Royal FloraHolland's latest member session in Timau was, as always, well attended. This growers’ region is well represented at the auction, with many growers clock auctioning 100% of their produce. Timau could easily feature in the Asterix and Obelix cartoon series as the last unyielding village, with many auction growers stubbornly resisting RFH's bigwigs.
This always makes for interesting membership sessions. Whoever is attending, the majority’s vociferous preference exclusively to auction is invariably met with surprise ('So you are not selling directly at all?') often accompanied by a look that seems to suggest you are doing something wrong.
RFH is pulling out all the bells and whistles trying to stay relevant in the world of flowers, but in my view, it’s not all that complicated. Things go wrong due to a chronic lack of clear arrangements, rules and simplicity. Floriway, Floriday, order picking and, recently, the member packages… all concoctions just to regain the market share that the auction itself gave away in the first place.