At the end of August the third autumn edition of PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt will be offering visitors an overview and insight into the market for garden plants. On 21 and 22 Augustus they will find a range of outdoor plants, novelties, and innovations from the Netherlands and other countries.
"Besides the beautiful products of our exhibitors and the range of directly available plants of Groen-Direkt's sample fair, the fair has a lot more to offer to its visitors. There will of course be an attractive presentation of the plants submitted for the Green Retail Awards, and also the Wall of Fame featuring award-winning novelties, the Green Future Hub with the latest information on certification, a Bricks example presentation, and on the second day Hortibizz Newsradio will be broadcasting live from the fair," says fair manager Marjolein Wieckardt. "So all in all plenty to see and experience."
International
According to Groen-Direkt, xhibitors from outside the Netherlands now also flock to the fair. So far, around 20% of the registered exhibitors come from abroad, one of their main reasons for participating being the professional visitors.
Baumschule Wil Swinkels from Geldern (D), for example, hopes to generate more attention for their relatively new product Euonymus japonicus Green Wonder as an alternative for boxwood. "Sales are supported with an attractively illustrated label, posters, and container banners. The fair offers us a good opportunity to show visitors this," says Danny Swinkels.
Many people won't have heard the name of the new exhibitor 'Bruno Nebelung GmbH' before, but one of their brands – Kiepenkerl – probably will ring a bell. Although the names sound German, the company has an international reputation. It supplies seeds, bulbs, and plants to retailers, growers, and landscape gardeners all over Europe. Many of their products are language-independent or available in many languages. Eike Jöddicke, product manager at Bruno Nebelung: "At the fair, we present seeds and bulbs, but also what we have to offer in the field of themed benches of vegetable plants. We opt for Plantarium|Groen-Direkt because we hope to meet buyers of garden centers and retail chains here. The fair's focus on garden plants and retailers appeals very much to us".
Biological Youngplants will be presenting their organically certified stock of native perennials. "We expect a lot of interest from landscape gardeners, garden centers, and growers because our products offer an answer to the shortage of certified perennials observable in the context of biodiversity," says Wim van Marrewijk.
Green Retail Awards
With the Green Retail Awards, the fair organizers aim to boost developments in the field of innovation in the range. They delighted to see international retailers and retail experts being more than willing to form part of the jury selecting the Best Market Innovation, one of the categories of the Green Retail Awards. The jury members will evaluate the plants submitted in this category under their chairman Luc de Bruyne of Astima B.V. The Best Market Innovation jury members are:
- Martin Brijs, Bell Brothers Nurseries Ltd, United Kingdom
- Johanna Nordenskiöld, Plantagen/Plantasjen, Scandinavia
- Manuel Rucar, Chlorosphère, France
- Helmut Follrich, Bellaflora, Austria
- Harald Van Meurs, All-Green, the Netherlands
- Niels Feller, Intratuin, the Netherlands
- Brenda Horstra, Tuinbranche NL, the Netherlands
- Luc de Bruyne, Astima B.V., Belgium
The other categories are the Best Novelty (inspected by the KVBC (Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society) jury) and the Visitors' Favourite (chosen by the visitors). The products submitted for the inspections are presented at the website. The closing date for registering plants for the Green Retail Awards via the website is 11 August.
Groups of visitors
Plantarium|Groen-Direkt states that their visitors are always treated to a very warm welcome, with free parking, coffee, tea, soft drinks, and sandwiches. Every year the fair is attended by a range of international visitors, from individual persons to groups representing garden-center organizations and purchasing combinations such as the Dutch Intratuin chain of garden centers. They organize their meetings, presentations, and team assemblies at Plantarium|Groen-Direkt and enjoy making the most of the possibility of guided tours of the fair, to turn their visit into a valuable, inspiring experience.
For more information:
PLANTARIUM|GROEN-Direkt
www.plantariumgroendirekt.nl