the Wall Street crash in 1929 and thrived during the economic turmoil of the Great Depression and two World Wars.

When asked about the secret of the company’s intergenerational success, De Wit says it is about preserving family values, personal approach, and mutual respect. “We have been able to continue the healthy synergy and understanding by distributing the roles evenly, with respect for each other’s talent and every family member’s tireless commitment. Our partners also play a role that cannot and should not be overlooked.”

P. Aker’s Joris de Waard adds, “In a family company, it is important that the people involved readily bring their heart and soul into what they are doing. What also counts in a relatively small organisation is collaborating and staying abreast of what is happening in the industry.”

‘Co-opetition’

Apparently, building a close-knit culture is vital for the prosperity of the family businesses so frequently seen in tulips.

A good dose of togetherness at the industry level is equally present among TTE members, who pool knowledge, expertise and research findings and grant mutual access to each other’s premises and tulip shows.

It is a kind of ‘co-opetition’ that is not always easy to understand in hypercompetitive economies such as the USA, but it has been a massive cornerstone of success across the entire industry.

There are many compelling stories from family history, including the one of a grower who thought that heating his flower-forcing shed was far more important than warming up his house.

Treasured family sagas galore, spiced up with black and white photographs of cigar smoke-filled cafes hosting the forerunners of what later became the iconic Westfriese Flora.

In the 1960s and 1970s, this event was the only one-day Dutch farmer families allowed their kids to skip school and accompany them to see a sea of flowers and cattle.

Yet, warns third-generation Erik Lommerse, member of the board of directors at Nord Lommerse, don’t get lured into too many entertaining tulip tales. “They remain rivals, after all, battling each other over market share. It’s a sort of tulip bulb arms race, as each of us wants to be the biggest. While there’s healthy competition, we also discuss many things as an industry.”

‘Petalling’ the industry forwards

The Netherlands produces some of the finest tulip bulbs in the world. It has done so since the French-born botanist Charles de l’Ecluse (Arras 1526) – best known as Carolus Clusius – moved to the Netherlands and began cultivating tulips in Leiden’s botanic garden, laying the foundation of what would literally become a blossoming industry.

‘Petalling’ the industry forward, first off, was the narrow sandy area along the dunes between Leiden and Haarlem, the clayish, mineral nutrient soil of North Holland and the temperate micro-climate which give the bulbs their world-renowned quality.

In modern times, entrepreneurial spirit, new cultivation methods (hydroponic tulip forcing and bulb farming using netting), tricks and best practices in bulb storage also help the tulip bulb merchants progress.

TTE participants offered tours in their processing areas to experience what it’s like behind the scenes of what is best described as a specialist in temperature-controlled bulb storage.

Erik Lommerse explains, “It all boils down to industry knowledge and added value services. Our primary task is to find the right fit between cultivar and the forcing programme of our customers abroad. Business type, crop system, storage capacity, growing season, and last but not least, climate zones are important criteria to double-check. Forcing tulips into bloom in Finland is something completely different than doing the same job in the state of New York.”

From planting to harvesting

From bulb to bloom, from Dutch bulb fields to greenhouses as far as Vancouver or Kunming, the journey of a cut tulip is genuinely unique and involves a complex 14 to 18-month process that begins with planting.

Botanically speaking, tulips are perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes, but Dutch tulip professionals treat their bulbs as annuals.

Planting takes place from mid-October to early November when soil conditions are suitable.

The normal tulip bulb crop cycle lasts nine months, with planting in October/early November and harvesting in mid-July the following year.

In November, roots begin growing out of the base, and the bulb establishes itself in the soil. Cold winter temperatures make it go to rest. By February, bulbs come slowly back to full life as the starch in them turns to sugar. As this happens, the leaves and blooms slowly but steadily push upwards out of the bulb.

Erik Lommerse elaborates, “To bloom, a bulb uses all its energy. As a result, when pulled out of the ground in mid-April, the plant’s lower part would not be more than an ‘empty bulb’.”

In the Netherlands’ prime bulb regions, the flowering tulip is the star of a spectacular but very brief show enjoyed by hordes of tourists. Arriving too late means disillusion; by the end of April or the beginning of May, growers take to their fields to remove blooms mechanically.

This action prompts the plant to ‘think’ that forming seed is now pointless. As a result, the tulip begins diverting its energy back into bulb development.

Next, scientifically, it would read that after blooming, the mother bulb has been wholly consumed with the main daughter bulb, ‘auxiliary bud A’ replacing the mother.

Easier said, the bulb that was planted has gone, and between two and four new ones have grown. Bulbs mature until the end of June and the first weeks of July when they are lifted. Subsequently, bulbs are washed free and then peeled (by hand but primarily by ‘peeling’ machines) to remove the old skins, roots, and lateral bulblets.

The top-size bulbs, Grade 12+ (in Dutch bulb language, ‘twaalf oppers’ or bulbs with a circumference of 12cm or more), are destined for export sales, and the smaller ones for propagation. These bulblets are stored, replanted, and grown in the autumn of the same year. Grade 10/11 is commonly used in Dutch hydroponic tulip farming.

The epitome of evolution

Temperatures after digging are fundamental for the gradual formation of flower buds in the primary daughter bulb. First, the petals develop, then the stamens, and lastly, the female parts, including the stigma. Once the entire flower exists in embryo in the bulb, it has reached the G-stage (the G is an abbreviation of ‘Gynoecium’ meaning ‘pistil’ in old Greek).

G-stage can be considered the epitome of evolution, and the Dutch tulip trade primarily revolves around it.

Erik Lommerse explains, “When harvested and subsequently dry-stored, bulbs are in a vegetative state with ongoing cell division inside them. When the season has been stable, the flower shoot inside the bulb begins developing shortly after blooms have been removed, with the process being completed between July and September, depending on the season and cultivar. It’s a crucial period and involves constant checking with specialists dissecting sample bulbs and looking through a microscope to determine the stage of floral development.

Lommerse says, “The G-stage of each lot is recorded in our data management system, which allows us to calculate the earliest flowering date of the bulbs and the cold store treatment required to achieve this. The bottom line: only start cooling once the G-stage has been reached an in-between temperature treatment has been given.”

Temperature regimes

Bulb exporters constantly deal with temperature control and management, registration of G-stage, batch numbers, and bulb harvest dates. In addition, they are always looking for ways to maximise the efficiency of their processes, improve their productivity, and, of course, limit product loss.

Some bulb exporters store the freshly harvested bulbs in their ambient warehouse, thereby increasing the risk of fusarium fungus producing ethylene, which can harm sizeable numbers of surrounding bulbs.

Others do things differently. Nord Lommerse, for example, places bulbs at a constant between 20°C to 23°C, 24/7, depending on flowering time and variety. Erik Lommerse says, “This strict temperature regime is meant to create the best possible formation of floral parts. Eventually, it will highly benefit the forcing performance and quality of the final cut flower.”

To make things even more complex, there is also an ‘in-between temperature’ referencing the in-between time after G-stage and before cooling*.

The Dutch call it ‘tussentemperatuur’’ a concept that has gained more ground over the years. For one to six weeks, cultivars sensitive to shoot lengthening must be ‘tamed’ and kept at 17°C or 20°C. Based on expertise, bulb exporters know which cultivars can be immediately cooled and which must be given a tussentemperatuur.

“In such a case. the cultivar is ready but still ill-prepared to do his future greenhouse job. We have grown acquainted with cultivars, a process of trial and error. The advent of new cultivars prompts us to verify ‘parents’ to make a reasonably safe assessment of the temperature regime,” explains Erik Lommerse.

Put simplistically, he says, “Our job is to trick the bulbs into believing that summer has gone, and they should prepare for winter.”

Inside the exporter’s cold stores, winter begins at a temperature set point of 9°C, gradually colder to 7°C, 5°C and until the final 2°C.

The 9°C and 5°C temperature setpoints are leading. Erik Lommerse says, “More generally speaking, the 9°C regime is commonly used in speedy Dutch (retail) cut tulips while 5°C is used for international customers who don’t have cold storage. Bulbs are given their cold treatment at our premises. Upon arrival at customers abroad, they can be planted in the soil in their greenhouse.

The advantage is that a much shorter cold period is needed. However, the carbohydrate metabolism at 5°C differs from 9°C. So, you will need additional greenhouse crop time to transform the sugars.”

Choosing the suitable temperature regime for bulb storage is teamwork between the bulb exporter and his customer. The latter compiles and shares his upcoming season list. What follows next is matchmaking and counting back.

Erik Lommerse notes, “Within the forcing schedule, we group the cultivars and colours they are available in. The customer fills in the requested quantities. Historical cultivar-specific data are then used to give the customer the earliest date of greenhouse entry.”

Once the colour/greenhouse entry scheme is in place, exporters begin counting back to determine the date that cooling for a specific lot must start. This allows the flower forcer to plant the bulbs in time at a later stage inside his greenhouse.

Erik Lommerse explains, “A red tulip targeted for Christmas sales must be placed into the greenhouse around 20 November. Counting back, the cultivar’s cooling must start on 15 August.

“Usually, one week in advance, we check whether the lot is ready. If not, we will look for the second-best alternative. So, one can imagine that at the beginning of the season, we are swamped, and it’s a jigsaw puzzle, particularly when the field growing season is cold and the lifting of the bulbs is delayed. Once the season progresses, all cultivars become available, making things less complicated.”

Lommerse’s general advice to customers is to have their bulbs prepared and pre-cooled. He says, “Bulbs, including the dead ones, kept at 5°C or 9°C, stop producing ethylene. The latter is harmful as it causes uneven, stunted growth, flower bud withering and even complete flower bud necrosis. As such, shipping a general-purpose container with dry bulbs to the USA will cause much more trouble than using a Reefer. Crossing the Atlantic or passing through the Suez or Panama Canal, humid ocean air enters the regular containers, which therefore must be constantly ventilated.”

Pests and diseases

The primary fungus-caused diseases facing the tulip industry are Fusarium (‘zuur’ or sour in Dutch, a nod to the sour smell emanating from the degrading bulb tissue), Botrytis (‘fire’ in Dutch, Botrytis cinerea and tulipae), Phytium (root rot), Rhizoctonia solani, and the bluish green Penicillium. Extremely harmful plant viruses include Augusta disease, caused by the tobacco necrosis virus, and veinal streak, believed to be provoked by the tobacco ring spot virus.

Arguably, the most dreaded pest at the moment is the wheat gall mite, aka tulip gall mite. Eriophyes tulipea, a slender, up to 0.2mm mite, causes bulbs to look fatigued with the tunica turning creamy to purplish red. Infested bulbs become limp and will fail to produce roots.

Tulips are propagated vegetatively, and this factor can facilitate the spread of disease if pathogen-free propagative material and integrated disease management are absent.
Erik Lommerse says, “Gall mites have existed for years but have recently become a topic for every bulb farmer. Previously, gall mite control was performed in-house by exporters applying Actellic.

“That is until the systemic and field-applied Movento and Batavia insecticides appeared. Yet, as of next year, EU legislation will end the products’ approval, leaving the industry desperately looking for appropriate alternatives.”

Erik Lommerse adds, “Annoying is that the mite is not visible to the eye and can spread rapidly.”

The industry is now investigating Controlled Atmosphere Temperature Treatment (CATT), which Wageningen University, in association with Plantum, developed and scaled up.
Ultra-low oxygen treatment is also on the radar. Both technologies require adjustments to existing cold stores and require gas-tight doors.

Meanwhile, a bioinsecticide for gall mites that is much talked about is Flipper, derived from a natural by-product of olive oil. Its manufacturer, Bayer, touts it as ‘ruthlessly effective at targeting pest insects while remarkably protective to beneficial organisms’. Other bioinsecticides are a work in progress, with their lengthy approval process being a critical bottleneck.

Inspections

To ensure tulip health, a flowering tulip crop is walked and inspected in April and May to remove not-true-to-type cultivars or virus-affected plants.

Inspectors of the Bloembollenkeuringsdienst (BKD), the Flower Bulb Inspection Service (accompanied by Japanese plant health officials if the lot is for exports to Japan) make a first visual assessment of quality aspects in the field, after which lots are granted class 1, class ST (standard) and class EGE (end-use Europe). Class 1 is the highest achievable mark the trader needs to export his bulbs outside the EU. Months later, before shipping bulbs to a non-European destination, bulbs are inspected again in the warehouses.

The bottom line is that Class 1 bulbs must meet the phytosanitary requirements of the receiving country so that the BKD can issue its phytosanitary certificate.

Bulbs undergo a double pre-shipment inspection (PSI) when shipping to the USA and Canada. First, a BKD official checks the shipment; the day after, inspectors of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS or Canada’s Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) repeat the same job.

Established in 1951, PSI has undoubtedly been one of North America’s most important drivers of the tulip bulb trade.

The scheme established strict standards for diseases and pests. Simply put, PSI is an import inspection in the country of departure, allowing for a quicker flow of goods in the country of destination.

Fast-forward to 2024. Under the Pre-Clearance Programme, the Netherlands ships one billion flower bulbs annually to the USA, the majority of which are tulips.

What variety to choose from?

The first step in successfully forcing tulip bulbs is selecting the appropriate cultivars. Not every available tulip does well as a cut flower, and not every available tulip has the same pent-up consumer appeal in all countries.

Or, as Bonne Boots, CEO of Boots Flowerbulbs, aptly puts it, “The discussion with breeders always veers to workhorses and show ponies. With that, I mean that most breeders tend to look first at the tulip’s appeal. A prime example would be the ‘Brown Sugar’ tulip. Its cinnamon-hued petals are not for everyone’s taste but are grown as a cut flower. While there is no doubt that it only takes a split second before a consumer has formed a first impression, we also need workhorses, that is, hassle-free, reliable cultivars that are disease resistant and can give our customers a quick turnaround.”

Tulips are classified into divisions and the best tulips for forcing are found within Triumph tulips (TT, a wide range of colours, compact and strong stems), Single Early Tulips (SET, classic shape, sturdy stems), Double Early Tulips (DET, heavily petalled full blooms, shorter stems) and niche-type tulips such as viridiflora (VT), parrot (PT) and coronet tulips (CT) for the high-end of the market.

In February 2024, the BKD published an overview of the most-grown tulip cultivars in hectares. The yellow Triumph tulip ‘Strong Gold’ (884ha) is the largest tulip bulb crop produced in the Netherlands, with the scarlet red/lemon yellow Triumph tulip ‘Jan Seignette’ (550ha) and the soft pink/white Triumph tulip ‘First Class’ (300ha) coming second and third respectively.

Commenting on today’s stars of the tulip industry, Erik Lommerse says, “Interestingly, this year’s production area of ‘Strong Gold’ is 884ha, down from 962 ha in 2024 and 1,200ha nearly five years ago. The BKD list includes tulips whose production area is 100ha or more, featuring 22 cultivars, of which ‘Strong Gold’ is by far the most popular yellow one. This indicates that a good successor for ‘Strong Gold’ has not been identified yet. The list also features four red and red/yellow tulips and four purple varieties. ‘Leen van der Mark’ is among the ‘good oldies’ with a production area of 195ha, down from 265ha last year. ‘White Prince’ comes fourth in the list as the most grown white cultivar. However, you would not sell one ‘White Prince’ in the USA because it would stay too short. In Scandinavia, though, it is one of the bestsellers.”

Speaking to the TTE participants, there seemed to be an overall consensus that softly-hued and double-flowered tulips are on trend. Pink and particularly double pinks, such as the two-toned ‘Columbus’, orange ‘Icoon’, and the double early ‘Dreamer’, are hot, but the problem is bulb availability. So, these tulips may appear trendy, but the reality is that balancing cost efficiency with performance in farming the bulbs of double-flowered tulips is challenging.

Sampling the sentiments in the trade

Global consumers are worried about climate change. So, the local-for-local sourcing trend is gaining traction even if there is an ongoing debate about whether locally produced automatically means sustainable.

Erik Lommerse comments, “Mapping the world, the number of cut tulip forcers worldwide is increasing. Consumers are apparently keener to buy their flowers locally to ensure quality, sustainability, and support for local communities. That’s happening in the UK, Germany, Poland, and Scandinavia.

“Many years ago, the Finnish branch of Lidl chose to source Dutch-grown tulips only. Then, consumers stopped buying tulips altogether. So, they also offered Finnish-grown tulips marked with a Finnish flag logo the next year. The latter proved to be best-selling. The concept of ‘home-grown’ is gaining momentum elsewhere, too. Think the label ‘American Grown’ or ‘California Grown’.”

Another phenomenon is the tulip-cutting garden in the USA, which makes an excellent family outing. People buy tickets for that Instagram moment, getting up close by walking in the tulip fields and photographing them. They can also select their preferred blooms by picking them themselves. These operations – a kind of copy-paste Keukenhof – are backed by the tulip forcing and dry pack industry.

Over the past two decades, the USA and Canada markets have grown exponentially. The difference is that dry pack sales have decreased significantly. Like the rest of the world population, Americans have become lazier without wanting to make their hands dirty by planting bulbs in the garden. Nowadays, they primarily buy cut tulips for home decor.

At the industry level, these blooms are either grown in the USA or sourced directly from an alliance of large-scale tulip forcers in the Netherlands.

It is interesting to see how the Dutch forcing farms have partially become competitors of the Dutch bulb exporter. Floral wholesalers in, for example, Germany, France, and Austria are close to the Dutch market, offering extremely competitive prices, an extensive assortment, and just-in-time delivery. So, the choice between locally grown and Dutch tulips is easy.

Speaking of export markets, Scandinavia deserves special mention. In Jan de Wit’s centennial book, Sweden is highlighted as ‘the country which invented industrial bulb forcing in the 1970s. Massive production facilities selling directly to the mass market were key to the Swedish tulip miracle’.

Erik Lommerse confirms that while the USA is big, the Scandinavian market is not something to sneeze at. “One of our customers in Finland alone, Huiskula, buys five million tulip bulbs annually in a country of 50 million people.”

In a recently published interview with FCI magazine, Huiskula’s director explained that Finnish people buy an estimated 71 million tulips each season, which is about 13 tulips for every Finn.
Lommerse raves, “If everyone in the world bought as many tulips as the Scandinavians do, then we could really talk about a second ‘tulipomania’.”

What’s behind the flower’s popularity in the Nordic countries? Erik Lommerse: “Vitamins for the soul in long dark winters? I am not sure. What I do know is that tulips are steeped in Scandinavian tradition. They don’t need extremely high light and heat but love the cold. Sixty years ago, tulips were the only winter flowers you could grow in Scandinavia, which might explain part of their popularity. Also, tulips make people simply happy.”

 

Early tulip sales

Tulip bulb farming is primarily a Dutch affair, with counter-seasonal bulb production in New Zealand and Chile to provide Dutch-cut tulip growers with fresh bulbs year-round. For Southern Hemisphere bulbs, Covid-19 came as a kind of a ‘blessing in disguise’ without forgetting the millions of people who died from the disease.

Erik Lommerse says, “The moment the world went into lockdown in 2020, vessels with containers jampacked with freshly harvested tulip bulbs were about to leave the ports of Santiago, Lyttleton and Wellington. The Dutch traders – who dominate the bulb flows from both countries – slightly panicked. Demand in the USA and the rest of the world had totally collapsed. So, the bulbs were shipped to the Netherlands to be forced into bloom for the mass market. Supermarkets at the time were the only places where you could buy flowers; as such, they sold well even though it was still the beginning of autumn. Ever since supermarkets started ordering tulips a bit earlier. At the same time, we are well aware that the tulip is quintessentially a seasonal flower that best embodies the essence of spring. Currently, the season runs from September until May, with Southern bulbs used between September and Christmas.”

Royal Anthos and iBulb

Popularity and promotion go hand in hand. Royal Anthos, the trade association for the Dutch bulb and nursery stock sector, invests in marketing communications through its promotional division, iBulb, to highlight the flower’s beauty and ease of care and explain the positive impact flowers have on physical, mental, and emotional health.

At the same time, the industry body is advancing in subtly telling the industry’s sustainability story. One of the world’s finest floral promotions—the mega tulip-cutting gardens built in cities like Amsterdam, Antwerp, San Francisco, and Paris (Saint-Denis)—is helping the iBulb message come across. This year, on 7 April, it debuted in New York.

It’s easy to explain the success of these ‘pluck your own tulip gardens.’ It’s definitely the timing: in March, people crave colour after a long, gloomy winter. But it is also about pure fun, reconnecting with nature and escaping the concrete-like urban jungle.

All companies exhibiting at the Tulip Trade Event are members of Anthos/iBulb and agree that in a world plagued by mounting red tape, regulations, climate change, market volatility, trade barriers, and atrocious wars, a trade body defending the interests of the industry and acting as one voice is not a luxury but an absolute must.

Erik Lommerse elaborates, “The Royal General Bulb Growers Association’ (KAVB) is there for the bulb farmers and Anthos for the trade. Fortunately, both associations join forces to address societal issues. Also, bulb auctions CNB, Hobaho, International Garden Centre Association (IGCA), and Keukenhof team up in ‘Sectorplatform Bloembollen’, focusing on the industry’s license to operate.”

License to operate

The industry’s license to operate is much about its values and purpose, being seen as legitimate by civil society and the capability to manage risks and opportunities related to environmental and social criteria.

It’s a concept that cannot be controlled directly, but factors such as environmental protection, credibility, and transparency can help the Dutch bulb industry gain society’s trust.

Erik Lommerse notes, “I believe we should not walk away from responsibility, denying, for example, that the industry uses crop protection products. But we should explain how seriously this is done, with how much care these products are made, and highlight the joy flowers bring to people’s lives.”

He and staff from iBulb, Reus Holland and other bulb exporters, Tulip Promotion Nederland (TPN), were in San Francisco on 9 March to help the city set up its 6th Tulip Festival in Union Square.
Erik Lommerse says, “As Anthos decided ‘to go east’ this year, less Dutch funding was available. So, the city council and San Francisco’s shopkeeper association deserve credit for organising this so well and mostly autonomously. From our side, we provided products and staff for an event that attracted thousands of people who came to enjoy a display of 80,000 tulips and pick a free bouquet of eight tulips to take home. The festival only opened at 1pm, but people started queuing hours beforehand. However, there was no single badly spoken word.”

Thinking back on the wonderful time spent in San Francisco, he ponders over the question of how the industry can really make a difference in terms of the buzzword sustainability. “Virtually all our actions impact the health of our planet, whether it is making steel, driving a car, travelling by plane, farming bulbs, or eating out. However, we can’t all hide ourselves in a shack in the woods without doing anything. Nature deserves respect, so we must respect the laws protecting it. Also, we must trust the knowledge and expertise of those who approve crop protection products.”

Weather dramatically impacting this year’s bulb crop

Threats to yields in bulb farming from crop pests and diseases are being exacerbated by climate change. G-stage, for example, seems to arrive earlier year after year. Last year, Delphy’s stage checking of tulip bulbs found that G-stage was reached eight days earlier, even 16 days earlier, compared to 2021, which was a late year.

Tulip bulb exporters warn that the Netherlands’ second-wettest autumn and the second-wettest winter – since national recordings began- will lead to a disappointing harvest.

Bulb prices have increased significantly over the past few years, from five cents/bulb in 2015 to eight cents last year. Currently, Grade 12+ costs an average of nine cents.

Erik Lommerse elaborates, “All the rain needed for the Panama Canal seemed to have come down in the Netherlands. It’s terrible; it’s a great concern and stress for us. Already last year, we had to disappoint our customers following a bad harvest. For now, we anticipate between five to ten per cent bulb loss. However, bulb growth happens from May to June/July. If we then get a period with east winds and sunny and dry weather, the risk of bulb loss will be even bigger as bulbs are not sufficiently rooted.”

Joris de Waard from P. Aker adds, “Together with our growers, we will do our utmost to deliver customers top quality bulbs. Challenging months lie ahead, but we will get the job done if we collaborate.”

Logistics

Bulbs for exports to the USA and Canada are packed into cube boxes (kuub kisten) and placed into temperature-controlled containers.

One box can fit between 20,000 and 25,000 bulbs, and one container holds 36 boxes. So, one container can ship 700,000 – 800,000 bulbs.

Containers are trucked to the ports of Rotterdam or Antwerp.

In the case of FOB Origin or FOB Shipping Point, the buyer accepts the title of the bulbs at the shipment point and assumes all risk once the seller ships the product. The buyer is responsible if the goods are damaged or lost while in transit.

However, some exporters opt for the ex-works rule as it places minimum responsibility on the seller, who merely has to make the bulbs available, suitably packaged, at the specified place, usually the exporter’s warehouse.

In the bulb industry, freight forwarders of choice include Denkers, Copex and IAAFresh.

During the pandemic, the logistic disruption was at its worst. However, even today, container shipping finds itself in rocky waters as Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea. Ships have had to be rerouted around southern Africa to avoid the Suez Canal. The Cape of Good Hope diversion adds 6,000 nautical miles and three or four weeks to delivery times, leading to a ten per cent increase in freight costs in bulb shipping.

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This article was first published in the May 2024 issue of FloraCulture International magazine.

• FCI magazine would like to offer a special thanks to William B. Miller of CornellCals, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Erik Lommerse, and Anne Verdoes, who have been invaluable guidance and industry knowledge sources.