Logistics that moves with you, part 4: Dock Services
June 18, 2025
Various departments work together on our logistics platform to optimise logistics processes. This enables us to offer you logistics that move with you. In this series, we explain which departments play a major role in this. In this fourth part: Dock Services.
Every day, growers from all over the country bring large quantities of flowers and plants to our hubs to be sold at the auction or directly. Large consignments of flowers also arrive from Kenya and Ethiopia, while various types of plants are brought to our platform from Italy. Dock Services receives the products and sorts everything for the next sales channels.
Import agents such as Decofresh, Fresco and Ammerlaan arrange transport from Kenya and Ethiopia on behalf of the African flower growers. The flowers arrive by air freight at various European airports – not only Schiphol (which receives about 15%), but also Brussels, Liège (mainly flights from Ethiopia), Frankfurt, Paris and Maastricht. The handlers pick up the consignments at the airports. They drive them to Aalsmeer, Naaldwijk or Rijnsburg, where they can deliver their loads to Dock Services day and night.
The team
Every day, Dock Services receives aircraft pallets full of boxes of roses, carnations and lilies. A pallet can carry up to 180 boxes, each containing more than 200 flowers. In addition to flowers flown in from Africa, the team also receives plants from Italy and ornamental plants transported by sea container from other continents. First, the team checks everything for quantity, length, temperature and grower. During transport, it can happen that not all boxes from a grower fit on the same pallet and end up on a different pallet, in a different plane. After checking the delivery, the team sorts the products by type and size. If everything matches the grower's requirements, the team delivers the flowers to the hub specified by the agent for clock sales or to the requested location for direct trade.
Until last year, this sorting process was done manually, but now it is largely automated. This means faster processing and therefore larger quantities per hour. It also reduces the risk of errors. Sensors check the QR codes on the boxes, which are then rolled to the correct trolley via “smart” conveyor belts. Standards have improved significantly in recent years, as has communication within the chain.
Dock Services is the largest in Aalsmeer, where around 4.2 million flower boxes are processed annually. In Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg, this figure is around 600,000 boxes. As an official inspection location, the team also provides support during inspections and checks by customs, the Quality Control Bureau (KCB) or the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NWVA).
Advantages for the customer
A major advantage for growers and import agents is that Dock Services processes small and large batches of flowers quickly and efficiently, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The flowers are stored and sorted in a refrigerated room, even in the event of temporary inspection seizures.
Another advantage is that Dock Services sorts the ornamental plants according to requirements and loads the trolleys according to customer profiles. It also transfers the products from CC containers to stacking trolleys. If desired, the team can transfer and dispatch the products after receipt (cross-docking). The team keeps the grower or import agent informed of progress.
Every day, growers from all over the country bring large quantities of flowers and plants to our hubs to be sold at the auction or directly. Large consignments of flowers also arrive from Kenya and Ethiopia, while various types of plants are brought to our platform from Italy. Dock Services receives the products and sorts everything for the next sales channels.
Import agents such as Decofresh, Fresco and Ammerlaan arrange transport from Kenya and Ethiopia on behalf of the African flower growers. The flowers arrive by air freight at various European airports – not only Schiphol (which receives about 15%), but also Brussels, Liège (mainly flights from Ethiopia), Frankfurt, Paris and Maastricht. The handlers pick up the consignments at the airports. They drive them to Aalsmeer, Naaldwijk or Rijnsburg, where they can deliver their loads to Dock Services day and night.
The team
Every day, Dock Services receives aircraft pallets full of boxes of roses, carnations and lilies. A pallet can carry up to 180 boxes, each containing more than 200 flowers. In addition to flowers flown in from Africa, the team also receives plants from Italy and ornamental plants transported by sea container from other continents. First, the team checks everything for quantity, length, temperature and grower. During transport, it can happen that not all boxes from a grower fit on the same pallet and end up on a different pallet, in a different plane. After checking the delivery, the team sorts the products by type and size. If everything matches the grower's requirements, the team delivers the flowers to the hub specified by the agent for clock sales or to the requested location for direct trade.
Until last year, this sorting process was done manually, but now it is largely automated. This means faster processing and therefore larger quantities per hour. It also reduces the risk of errors. Sensors check the QR codes on the boxes, which are then rolled to the correct trolley via “smart” conveyor belts. Standards have improved significantly in recent years, as has communication within the chain.
Dock Services is the largest in Aalsmeer, where around 4.2 million flower boxes are processed annually. In Naaldwijk and Rijnsburg, this figure is around 600,000 boxes. As an official inspection location, the team also provides support during inspections and checks by customs, the Quality Control Bureau (KCB) or the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NWVA).
Advantages for the customer
A major advantage for growers and import agents is that Dock Services processes small and large batches of flowers quickly and efficiently, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The flowers are stored and sorted in a refrigerated room, even in the event of temporary inspection seizures.
Another advantage is that Dock Services sorts the ornamental plants according to requirements and loads the trolleys according to customer profiles. It also transfers the products from CC containers to stacking trolleys. If desired, the team can transfer and dispatch the products after receipt (cross-docking). The team keeps the grower or import agent informed of progress.
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