When studying in the netherlands, friends in the country often ask a question: what are dutch people like? At that time, a picture emerges in my mind of men and women who drink coffee and tan the sun at the dawn of the rain, or elderly people or young people who go into canoes on canals. If the dutch are to be labeled, then in my initial impression they are the best and most comfortable group of people to enjoy life。
So the dutch people who used to laugh at themselves, and think about why they created a good, good-looking football team in the netherlands, always seemed to be out of touch with the world cup champions, who, in their words, lacked “first for all” in dutch blood。
It doesn't mean you can't. More recently, press reports indicate that tomato production is much lower than that of other european countries, the netherlands, which now has the largest export of tomatoes in europe. For example, according to 2011 statistics, the netherlands produced only 815,000 metric tons of tomatoes annually, down from 6 million metric tons in italy, 3. 8 million metric tons in spain and 1. 2 million metric tons in greece, but exported 7. 3, 1. 3 and 134 times more than italy, spain and greece, respectively。
What is even more surprising is that the netherlands is not a suitable country for tomatoes and has no tradition. In europe, such honour belongs to the countries of southern europe, which are rich in sunlight and fertile soil. Italy has thousands of varieties of ketchup, and the annual tomato festival is known to the world in the spanish town of buenos aires。
The netherlands is a country of tulips, where they planted tomatoes in the 1990s and were referred to by the germans as “water bombs” because of their rigidity. But the dutch are the most “one against three” people. In the bright southern european countries, tomatoes have only two growing seasons: winter spring and autumn, because summer weather is too hot and the temperature and humidity are not suitable for tomato growth. And in the netherlands, which has more rain than clear, tomatoes grow four seasons. There is only one reason for this: the dutch have moved the techniques of planting flowers and green plants to tomatoes. They set up the sunlight room, which was luminous, not only because of the glass room, but also because of the high halogen lamps in the room. They use computer programs to control indoor temperature and humidity, allowing tomatoes to grow in hot beds rather than soils, where the amount of water and nutrients can be controlled separately。
In dutch sunlight houses, the production of tomatoes per square metre is reported to be as high as 70 kg, while in greek greenhouses, the maximum yield per square metre is 7 kg。
Dutch innovation is more visible in the area of distribution. They have established a unified distribution channel and established direct distribution relationships with supermarkets and distributors throughout europe. In order to ensure the maturity, freshness and best taste of tomatoes, tomatoes will not be picked in the sunlight room until after the supermarket has been ordered. The tomatoes taken would be placed directly in boxes with supermarket trademarks and, upon arrival in the supermarket, only bar codes and price tags would be required to save unnecessary links and time。
Dutch people also become distributors because of mature channels. For example, spanish farmers sell tomatoes to dutch, resold by dutch to supermarkets throughout europe. That is why there is a strange phenomenon in which dutch people export tomatoes more each year than they produce。
In the 1960’s alone, the dutch made the impression that it was linked to dutch disease, when the sudden discovery of large quantities of natural gas and rising incomes had an extremely negative impact on national creativity and productivity. After more than 50 years, dutch people still enjoy their lives and enjoy their leisure, but in the light of the wind, they create another miracle. In my view, this stems from the fact that dutch people are good at learning and braver than their own personalities. On the european continent, the dutch speak the best english, because they understand that english is an international language and a way to communicate with the outside world. This is the basis for a national breakthrough。
