Easter falls late this year (April 22), and this does not leave any time for Danish supplier of plants in ceramics, Euro Trend, to catch their breath. "The last Easter orders and the first Mother's Day orders are sent out today", says Sales Manger Christian Jacobsen. Fortunately, this year's Easter sales seem to be better compared to last year.
Stefan Schyt and Christian Jacobsen at the IPM Essen
Early Easter vs late Easter
Last year, Easter was celebrated early in the year (April 1), so what is preferred? An Early or late Easter? Jacobsen actually prefers a date in the middle. "When Easter falls early, the demand for indoor plants is usually higher. However, it is very close to Valentine's Day then - which is an important day to us - there are therefore just a few weeks in between these two holidays. When Easter is late, it means that we have a longer period to sell our products, but we are competing more with the outdoor plants and there is not much time to catch our breath before the Mother's Day orders come in. When it falls more in the middle, we have the best of both worlds."
Higher sales
Even though early and late sales both have their advantages and disadvantages, this year's sales seem to be higher compared to last year. "I think the reason for the higher sales is mainly because we had more weeks to sell the products, but it may also be related to the bad weather Europe experienced last year. Due to the bad weather at the end of March 2018, the demand for plants was lower."
Different countries, different tastes
After Valentine's Day, Christmas and Mother's Day, Easter is an important celebration for Euro Trend. The company created a catalog containing 130 Easter articles. And different countries mean different demands, also for Easter. “In some countries, Easter decorations are mainly yellow, in other countries they are very colorful and here in Scandinavia, for example, we see a lot of wood and concrete." However, the Easter trends are subject to change. "We see that Scandinavian trends often move southwards. When something is trendy in Scandinavia, it will often become trendy in about two years in the south of Europe."
Kalanchoe
Also in the choice of plants, one can notice differences. Compared to several years ago, now more green plants are incorporated in the designs. "In general, greens are very trendy and we therefore also use them in the Easter decorations", says Jacobsen. However, the best seller remains the kalanchoe. "In many of the different decoration trends, we use the kalanchoe. It is a very good supermarket plant, as it looks well on the shelf due to its long shelf life." Out of the 20 plants they use for Easter decorations, around 30 percent are kalanchoes.
Euro Trend
Euro Trend is specialized in designing and combining ceramics with mini indoor plants. The ceramics are imported and the mini plants are bought at growers all over Denmark. They send them to exporters in Denmark and the Netherlands, who are selling them to retailers all over Europe. "We try to stay on top of trends. And in order to do so, we offer an innovative and distinctive assortment. We keep a close and ongoing cooperation with our customers, good designers, and our pot plant suppliers."
For more informatio
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Euro Trend
Christian Jacobsen
Email: christian@eurotrend.dk
www.eurotrend.dk