Quality monitoring and assurance is tightly organized, by quality systems, certificates and governmental inspection procedures. This ensures that no substandard flower from Holland finds its way into a vase anywhere in the world.

Personal assessment
One indispensable step in the quality process is the personal assessment by nursery employees. Take cut roses, for example. The cutting of roses that are ‘ripe for auction’ is subject to continuous quality control. Every possible irregularity is noted. And because ready-for-auction roses are selected daily throughout the area under crop production circumstances, there is not a single rose that escapes the professional scrutiny of the employees.

Auction quality report
Not only does the grower check the products, but all flowers also have to undergo a thorough inspection at the auction. Kees Straathof is the quality manager and is responsible for checking the roses from 23 Dutch nurseries. “I ensure that the buyers can expect an attractive and reliable product the whole year round,” he explains. “Each day I assess the roses at the auction: how do the buds, the stems and the leaves look? Is the product well sorted and accurately represented? I produce a quality report each week, indicating whether the growers satisfy the high quality demands.”

A good rose can be recognized by its strong, compact buds with sufficient petals, says Straathof. “A rose with 20 petals finishes flowering sooner than a rose with 50 petals. And the flowers must have a vase life of at least 10 days.”

750 different cut roses are sold at the Dutch auctions. As a result of breeding, lighting and new planting diagrams, Dutch roses are steadily increasing in both diameter and quality.