14
THECOMMERCIAL GREENHOUSEGROWER • MARCH 2018
• TRA$E SHOW RE6IEW
Yet again IPM at Essen in late 1anuary brought the crowds
in. And for an international horticultural trade fair, exactly
the right sort of crowds. 40,000 registered trade visitors
attended, over seventy per cent of themwithpurchasing
andprocurement powers in their companies. A thirdof
the total number of visitors orderedgoods directlywhile
visiting the fair, writes 1ohnSutton.
Theproportionof foreign visitorswas 38per cent, up
by twopercentagepoints from 2017. Of the exhibitors,
63% came fromoutsideGermany, fromno fewer than 44
nations. These two figures are an exactmatch for those of
theprevious year. The total number of exhibitors, at 1,564,
was likewise almost the same as in 2017.
So successful has IPM inGermany been – thiswas the
36th consecutive year – that the expertise that created
it has been exported.We have IPMDubai, launched20
years ago, and IPM know-how alsonow entrenched in
China. So confident are the organiaers of the original
event inEssen that they have announced a renewal of
their contract with the company running the exhibition
halls. That covers theperiod until 2030
British visitors to IPMhave never been numerous, but
Syngenta’sAlexRhodes said that in recent years the
number of hisUK customersmaking the trip toEssenhas
been increasing. Colin andGraemeEdwards ofWoodlark
Nurseries inSurreywere among them this year,making
their third IPM visit. One of the reasons that they value the
show is the opportunity to look at current developments in
machinery and equipment. On thebasis of what they see
anddiscuss, they feel that they establish the groundwork
for the right investment decisions in the future.
GraemeEdwards toldme that theymake themost
of what is aquiet time on the nursery to come to the
Continent by road, visiting youngplant andbulb suppliers
in theNetherlands on their way toGermany. On the return
run they take in theRudyRaes primrose trials inBelgium.
Paul Robinson, frombeddingplant specialists
BromsgroveHorticultural Ltd., was visiting IPM for the
second time. He spent twodays at the show and said
that he couldhaveput a third togooduse. Onedecision
hemadewas tobeginusing recyclablepots from
Poppelmann for part of his production.
Other Britishbusinesseswith key personnel visiting
the event includedNeame Lea, 1ohnson’s ofWhixley,
BarnsfoldNursery andBryant’sNurseries.
The largest number of exhibitors quite naturallywas from
Germany, withover five hundred. Among themweremany
nameswell known toUKgrowers. Volmary, for example, is
now a real force in youngplant supply in theBritish Isles,
with their acquisitionof Delamore in2015.
Brandkamp is known as a youngplant supplier to an
increasingnumber of UKgrowers, particularly for fuchsias
and for natural seasonpot chrysanthemums. Inboth these
plantsBrandkamp is a leadingbreeder. Its 1ollies fuchsias
series is proving very successful in the hands of British
producers.
D
mmenOrange is amajor contributor to the
I0M RE6IEW2018
New for its series, this is dahliaDalayaAmba.
TheGarden-Mumsfortheperfectproduct
Brandkamp
GmbH
GERMANY
smallsizepots
earlyor lateflowering
bigsizepots
mixpots
