From 1 January 2026, the majority of members and suppliers who offer, trade and settle flowers and plants at the Royal FloraHolland platform will be certified according to the requirements of the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI basket of standards). With a step-by-step approach, for all members and suppliers, will be phased towards being fully FSI compliant by 2027. With this decision of Royal FloraHolland, growers are taking their responsibility on sustainability, in line with the future-proofing of the sector, the increasing demand from society and the requirements of legislation. It also matches the needs of the Floriculture Accelerators, a group of forward-thinking growers, and of the FSI Accelerator Group, a group of large buyers, which has committed to buy 100 per cent certified in 2027. Sector organisation VGB is calling on its members to do the same. This decision was also discussed in the VBN board. These regulations become applicable on behalf of the VBN and therefore also apply to members and non-member suppliers who deliver to Plantion. is a collective move by the floriculture sector on sustainability; growers and buyers join hands on the road to full transparency. With this, the sector is moving forward and taking responsibility. Details of the roadmaps can be found at the bottom of this message.
By 2040, the floriculture sector wants to be climate neutral, as laid down in the Covenant Energy Transition Glasshouse Horticulture with the central government. There are already many good examples of concrete energy transitions, such as LED lighting, geothermal energy and solar energy. Further sustainability of floriculture is necessary to keep the world livable for future generations, with growers making huge strides on energy, labour, use of crop protection, packaging and water. CEO Steven van Schilfgaarde: “I am proud of where our sector is today. Thanks to the power of innovation and entrepreneurship, immense strides have been made. Many members have taken the lead and made substantial investments in sustainable solutions, the same can be seen on the buyers’ side which has allowed beautiful initiatives arise. Now we need to take the next step: certification is important for transparency and objectification. With our decision, buyers on our platform will soon only buy flowers and plants from certified growers. This fits the social role of our internationally leading floriculture platform, giving customers more transparency. It also fits with Royal FloraHolland’s role as a leading cooperative and floriculture hub in the Netherlands, Europe and beyond.” This decision supports also the commitment of the Floriculture Accelerators: Unicum, Zentoo, Tulips.nl, Air So Pure, Colours of Nature, Decorum, product group Kalanchoe and Orchid Netherlands.
Certified purchasing
The decision is also being embraced by buyers. Matthijs Mesken, director VGB: “We see an increasing demand from society for transparency, for example in the areas of cultivation and labour, themes that are very important for us as trade. Certification of growers is going to contribute to the reputation of floriculture, in the Netherlands and abroad.” The FSI Accelerator Group (Dutch Flower Group (DFG), FM Group, Floral Trade Group and Royal Lemkes) supports the Royal FloraHolland decision which is in line with the commitment of these buyers: all companies within this group commit that from 2027 their entire own purchasing is 100% FSI-compliant. Marcel Zandvliet, DFG board member: “This decision is crucial for our companies and sector. This is why we have been working on this issue from the FSI Accelerator Group since 2017. We are therefore pleased with the step RFH is now taking, which also fits seamlessly into the commitment and timelines of the FSI Accelerator Group. Large international retail companies, our customers, are setting increasingly strict sustainability requirements. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) legislation also requires us to demonstrably report on the sustainability of the products we trade”.
Of Royal FloraHolland’s total product revenues, 83% are already currently environmentally certified and 71% are FSI-compliant. With the chosen approach, Royal FloraHolland aims to enable all growers to make their supply 100% FSI-compliant by 2027 and thus enable all buyers to buy 100% certified through the Royal FloraHolland platform. Royal FloraHolland will enforce this decision.
In this link the roadmap is visualised.
