Pieter's perspective: February
March 3, 2025
In Pieters perspectief, we give the floor to Pieter Bootsma, CEO of Royal FloraHolland. In this monthly column, he shares his perspective on the past month.
February was dominated by Valentine's Day, traditionally the first major peak of the year. In terms of figures, we see a similar picture to January: the price development remains very strong, while the volumes on the other hand, just as last month, are lagging behind last year. It was good to see that the flower demand was once again high in February. Not only for the rose product group, but for almost all product groups. Due to the high demand, the law of supply and demand proved itself in practice.
Valentine's Day in the media
Valentine's Day also attracts a lot of media attention. Flowers are and remain the ultimate token of love and affection. This was visible in many media; both Goedemorgen Nederland, Hart van Nederland, and Eva visited our hub in Aalsmeer. The written press provided a platform for critical voices regarding the use of crop protection. In close cooperation with Flower Council Holland and Glasshouse Horticulture Netherlands, we presented a clear and factual counterargument, emphasising the significant steps growers are taking to make their cultivation more sustainable.
A future-proof marketplace
Last month, we took necessary steps with the Members' Council and the Supervisory Board to refine our strategy. Making our marketplace future-proof is central to this. This includes investments in deferred maintenance, sustainability, and innovation. We are now communicating these plans to our broader membership and actively seeking dialogue to jointly shape them. This should lead to clear conclusions this summer regarding the future.
New Members' Council and the power of the cooperative
To optimise the discussion with the Members‘ Council, the newly elected members of the Members’ Council must also be properly included in the governance aspects of the cooperative. In that context, 9 new members of the Members' Council have been given an onboarding session organised by Jolanda Heistek, manager of Cooperative Affairs. During the onboarding, the NCR (National Cooperative Council) explained the rules of the cooperative and the role of the Members' Council. These variety of meetings are essential to help new members settle in and involve them in our cooperative way of working. David and I met the new members over lunch.
Transparency through certification
A third topic I would like to discuss is the next step we, as a cooperative, want to take in the area of transparency through certification. Almost three-quarters of all product revenues via our platform already come from certified growers, according to the FSI2025 definition. As of 1 January 2026, mandatory certification according to the FSI2025 Basket of Standards will apply to all growers trading on our digital platform, except for Clock Focus growers. This group will be given at least one year of extra preparation time. Small-scale growers will soon be able to use the small-scale grower scheme, which has been developed in association with FSI and in collaboration with MPS and GLOBALG.A.P, tailored to the business operations of small-scale growers. This scheme entails less administrative burden and is cheaper than the regular scheme. As for the small-scale grower scheme, the FSI is currently finalising the preparations for implementation and communication.
In dialogue with members
I want to emphasise that we are listening very carefully to the concerns within the cooperative. Our starting point is and remains to strengthen the cooperative as a whole. We are doing this in dialogue. We value the growers who have made Royal FloraHolland great and who make our marketplace so attractive with their product range. We are also focusing on how we display clear certification information on the clock and in Floriday. We are also considering growers who are phasing out and want to stop within a reasonable period of time after the effective date of mandatory certification. To this end, we are working on an update to the ‘opt-out scheme’. We are working on solutions in close consultation with stakeholders such as the FSI and the trade and grower collectives. Clear communication on all these points will be provided before the end of March. Together, we will continue to build a strong, future-proof cooperative.
February was dominated by Valentine's Day, traditionally the first major peak of the year. In terms of figures, we see a similar picture to January: the price development remains very strong, while the volumes on the other hand, just as last month, are lagging behind last year. It was good to see that the flower demand was once again high in February. Not only for the rose product group, but for almost all product groups. Due to the high demand, the law of supply and demand proved itself in practice.
Valentine's Day in the media
Valentine's Day also attracts a lot of media attention. Flowers are and remain the ultimate token of love and affection. This was visible in many media; both Goedemorgen Nederland, Hart van Nederland, and Eva visited our hub in Aalsmeer. The written press provided a platform for critical voices regarding the use of crop protection. In close cooperation with Flower Council Holland and Glasshouse Horticulture Netherlands, we presented a clear and factual counterargument, emphasising the significant steps growers are taking to make their cultivation more sustainable.
A future-proof marketplace
Last month, we took necessary steps with the Members' Council and the Supervisory Board to refine our strategy. Making our marketplace future-proof is central to this. This includes investments in deferred maintenance, sustainability, and innovation. We are now communicating these plans to our broader membership and actively seeking dialogue to jointly shape them. This should lead to clear conclusions this summer regarding the future.
New Members' Council and the power of the cooperative
To optimise the discussion with the Members‘ Council, the newly elected members of the Members’ Council must also be properly included in the governance aspects of the cooperative. In that context, 9 new members of the Members' Council have been given an onboarding session organised by Jolanda Heistek, manager of Cooperative Affairs. During the onboarding, the NCR (National Cooperative Council) explained the rules of the cooperative and the role of the Members' Council. These variety of meetings are essential to help new members settle in and involve them in our cooperative way of working. David and I met the new members over lunch.
Transparency through certification
A third topic I would like to discuss is the next step we, as a cooperative, want to take in the area of transparency through certification. Almost three-quarters of all product revenues via our platform already come from certified growers, according to the FSI2025 definition. As of 1 January 2026, mandatory certification according to the FSI2025 Basket of Standards will apply to all growers trading on our digital platform, except for Clock Focus growers. This group will be given at least one year of extra preparation time. Small-scale growers will soon be able to use the small-scale grower scheme, which has been developed in association with FSI and in collaboration with MPS and GLOBALG.A.P, tailored to the business operations of small-scale growers. This scheme entails less administrative burden and is cheaper than the regular scheme. As for the small-scale grower scheme, the FSI is currently finalising the preparations for implementation and communication.
In dialogue with members
I want to emphasise that we are listening very carefully to the concerns within the cooperative. Our starting point is and remains to strengthen the cooperative as a whole. We are doing this in dialogue. We value the growers who have made Royal FloraHolland great and who make our marketplace so attractive with their product range. We are also focusing on how we display clear certification information on the clock and in Floriday. We are also considering growers who are phasing out and want to stop within a reasonable period of time after the effective date of mandatory certification. To this end, we are working on an update to the ‘opt-out scheme’. We are working on solutions in close consultation with stakeholders such as the FSI and the trade and grower collectives. Clear communication on all these points will be provided before the end of March. Together, we will continue to build a strong, future-proof cooperative.
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