Although there was no peak in sales of bedding plants this year, Gartneriet PKM is still satisfied with the Campanula season. “We sold the same amount of plants as we did last year and the quality was very good”, says sales manager Claes Bastrup.
No peak
“Normally the sales peak is in week 17/18, but that was not the case this year. Some countries had night frost until May, which of course was not ideal for sales in the garden centers. So the peak never came,” Gartneriet PKM exports all throughout Europe. Their main markets for Campanula are Germany, Poland, France and Scandinavia.
Price under pressure
Campanula Portenschlagiana is the most common Campanula on the market, at PKM it is called GET MEE®. “Due to the fact that there was no peak as we normally have in the spring season, there were so many plants available in the European market, the prices were under tough pressure. We do hope that the general prices for pot plants will increase, as every grower faces higher production costs. If not, I think a lot of growers will have to shut down.”
Great sales for new varieties
The new Campanula varieties such as LIKE MEE and Fancy MEE, by contrast, were sold out very soon, at very good prices. “In our R&D department we work hard on developing new, exciting varieties and try to market new varieties every year, but it takes time to build a new crop up and to be able to sell them in large quantities. This year, we saw huge sales for our special varieties, so we certainly will increase the production of these varieties. We definitely think that the consumers still wish to have beautiful flowers for their home and garden, and as for our GET MEE you can use it in your house and when it starts to wither you can plant it out in your garden bed where it will create a colorful groundcover."
For more information
Gartneriet PKM A/S
Claes Bastrup
Emaill: cb@pkm.dk
www.pkm.dk