One of our core values at Hoek flowers is unity, we want to unite customers, growers and industry players around the world with our shared love of flowers. It is very important to us that we connect and supply whilst thinking about the planet.
Read more about what sustainable efforts we at Hoek proudly partake in and continuously work on.
At Hoek flowers we care about creating a sustainable workplace. Therefore, the Hoek flowers building not only looks good but is also rewarded with a green certificate! It was built with the highest standards of sustainable construction in mind. The building has very high insulation values which significantly reduce the ‘waste’ of heat in our offices and the ‘waste’ of cold in our cold rooms and packing area. But our facilities are sustainable in other ways as well!
100% gas-free
The building is 100% gas-free. This means we do not need natural gas to heat our building, the water we’re using or even the stove in the company restaurant. Natural gas is a fossil fuel and its combustion leads to lots of CO₂ emission. This in turn cause temperatures to rise, warming the earth and leading to significant climate change. Since our building is 100% gas-free, our CO₂ emission is significantly reduced.
Solar panels
Let’s also talk about our roof because there is a lot happening there. Currently, our roof is covered with over 6.700 solar panels! Since not all our seasons are as sunny, we cannot cover the full 100% of our need for energy (yet). For now, we already generate 2.000.000 kWh a year, which covers 75% of the total energy we use. Our future goal is to cover a 100%... how cool (or better said - hot) would that be?
Green roof
Hoek flowers installed a 4,000 square meter sedum roof in early 2023, the largest green roof in the area. It’s being studied by Naturalis and the University of Leiden to determine which plants attract the most insects, birds, and bees, and which types of green roofs benefit the environment the most. The roof purifies the air, supports wildlife, and helps save energy due to its insulating properties—truly a win-win!
It's in the details
Coffee, one of the most important things on early mornings. Here at Hoek flowers, we drink quite a few cups. Since we find it important that suppliers worldwide – whether we talk about flowers or coffee – get fair prices, all coffee at Hoek flowers is supplied by our local coffee roastery ‘Koffie Lovers’. They only work with Fair Trade certified farms and invest a part of their turnover in local communities to give something back to the countries they get their coffee beans from.
We’re the first in the flower industry to use reusable pink flower boxes made entirely from recycled materials—up to 200 times! Previously, we used cardboard boxes, which we recycled, but these new boxes are a game-changer. No trees or bees were harmed in their creation, and after 200 uses, they’re fully recycled with 80% reused to make new boxes.
Our innovative flower boxes not only set a new environmental standard but also streamline logistics with RFID technology, cutting costs by eliminating traditional stickers. Each year, we save 300,000 cardboard boxes. Success depends on teamwork: florists, transport companies, and employees must help by picking up, cleaning, and re-stacking the boxes.
"We already saved 157.286KG on cardboard usage!"
Recycling
Though we strive for a sustainable flower journey, we occasionally use materials like plastic. The good news is they’re recyclable! We separate all waste—plastic, green waste, cardboard, and paper—for proper recycling. You can contribute too by sorting your waste and taking it to a local recycling center. Together, we make a difference!
Facility logistics
Buckets of flowers travel across hundreds of meters of conveyor belts in our facility, but first, robots pick your orders, monitoring each stem to prevent mistakes. This automation saves time and effort, ensuring a fast and excellent shopping experience. By integrating robots, we’ve made our packing process more efficient and reduced waste.
Recyclable fust collars
In addition to our amazing (pink) recyclable flower boxes, we also use recyclable fust collars. They are used to avoid damaging and breaking our precious flowers. These collars are made from the same 100% recycled materials as our re-usable boxes and help us make the packaging process more sustainable!
Blogs about sustainability
Sustainable flower delivery – The Secret Garden Flowers
SustainablityIn the middle of April, we launched our new sustainable flower box. These boxes are made of 100% recycled materials, and re-usable up to 200 times! Before, we were sending all our flowers in cardboard boxes. Although we picked up most of the boxes and recycled them, nothing beats this newly invented box. We’ve teamed up with a company called ‘Newwen’, they are focusing on sustainability by making everything recyclable, reusable and they’re moving towards zero waste and 100% sustainability.
Together with one of our florists, Jolanta from ‘The Secret Garden Flowers’, we reviewed the box and spoke about how this box changed things for her. We shared the interview with Newwen and they made an amazing article, one I’d like to share with you.
SustainablityIn the middle of April, we launched our new sustainable flower box. These boxes are made of 100% recycled materials, and re-usable up to 200 times! Before, we were sending all our flowers in cardboard boxes. Although we picked up most of the boxes and recycled them, nothing beats this newly invented box. We’ve teamed up with a company called ‘Newwen’, they are focusing on sustainability by making everything recyclable, reusable and they’re moving towards zero waste and 100% sustainability.
Together with one of our florists, Jolanta from ‘The Secret Garden Flowers’, we reviewed the box and spoke about how this box changed things for her. We shared the interview with Newwen and they made an amazing article, one I’d like to share with you.
15 November 2023
Sustainable flower wholesaler - How Hoek flowers contributes
SustainablityAs we all may know, sustainability is a huge worldwide topic within the floral industry, and at Hoek flowers we try to contribute as much as we can! We would like to tell you a bit about what Hoek flowers does for the planet, and the environment, from the smallest details to the bigger picture. From certificates to solar panels and toilet paper, curious about what we have to tell? Read along and you’ll find out!
SustainablityAs we all may know, sustainability is a huge worldwide topic within the floral industry, and at Hoek flowers we try to contribute as much as we can! We would like to tell you a bit about what Hoek flowers does for the planet, and the environment, from the smallest details to the bigger picture. From certificates to solar panels and toilet paper, curious about what we have to tell? Read along and you’ll find out!
09 October 2023
Certificates we own at Hoek flowers
WebshopAt Hoek flowers we place a high value on sustainability, this is reflected in our products and operations. We try to offer flowers and plants that are both beautiful and ecofriendly. To achieve this goal, we work together with passionate growers who are also focused on growing their flowers as sustainably as possible. We would like to show you this commitment to the planet and environment through our certificates.
WebshopAt Hoek flowers we place a high value on sustainability, this is reflected in our products and operations. We try to offer flowers and plants that are both beautiful and ecofriendly. To achieve this goal, we work together with passionate growers who are also focused on growing their flowers as sustainably as possible. We would like to show you this commitment to the planet and environment through our certificates.
03 October 2023
New organic certificate: SKAL biocontrol
SustainablityYou may have seen that we have some certificates for our flowers and now we are thrilled to announce that we’ve gained another organic certificate: SKAL biocontrol. This means that we can sell our flowers and plants under the NL-BIO-01 label. How cool!
SustainablityYou may have seen that we have some certificates for our flowers and now we are thrilled to announce that we’ve gained another organic certificate: SKAL biocontrol. This means that we can sell our flowers and plants under the NL-BIO-01 label. How cool!
06 September 2023
Green logistics, sustainable futures.
Flying Blue
Our flowers from Colombia and Kenya are flown by KLM, the world’s most sustainable airline, using fuel-efficient technology and biofuels to reduce emissions. We also work with farms to minimize emissions per stem and continuously seek ways to improve packing and logistics with local and international suppliers to cut plastic use and pollution.
What if I told you that you can now get your favorite flowers from Colombia, Kenya, and South Africa even fresher? With Origin Direct, we fly them straight from the source to your country, skipping stops in Holland. This means fewer CO₂ emissions, faster delivery, fresher flowers, and better prices—a win-win for you, the flowers, and the planet!
We actively reduce emissions by using advanced software to carefully plan and optimize our delivery routes. By streamlining logistics, we minimize unnecessary travel, which not only lowers our CO₂ emissions but also ensures that your flowers arrive faster and fresher. This efficient approach helps us contribute to a greener planet while enhancing the quality of our service for you.
Certificates
Growing and buying flowers carries great responsibility. Therefore, here at Hoek flowers, we collaborate with many growers who comply with the ‘#FSI basket of standards 2025'. FSI stands for Floriculture Sustainable Initiative and this organisation oversees certifications for social and environmentally friendly flower cultivation worldwide. We care about our planet and the people on it and we want to play our part in making sustainable flowers the global standard. That is why we are proud to work together with many great and certified farms where we know the growers personally.
Remembering all the certificates is difficult, so to make your life a little bit easier, we made an overview of the environmental labels you can find on our website.
