A Dutch flower bucket is the most common container employed in the European

floral industry The floral industry is focused on the production, distribution and sale of flowers for human enjoyment. The industry continues to diversify from the production of cut flowers to the production and sale of plants and flowers in many different forms ...

to transport flowers. It is also used to keep them watered in transit.

Overview

It is a patented design from Royal FloraHolland, a Dutch conglomerate of

florists Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related s ...

. The bucket is made of hard plastic, making it stackable, and comes in three main sizes. All

flowers Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

exported by truck from the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to the main continental

European countries The list below includes all entities falling even partially under any of the various common definitions of Europe, geographical or political. Fifty generally recognised sovereign states, Kosovo with limited, but substantial, international reco ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

are delivered to customers via Dutch buckets stored on trolleys. The bucket is only temporarily borrowed, and an inventory of quantities delivered to each shop is kept. The empty bucket is expected to be collected by the truck driver on the return voyage. If it is not returned, a fee is charged. Unlike other shipping devices, such as

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a Loader (equipment), front loader, a Jack (mechanical), jacking device, or an erect cra ...

s and TEU containers, the Dutch bucket is not considered a

unit of measurement A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, is a definite magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other qua ...

, and flowers are not sold or purchased based on quantities of buckets delivered. The European network of flower shops has benefited from the usage of a common container tool, and the Dutch bucket has been considered a "

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

" since the early 2000s. Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer Binnen

References

{{Reflist Containers Vessels Floral industry Floristry Modularity Freight transport

Overview

See also

References