Why timing is everything in international flower shipping

Timing starts before flowers arrive

Freshness management begins before flowers enter the building. Orders are planned around auction times, grower delivery windows, and fixed flight departures from Schiphol Airport. Flowers are brought in as late as responsible, not as early as possible.

This limits unnecessary waiting and reduces exposure outside controlled environments. Less idle time means less stress on the product, even before handling begins.

Smiling Tuning BV employee sitting at an office desk behind a glass service window, wearing a black jacket with the company logo.
Technician operating an industrial control panel with a digital display showing a schematic operation screen for climate or pressure control.

One continuous, controlled flow

Once flowers arrive at Tuning’s facility, they move through a single, continuous process. Handling and packing take place in a climate-controlled workspace maintained at around 61°F (16°C). Flowers are sorted, checked, and packed without interruption.

After packing, each box goes directly into vacuum cooling. Cooling happens after the shipment is complete, so the internal temperature of the entire box drops evenly to around 39°F (4°C). This step slows natural aging and helps prevent condensation during transport.

From there, shipments return to cold storage. There are no temperature gaps and no intermediate holding areas. Every handover is planned.

Cooling is not a final step

At Tuning, cooling is not something that happens once. It is maintained until the moment of departure. After vacuum cooling, shipments remain in cold storage until transport is ready. Only then are they released for air freight.

This approach minimizes temperature fluctuations, one of the most common causes of quality loss during international transport. Waiting is not avoided. It is controlled.
 

Warehouse employee pushing a metal roll container filled with Tuning BV and DV Flora boxes past a yellow Jungheinrich forklift in a spacious logistics facility with stacked wooden pallets.
Portrait of a Tuning BV office employee sitting at a desk with a computer monitor displaying data, wearing a blue zip-up hoodie in a workspace with a framed article on the wall.

Flight selection as a quality decision

Flights are selected based on freshness outcomes, not simple availability. Departure times, ground handling speed, and arrival timing all influence quality at destination.

Missing a planned departure often means a shipment waits in cold storage overnight. That decision is never taken lightly, because it directly affects shelf life. Timing, in this sense, is not a logistical detail but a quality commitment.

Monitoring beyond departure

For long-distance shipments, especially outside Europe, temperature and GPS recorders are included. Conditions are monitored throughout the journey, from warehouse to arrival.

This data confirms that the cold chain remains intact and allows adjustments where needed. Freshness is not assumed. It is verified.

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Tuning BV employee carefully packing bunches of white chrysanthemums into a cardboard shipping box at a workbench in a flower processing facility.

Timing as a working principle

At Tuning, timing is treated as a working principle, not a promise. Every step, from planning and packing to cooling and flight selection, is connected. When that sequence is respected, flowers arrive as intended. That is why timing is not just important in international flower shipping, it is decisive.