Auctioneer's column: Christmas trade in full swing

In his latest column, auctioneer Erik Boland takes you behind the scenes of the auction clock, where Christmas trade is in full swing. Read about the rising demand for Christmas products. He also shares insights on sales at market stalls and the innovative collaboration between growers and zoos.

Today, 5 December, the Netherlands traditionally celebrates Sinterklaas. For many, the Christmas season doesn’t truly begin until after Sinterklaas. Only then do they start buying Christmas trees and other Christmas products.

Still, we’re seeing Christmas trees flying off the shelves. People are paying top prices for stunning Nordmann firs, for example. Expats in the Randstad (the main metropolitan area in the Netherlands), tend to buy their trees early and deck out their homes with lights and festive decorations.

Christmas decorations are doing well on the clock  

The auction clock also features a wide range of Christmas decorations, including lights, Santa figures, baubles on sticks, candles, and reindeer. Each day, we auction around 200 carts filled with these types of products.  

At my clock, I mainly see a lot of schlumbergera (Christmas cactus), poinsettias, decorated and sawn Christmas trees and hellebores. Prices are generally strong, and buyers often purchase large quantities at once. That makes for a great auction! It's also nice to see that sometimes as many as 180 or more buyers want to purchase the same product at once. On Monday mornings, more than 3,000 buyers log in to purchase their products at the RFH auctions. That's a luxury: so many customers shopping every day.  

Visiting the buyers  

One of my visits to buyers took me to a large flower stall in Wijchen. These buyers operate at a big market, selling a wide range of flowers and creating beautiful bouquets from the products they purchase at our auction clock. They typically buy on Mondays and Tuesdays and then sell at three major markets on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It’s the extensive assortment that draws them to the RFH clocks. I was amazed at how much and how easily they sold to consumers who were literally lining up at the stall. Where would we be without street trading?  

Diversity of growers  

Growers aren’t just skilled at growing beautiful flowers and plants, they’re also highly innovative and socially engaged. Did you know, for example, that Blijdorp Zoo and Artis Zoo have been receiving pruning waste from pot rose growers for several years? Animals such as elephants and giraffes, as well as monkeys, rhinos and zebras, need fresh green foliage all year round. In their natural habitat (mainly Africa), this is available all year round.  

In the past, Blijdorp Zoo collected fresh foliage during the summer and stored it in massive freezer rooms. In the winter, it was thawed and fed to the animals. This was costly and an energy-intensive process. Some pot rose growers came up with a clever solution.  

These growers now donate part of their pruned branches to the zoo. The young, fresh foliage is a real treat for the animals and great for their health.