The hunt for Tulip Gold

By Marie Louise Schipper

As published in de Volkskrant newspaper on the 27 april 2005
Deze tekst in het Nederlands

They work hard, the tulip growers from Noord-Holland. They are also level headed men. Yet, in the winter of 2003 they fell under the spell of money. We look back on a tulip mania which escaped attention. ‘It is the same as in a casino. One last bet.’

Black ring binders on the table, packets of cigarettes within reach. In an air thick with the smell of fried food and coffee, traders do good business during the Holland Flower Festival in Bovenkarspel in February 2003. In a large room, tulips in a wide variety of colours are on display. Among the milling pensioners, a young man as tall as a tree looks in full admiration at an enormous tulip. “What a beast”, he sighs. His colleagues nod. These are the tulips of the future. Only after about ten years, when it becomes clear that they are not susceptible to diseases and grow well in greenhouses, are they ready for sale in flower shops.

The Holland Flowers Festival is a highlight for the growers. It is the place where tulip grower Arie Vriend and his brother Jack present their new varieties. Jan Bakker from Wognum is promoting his White Heaven. According to him it is a ‘dream of a tulip with a whopper of a flower’. Hybridist Jan lighthart is of the opinion that his White Tibet will provide stiff competition. A couple of years ago Lighthart nearly went bankrupt. According to his colleagues he could have been a millionaire. ‘Jan is really an artist’ says Bakker. ‘He is prepared to lift a whole field on his knees even though this can be done mechanically.’

Hybridist and former mathematics student Ger Koomen is not impressed with either the White Heaven or the Tibet. He hopes to present a tulip which will soon outshine all others. Brothers Vriend have the CH58, which still has to be named. ‘A red tulip which flowers before Christmas in the greenhouse. We once bought it for twelve thousand guilders. Business is great, says Arie Vriend. ‘I have been able to sell the Lingerie for 350 euro per kilo, whilst I bought it for 175.’
The prices for other tulips are also rising sharply. If the brothers are able to make a fortune with the CH58 they will not hesitate a second. ‘what is displayed here is worth a lovely end of terrace house, laughs Vriend.

In spring when the tulips are in bloom, Sijbekarspel resembles a picture from a picture book. ‘My grandfather had tulips and cows, my father had tulips. We are totally mad about tulips, my brother and I. We cannot do anything else. I love it, it is a sport,’ says Arie Vriend. Dressed in a bright blue overall he stands proudly amidst shades of pink, purple and red.
‘What do you find so beautiful?’ He laughs apologetically. ‘It must obvious. I cannot explain it.’ He takes a tulip between finger and thumb. ‘Rock hard, beautiful.’ His definition of a good tulip is simple. ‘It has a hard bulb, a good skin, does not turn sour and, if on top of that it has an interesting flower, then it is suitable for export.

He walks from one bed to another and covers the distance between them with ease. This field, the ‘nursery’ is the pride and joy of the Vriend brothers. It is the place where every Spring they present their new varieties. For this field of tulips, which only measures four meters long, they recently received 50 thousand euro. Vriends eyes gleam. ‘Yeah well, one also buys stuff. [anne: snap ik niet: The shop goes round all the same]. In the regular market you work nearly to cost price. This is much more interesting.’

The nurseries of the tulip growers are of interest to the directors of Sierteelt Bemiddelingscentrum in Lisse (the Ornamental Plant Cultivation Agency). Mark van der Poll and Henny van der Voort van Bakel want to improve the poor image of the tulip by bringing new varieties to the market. It needs to become a trendy product. In The Netherlands, the tulip has a cheap image but abroad the consumer is prepared to pay the same amount for a single flower as the Dutch pay for a bunch of ten.

Van der Poll is no stranger to the bulb industry; Van der Voort van Bakel has a background in the construction industry. ‘Every where else you have to sign a sales contract. Here a man a man, a word a word rules (gentleman’s agreement),’ she says. ‘As agents we introduce demand and supply to each other on a commission basis. The total annual trade comes to 1.2 billion. Forty percent of the market is in our hands.’

A lot of money is needed to improve the market position of the tulip. For that reason the NovaCap Floralis Futures Funds has been created and investors such as former captain of industry of Philips Cor Boonstra and publisher Willem Sijfhof, have been attracted. Van der Poll also has a seat on the board of the fund. The minimum stake is 100 thousand euro. The projected returns are 30 percent. After only a short time the funds has 80 million euro. ‘It is the first time in history that so much money from outside is being invested in the bulb industry’, says Arie Vriend. ‘The old hands are saying that it is not possible. That there is isn’t a market for so many new varieties. There are ten thousand hectares of tulips in Holland. If you have 30 main varieties, you cover 95 percent the area. What do we want with a thousand new tulips? How many can be added? I don’t know. But we would be robbing our own purse if we do not join. We have invested a tidy sum in new varieties. The Financial Authorities Markets has given its approval to the fund. So it should be alright.’

Still at the end of November there is a sudden panic. They do not pick up the phone at the Sierteelt Bemiddelingscentrum. The lights are off in the showroom. The fishmonger, who has his business right across the road from the company, has heard that there has been a fraud. A day later the growers are being informed by their interest groups: half the money has gone missing. Letters which detail sales turn out to be “ghost letters”. They are not covered. The directors are in custody. In December it is declared bankrupt. Vriend hires a solicitor when it becomes clear that some buyers deny that there had been an agreement. Bewildered he stands in his field. ‘For years we have done business with each other. If there were any problems, we dealt with it internally. We never put everything on paper. Now my solicitor says: “Why on earth did you do that”.’ In the autumn rain Arie digs up a bulb of the CH58 and shows how hard it has grown. “isn’t it beautiful? There is nothing wrong with it,’ He laughs, shaking his head. ‘How did it come to this? Well, what do you call it? Pure greed. It is just as in a casino. You want more and more. One last bet.’

In the summer of 2004 it becomes clear that the investor which bought the CH58 is not able to honour his payment obligations. Once upon a time he was worth an end of terrace house, now his future is uncertain. When all the bulbs have been lifted, the CH58 stands in two cubic containers on his yard. What is Vriend going to do with them? ‘They are simply going back into the ground. I still believe in them.’ Things are different with “Full House”. We sold 3000 kilos at 180 euro per kilo of that one. That batch has now been valued at 9 euro per kilo. Bought by people from outside who simply deny that a transaction had taken place. Those are bad losers. My solicitor tells me that it is likely that we will win. We have the bill of sale from 2002 as evidence. We remain ready for a fight. One does not build up something to let it go down the drain a year later.’ The investigation into the background of the bankruptcy of SBC is continuing to the present day.

It is estimated that around 80 companies are involved in the schandal. At 53 companies goods, amounting to 44 million euros have been seized.
A magnolia is in full bloom in the garden of neighbours opposite of Vriend. The house carries the name: “there is nobility in labour”. Arie comments: ‘It should have said: gambling makes you poor’. The brothers estimate that their loss in turnover adds up to more than a million euro and they are involved in lawsuits. ‘In the worst case scenario we end up back where we started 10 years ago,’ says Vriend. Fifty kilometres further in Breezand Jan Lighhart unfolds his building plans for a big new greenhouse to show his wife Jose. They have had a tremendous year. Soon they are going on holiday to Tuscany with their six children.

Copyright Marie Louise Schipper

Translation by Anna Erken

Extra information:

The first tulip mania/carze happened in 1636. Investing in tulips gold was considered to be a safer investment than the usual precious stones. Thousands of Dutchmen, often people from outside the industry, put themselves into debt to buy bulbs and to sell them on. Flamed tulips were especially sought after. They did not know that those flames were the result of a virus which caused diseased tulips to grow badly.
At the high point of the tulip mania a special tulip bulb attracted a bid the value of a canal side house. The market collapsed in February 1637. At an auction in Alkmaar the tulips bulbs were unsaleable. Other auctions followed suit. Growers started lawsuits against non paying purchasers. However, there was not much to be recouped from speculators. For many it turned out to be their financial ruin. The Tulip mania was the first real crash in world history: a textbook example of speculation.
Source: Mike Dash; Tulip mania, publisher, Het Spectrum.

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A Book by
Marie Louise Schipper

With photos by
Leo Erken



A film by
Leo Erken

Research
Marie Louise Schipper
and Leo Erken

Camera
Deen van der Zaken,
Mark Bakker
and Leo Erken

Sound
Charles Kersten
and Wouter Veldhuis

Editing
Marlene van der Kooi

Music production
Frank van der Weij

Film producer
Valérie Schuit
Viewpoint Productions