Here it is, the photo report of the Cultivate'19 This four-day event concluded last Tuesday and brought together a nicely balanced mix of greenhouse technology, supplies, seeds, ornamental starting material and finished plants.
Although some exhibitors had the feeling the 2019 Cultivate show was slightly slower than it was last year, the event remains one of the best to meet up with suppliers active in the North American market. Celebrating its 90th edition this year.
Click here for the FloralDaily Photo Report of Cultivate '19
Clockwise: Part of the team of Ball Horticultural, the team of Gediflora, Robert Gump (left) and John Colling (right) with Wouter Zieck of Desch Plantpak, and part of the team of Griffin Greenhouses.
After educational courses, workshops and tours on Saturday, the Cultivate'19 exhibition took off on Sunday. Attendees, which were expected to be 10,000 from over 40 countries had access to 650+ exhibitors and 150 tours, workshops, and professional development opportunities during the 4-day experience.
Click here for the FloralDaily Photo Report of Cultivate '19
Clockwise: Eyal Inbar of Hishtil, team of OHP, team of East Jordan Plastics, team of Koen Pack USA.
What caught the attention?
Regarding indoor, outdoor, packaging and automation, we have seen several trends at the Cultivate. In this article, we've described them, but here a small recap: In indoor plants we still see the trend of green plants and succulents continue to increase, in outdoor we also see a high demand for green plants like grasses and variegated leaves, but the plants with flowers all over, and particularly the hydrangea seems to be a hit. And as labor is becoming scarce and particularly skilled labor, more and more is being automated.
Most of the new plant varieties were already launched during the California Spring Trials earlier this year as most of the exhibitors were also presenting their products during CAST (click here for the photo report of the CAST). However, for the greenhouse suppliers, the Cultivate was a good opportunity to launch their novelties, Click here to read more on the novelties launched at Cultivate.
And when talking about CAST, at Cultivate, the rumor went around that Proven Winners won't be participating in the 2020 edition of the CAST. When asked for comment, they informed us that it is true - they decided to start organizing their own events to show the industry their new (and existing) varieties.
Click here for the FloralDaily Photo Report of Cultivate '19
Good vibes
In general the vibe in the North American market is a very good one and therefore so was the vibe at the Cultivate. The potted plant growers had a good year, the greenhouse vegetable growers are making money and the emerging cannabis industry is giving an extra push to the market - making it an interesting market for suppliers. On top of many of them having a presence at the show, also lots of them pay the event a visit. Since many growers are exhibiting themselves, it can be worth to make a short tour around the show - although with over 650 exhibitors this might take a while!
Many trade shows
So how come suppliers had the feeling the amount of visitors was lower? One of them noticed it was mainly the amount of vegetable and cannabis growers that seemed to be lower - something that can be explained by the GreenTech show in Amsterdam being visited very well by many US and Canadian growers. On top of that, a ton of cannabis related events are currently being organized everywhere in the US and Canada. With Cultivate not focusing officially on these markets, it can be that these groups decide to skip the show for a year.
So Cultivate '19 is a wrap. But not for long; after our vacation, we will be back with full reports and articles about projects, innovations and other news that we scooped up at the trade show floor.
Next year, in 2020, Cultivate’20 will be held from July 11-14.