Even though sales of pot and bedding plants have decreased, vibes are positive at Cultivate'23. The event started on Saturday and the trade show opened its doors yesterday where more than 650 exhibitors showcase their products and services.
When hearing out the exhibitors, they say that, after the crazy good covid years, sales have gone down. However, comparing the numbers to the pre-covid year 2019, they are still higher. Several exhibitors mentioned that the sales decreased by 10% but that they are still higher than in 2019. This indicates that the millions of new gardeners that the industry welcomed during Covid haven't lost their interest in gardening.
Due to inflation, it seems that consumers are looking for plants that stay longer. At the show, we hear that demand for perennials increased, for example. Other trends we already noticed on the first day is that growers seem to be interested in pre-made combinations, that the foliage market is still booming, and that increasingly more plants are being ordered online. Of course, we will bump into more trends and product introductions in the coming days, so more on that later today.
First, some pictures of the first day of the show, see below.
Stephanie Vincenti, Tanya Carvalho, and Gary Vollmer of Selecta one, with their highlight EnViva, a Petchoa, a cross between the petunia and calibrachoa. It has the rain and weather tolerance, vibrant color of the calibrachoa with the in-ground performance of the petunia. Currently four varieties in the series. It was launched at CAST in April and ready to order now.
Luit Mazereeuw and Marvin Grootendorst of Evanthia present their new series Matthiola, which is 100% selectable. Another highlight is their snapdragon series, like Costa Summer, which are also performing very well in the US.
Show floor
Sven Hoping of Pöppelmann TEKU holding a new baseline pot made from post-industrial and post-consumer materials. "Increasingly more growers are asking for circular solutions."
Vincent van Vuuren and Ellen Kraaijenbrink of VitroPlus, the fern firm.
Also, the FloralDaily and HortiDaily teams are attending the show this year to make our photo report. Anything special you want to share? Send us an email at info@floraldaily.com