Netherlands: the art of growing tulips, these typical flowers of Holland

It is a show of great beauty that takes place every spring. The Netherlands are covered with flowers in the most dazzling colors as each other. Tourists from all over the world flock to immortalize this moment. But behind the postcard, hides a very lucrative business. Joost Wesselmann is one of the largest tulip growers in the Netherlands. It sells 125 million per year, for a turnover of 55 million euros. And right now in the fields, his teams are busy chasing bad flowers. Tulips are beautiful, but none of them will end up at a florist. He would be impossible to sell the production in a few days.

3 billion tulips sold every year

What interests growers are the bulbs, which will make it possible to grow even more flowers. “After three weeks, we cut off all the heads, like that’s itenergy will go into the bulbs, and the bulbs will get big, and Yes cis just beautiful for three weeks and after we cut everything”explain Joost WesselmannCEO of Wesselmann Flowers. 90% tulips sold in stores are not produced in the fields, but indoors, in gigantic greenhouses. The bulbs are kept cool, then distributed one by one in trays. Then everything is automated. With around 3 billion tulips sold each year, the Netherlands remains by far the largest producer in the world, and around nine tulips out of ten are then shipped overseas.