Time for a reboot?
Dutch floral wholesale explores robotic technology with Greenport Aalsmeer’s Robotisation Survey1, which identifies opportunities to reduce labour dependency and future-proof the region’s dynamic floral wholesale sector.
By Ron van der Ploeg
In the study’s vision of 2050, the flower and plant packing facilities will be entirely automated, with no human intervention required. A Hyperloop connection between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Westland, the Netherlands’ (autonomous) greenhouse capital, will ensure reliable, round-the-clock deliveries. Robots will unload products at lightning speed, while drones will continuously monitor the facilities, inspecting flowers and plants for pests and diseases. Sorting, de-leafing, bunching, producing bouquets and order picking will all be fully automated. Hand-tied arrangements will have become relics of the past.
Greenport Aalsmeer’s study into opportunities to reduce the floral wholesale trade’s dependence on labour is likely to conjure up futuristic images. Among workers, it may also fuel technological anxiety and fears of widespread job losses and diminished worker autonomy.
The study, presented in February 2026, surveyed 15 floral wholesalers and cut flower importers located in the region’s ‘floral valley’. This global floral trade and distribution hub spans the municipalities of Aalsmeer, Uithoorn and Haarlemmermeer. Hundreds of floral wholesalers call it their home region.
1. About Greenport Aalsmeer
Greenports Nederland is a triple-helix knowledge-sharing platform, a trilateral network of organisational links between education institutions, governments and industry. Greenports Nederland has eight subsidiaries across the Netherlands, where local authorities, educational institutions, and growers collaborate. Greenport Aalsmeer is one of them.
By aggregating demand and creating sufficient scale around common applications, we hope to positively influence a supplier’s willingness to invest
Herold Dongelmans Greenport Aalsmeer
The starting point
Delivering value in real-world conditions
While vivid visions of the future can help us imagine and prepare for the robotic changes that may lie ahead, examining what is happening in the real world may be even more important. A closer look reveals that a robotic revolution in floral wholesale is on the horizon. However, Greenport Aalsmeer concludes the picture remains somewhat blurred, with progress uneven across the sector.
Promising prospects can be found among large, financially sound floral wholesalers. These businesses have the capital to absorb high upfront costs and invest in the necessary infrastructure. Within a group of companies belonging to the same parent company, pre-competitive collaboration is perhaps less likely to be perceived as a threat. Sister companies can discuss shared challenges more freely without fear of disclosing confidential information.
On the other hand, robotisation within a holding company having multiple businesses each selling different products and serving different markets may be extra challenging. Different businesses require different solutions while the holding company needs scale, standardisation and control.
This is why Greenport Aalsmeer researchers stress that they also liaise with specialised, smaller flower firms. Similarity in size, processes and operational complexity means it is easier to develop a common approach.
Upgrading legacy systems
For an outsider, some flower processing facilities in Aalsmeer may appear undeniably revolutionary and cutting-edge, with kilometre-long conveyor systems at their core, transporting flowers directly to different workstations. These systems enable the automated and controlled movement of products throughout the processing chain, covering activities such as flower intake, storage, order picking, packing and dispatch.
Their operation relies heavily on barcode scanning, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, automated sorting and intelligent order routing.
The reality is: these systems are not new. The first end-to-end conveyor solutions in flower processing emerged at the turn of the millennium. Companies such as FleuraMetz were among the early adopters of customer-specific order picking systems and automated distribution.
“Upgrading these legacy systems and further automating and robotising them has proven challenging. This process is slow to take off,” says Greenport Aalsmeer’s Herold Dongelmans. Together with his colleague Henny Roording, he has been leading the research.
He adds, “Robotisation is complex due to the wide variety in shipping volumes. One moment there are four boxes to process; the next minute it is six. While neatly packed flowers and composed bouquets can be a vital part of the unique selling proposition (USP), the sector seems reluctant to apply robotic technology because it requires considerable amounts of money in a sector where competition is fierce and profit margins thin.”
Rosa Plaza rose bunches in transport buckets on flower trolleys.
Pressure for change
The automation adoption gap
Warehousing, flower processing and cold-storage operations are essential components of every floral wholesale business.
Traditionally, floral wholesalers have performed many tasks manually. Processing floors running on a patchwork of equipment are not uncommon. Meanwhile, many employees still rely heavily on visual inspection and manually pick products from dozens of trolleys and aisles to fulfil customer orders.
The gap between available automation technologies and their adoption remains one of the most perplexing challenges in modern logistics, and floral wholesale is no exception.
Dongelmans asks himself whether this is an economically viable path for the future. There are good reasons for doing so. “Labour availability and costs arguably present great challenges. The sector’s labour crisis has been building for decades. Perceptions of long working hours, early starts and dirty, sometimes hot or cold working environments have discouraged people from seeking employment in wholesale packing facilities. Public perceptions of the ornamental horticulture sector are also affected by recurring debates about the use of plant protection products and inadequate and insufficient housing of migrant workers.”
The Netherlands’ trading role
Dongelmans carried out the research against a backdrop of a Dutch flower industry undergoing significant change. Cut-flower production continues to shift away from the Netherlands, while international competition is intensifying.
Dongelmans explains: “Nevertheless, most survey respondents expressed an unwavering belief in the Netherlands’ critical role in sourcing flowers globally, importing flowers and re-exporting them worldwide. The consensus is that the country will continue to serve as a dynamic, highly efficient trading hub for an enormous variety of flowers sold to omnichannel customers.”
Maintaining this strong position, however, requires businesses to adapt to changing market conditions – customer expectations continue to raise the bar for performance – and find more efficient ways of operating.
Sleeved Rosa Plaza rose bunches packed in a cardboard shipping box.
Where technology fits
Four key areas suited to robotisation
Greenport Aalsmeer identified four areas where robotics and automation could improve efficiency: quality inspection, order picking, flower processing and packing, and data integration.
Manual inspection of incoming flowers is labour-intensive and can produce inconsistent assessments. Computer vision, sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) could improve inspection accuracy and consistency.
Assembling orders according to customer requirements is complex and time-consuming. Conveyors, sorting systems and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) can reduce manual handling and improve logistics. However, automation must accommodate different flower varieties, sizes and changing orders.
Processing includes sorting, bunching, trimming, de-leafing, labelling and bouquet preparation. Although some tasks can be mechanised, many remain labour-intensive. Repetitive activities, such as trimming imported flowers and packing bunches into boxes, offer promising opportunities for automation. The truth is: bouquet production remains challenging because of the variety of flowers and arrangements.
Meanwhile, robot suppliers have their own economics. They must invest in engineering, system integration, and software development and therefore need enough volume and repeatability. Dongelmans notes, “One robotic technology may not justify these costs. Greenport Aalsmeer brought relatively similar flower importing and exporting companies together. Holla Roses, Rosa Plaza, Timaflor and Flower Trade Consult will work together on a set of requirements needed to take automation and robotisation in wholesale flower processing to the next level (see box). By aggregating demand and creating sufficient scale around common applications, we hope to positively influence a supplier’s willingness to invest.”
Of course, no discussion of innovation is complete without addressing the data question. Are Dutch floral wholesalers generating too much data? Almost certainly, given the vast amounts produced by enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, warehouse management systems (WMS), order management systems, web shops and machinery.
More importantly, are they using that data effectively? Probably not always. Every new automation project must integrate seamlessly with existing technologies, and this is often where implementation projects stall.
Connecting these data sources could give businesses a more comprehensive view of their operations, improving forecasting, planning and decision-making.
For example, a better understanding of customer purchasing patterns could help a trading company provide more accurate forecasts to its flower suppliers. This would enable upstream partners in the supply chain to plan production more effectively.
AI could offer further opportunities to analyse data and support operational decisions. However, its potential depends partly on the availability, quality and accessibility of the underlying information.
Making it happen
From research to practical implementation
Dongelmans acknowledges that successful robotic implementation depends on clearly defined objectives, alignment among stakeholders and a step-by-step approach to deployment. It also requires measurable key performance indicators (KPIs), clear agreements on project management, costs, risks, and ownership of results, and a realistic 12- to 18-month timeframe. This creates a practical framework for testing solutions, evaluating results and deciding whether successful applications can be scaled up.
Ideally, wholesalers bear the costs of labour-intensive activities. Technology providers contribute engineering expertise and potential solutions, while research and educational institutions can provide specialist knowledge and experience gained in other parts of the horticultural and agri-food sectors.
Through pre-competitive cooperation, companies can work together to address shared challenges while maintaining their individual commercial positions.
However, the survey candidly acknowledges that cooperation cannot be taken for granted, particularly in the highly competitive floral wholesale sector, where profit margins are small. Transparency, trust and clear agreements are essential to ensure that all participants understand a project’s objectives and benefits.
Taking robotisation to the next level
Four Dutch flower suppliers team up on automation
An alliance of three East Africa-based growers, exporters, and importers of roses, plus one retail flower supplier, is working together on a joint set of requirements to take automation and robotisation in wholesale flower processing to the next level.
More widespread adoption of robotics technology requires a better understanding of which operational tasks are likely to remain relevant and which are suited to robotisation. Rose growers and wholesalers Holla Roses, Rosa Plaza, Timaflor and retail supplier Flower Trade Consult have bravely taken up the challenge.
Under the guidance of Greenport Aalsmeer, acting as a catalyst, the companies will jointly identify their automation needs and challenges and double-check the criteria to meet. The findings will be set out in a joint set of requirements. This will provide technology companies with a concrete basis for developing innovations that are well-suited to the day-to-day realities of the flower trade.
It is expected that collaboration between the four flower traders will also provide more insight into where value is created across the floriculture supply chain, how trade flows are changing and what concerted efforts are needed to ensure a smooth and swifter robotics rollout.
