Valentine’s Holiday and Netherlands Flower Auction

Business is blossoming at the world's biggest flower auction and distribution centre, FloraHolland based in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands, as it gears up for Valentine's Day on Saturday February 14. Workers drive through halls the size of the state of Monaco at the distribution centre to make sure that hundreds of millions of flowers are rapidly delivered to their new owners. Flowers mostly come from Kenya, Ethiopia and Israel, while Germany, UK, France, Italy and Russia are the biggest buyers. The decision by Russia to ban imports of fruit and vegetables from Europe in response to Western sanctions has not directly impacted sales, as the ban does not include flowers and plants. FloraHolland, which has an annual turnover of 4.5 billion Euros and over 3,500 employees, sells more than 12 billion flowers and plants every year.