Holex: Pioneer in the Land of Degree Hours

How a controlled cold chain will set the new product quality standard in the floral industry

Who doesn’t love the crispy sound of fresh tulips when you put them in a vase? The look of a perfect bridal bouquet, and knowing for sure that this will be the bride’s best day ever? The smell of lilac in the enormous centerpiece that you see when you enter your hotel lobby? Flowers nourish our senses, but only when they are in impeccable condition when we encounter them.

Getting flowers in perfect condition from nursery to consumer is a great challenge. During all stages, the people involved do their utmost to maintain good product quality. But doing your best isn’t always enough, as we at Holex have seen. Why is it that some flowers are of poor quality, while others shine in the vase for two weeks? Thanks to FlowerWatch, we have the answer: it all depends on the degree hours.

Degree Hours: What They Are and What They Bring You

Through their work with scientists and floriculture businesses, FlowerWatch has developed unique insights into the industry’s success factors. They have developed the ‘500 Degree Hour Norm’ quality assurance method, which is central to their standards. In this method, FlowerWatch uses the Celsius temperature scale. How does it work? It describes the time-temperature exposure, which is expressed in degree hours. This is the average temperature of a given shipment of fresh flowers throughout transport, multiplied by the number of hours (1 degree hour = 1 hour x 1°C). Every 500 degree hours, from grower to consignee, reduces vase life by 1 day. The key to successful cold chain performance is to minimize the number of degree hours that a flower is exposed to, from the moment of cutting until it reaches the florist.

Vacuum Cooling, Box Design, and Internal Procedures

Holex customers, wholesale florists, are located all around the world: New York, Dubai, Seoul, Shanghai... Just a few places where Holex flower shipments arrive by plane every week. They travel thousands of kilometers to shine at the moment of need. Whether that is in a simple vase at a kitchen table, a stunning bride’s bouquet, or as sympathy flowers, it is very important that they perform at their best. To be able to keep the Holex quality promise, which so many wholesale florists count on, Holex has undertaken many actions to get more control over the degree hours, according to the FlowerWatch Quality Standard.

In addition to the existing extensive precooling facilities, Holex has also recently installed a vacuum cooler at their shipping department. This makes them the first flower exporting company in the Netherlands to work in-house with vacuum cooling techniques for flowers.

In cooperation with FlowerWatch, practical procedures have been developed to ensure that all FlowerWatch Quality Standard steps are followed internally, from the arrival of flowers from the auctions or directly from growers, to storage, picking, and packing.

In addition, Holex has also redesigned their complete range of flower shipping boxes. Sizes that match airplane skids perfectly ensure that air circulation around the boxes is guaranteed so that the flowers’ respiration cannot cause the flowers to heat up.

With these developments, Holex is able to reduce the degree hours to such a level that they are appropriate when the consignments leave the premises. In the following example, you can see how degree hours matter during the transport of your shipment.

Example: Shipment from Greenhouse, NL to Miami, USA

It’s Wednesday morning. The Holex buyers have received your order for Saturday arrival, and they are arranging the needed products at the Dutch growers. The products are transported to Holex, where they are stored in the cold room for 24 hours. On Thursday, the products are picked and packed. After this, the boxes are brought to the Expedition cold room, where—for 24 hours—they are cooled down (in the vacuum cooler or the pre-cooling units) even more and will be put on airplane skids.

On Friday afternoon, the shipment leaves the Holex facility and is transported to London Heathrow by truck, where it arrives Saturday morning. The airplane skids are loaded on the plane, and in a few hours, it will take off for a 9-hour flight to Miami Airport, USA.

Due to time differences, the plane arrives at Miami Airport, USA on Saturday evening. The shipment goes through customs clearance, and after this, the shipment is brought to the freight agent. In Miami, we work with K&M Handling. In their warehouse, the shipment is cooled back to 2°C. On Sunday morning, the cooled shipment is ready for pick up by the wholesale florist or their trucker for the trip to its destination, the cash & carry.

That’s quite a trip, don’t you think? This is the moment where we should look at the degree hours built up during this transport. You will see that, because of the cooling process during the stay at the Holex facility, the complete journey will have very little effect on the vase life of the products!

Holex Flower Accredited for the FlowerWatch Distributor Standard

Did you know that Holex Flower was the first Dutch flower export company that is accredited for the FlowerWatch Distributor Standard, as a part of the FlowerWatch Quality Standard for Global Flower Supply Chains? This standard ensures that Holex uses a set of critical control points to prevent unwanted “temperature exposure” and organizes a fast and efficient supply chain. This results in minimal loss of vase and shelf life, as well as loss of quality and value.

This is How You Can Keep the Degree Hours Low Yourself

But how can you keep the degree hours low yourself? First of all, it is important to understand that the earlier you place your order on our webshop, the more time we have to cool your shipment for transport. It may seem like you will get “fresher flowers” when you order later in the week, but when the degree hour rule is kept in mind, your flowers will arrive fresher at their destination because they have been better cooled.

When your shipment arrives, make sure it gets to a cold room with a setpoint temperature between 1-2°C (33.8-35.6°F). Avoid peaks higher than 4°C (39.2°F)! Take care of continuous monitoring and meticulous registration of the temperature to make sure that you are aware of temperature changes in your cold room. It is also very important that all flowers in the cold room are cooled evenly. Position them properly and make sure that there is even air circulation throughout the cold room.

Furthermore, all areas where flowers are stored or processed must be kept free of any external ethylene sources, and free of flowers older than 7 days to prevent the development of sources of botrytis.