The cooperation between the four sales fairs in the southern part of the Netherlands has resulted in continued financial support from Stichting European Plant Support (EPS).
The sales fairs Groenbeurs Haaren, Groenbeurs Brabant (Best), TreeVention Venlo, and the trade fair GrootGroenPlus (Zundert) have been working together on PR for the last two years. Since 2018, these sales fairs offer (inter)national purchasers the opportunity to buy their complete assortment strategically, in just a few days in January. By focusing their attention on joint PR, the budget could be increased and used effectively, to generate as much publicity as possible.
Visitors often visit more than one spring fair, and international attention for the spring fairs has increased. The focus of the trade fairs is mostly on purchasing and selling, low-threshold, and the promotion of the different regions. In 2020, the trade fairs will be held on 22 and 23 January in Best (14th edition), Haaren (15th edition), and Zundert (3rd edition), and on 26 and 27 January in Venlo (6th edition).
Task for the Zundert region
In January 2020, the third edition of the GrootGroenPlus will be held; this will be the final edition of the three-year pilot that was created due to popular demand. This new edition could use some additional participants from Zundert, in order to represent the region in an attractive way and to keep the spring fair more interesting for the purchasers.
The effect of more businesses from Zundert participating is two-fold: on the one hand, purchasers will find out more about the possibilities that Zundert has to offer when it comes to quality, quantity, and assortment. On the other hand, everything Zundert has to offer will get more attention through the other spring fairs. It would be a shame to miss out on this opportunity; the world needs more green, and growers can offer this. If producers really wake up to this fact, it will help them to communicate this message more strongly. And that is very important, especially since the industry has so much potential. During the 29th fall edition of GrootGroenPlus, which is a relationship fair and will be held from 2 - 4 October, there will certainly be a lot of attention for the spring fairs.
Opportunities to strengthen the collective
The cooperation between the four spring fairs is going very well, but still has some opportunities for improvement. Recently, representatives of the different spring fairs met, to discuss the effectiveness and improvement areas. These types of meetings are essential in bringing the cooperation to a next level. The financial support that Stichting EPS offers for the third year in a row really is a strong encouragement to further develop this joint venture.