HHTR first appeared in 2011. The Horti Fair wants the magazine to inform horticultural companies worldwide about technique in horticulture, and about technical innovations in particular. After all, it’s Technology, Innovation and Inspiration in Horticulture that is the essence of the Horti Fair.

You can read the Holland Horticulture Technology Review online.

The Pop Up Lab is filled with a group of consumers during the Horti Fair. They will be testing products from exhibitors participating in the Pop Up Lab. But they will do even more, because the consumers can also become involved in contributing ideas for the further development of a product or concept. That’s co-creation in practice.

All exhibitors can rent space in the Pop Up Lab. This means, among other things, that consumers from the Pop Up Lab visit your stand for a presentation and then test your product or concept in the laboratory. The discussions are recorded and analysed and every participant receives a report of the results.

By taking part in the Pop Up Lab, therefore, you receive input for the further improvement or development of your product or concept. What is more, you get worthwhile information about its positioning. This makes the Pop Up Lab a unique opportunity for plant breeders for example, or growers’ associations, packaging companies and trading companies.

Green Inspiration organized a Pop Up Lab in a shop in Rotterdam last year and you can see pictures of the happening on the Green Inspiration website. Like to know more? Get in touch via info@greeninspiration.com

The first seminars for visitors took place during the Horti Fair 2011. It is the Horti Fair’s ambition to stimulate the exchange of knowledge between exhibitors and visitors with these seminars and to help exhibitors to raise their profiles as knowledge partners. The HortiSeminars have undergone a few changes this year. Visitors will pay a small knowledge fee, for example, for attending the seminars.

Exhibitors can also suggest topical issues in horticulture for seminars this year. The Horti Fair will then decide whether the subject is suitable for a seminar. If it is, the Horti Fair will join you in looking for the best possible programme. This involves no costs for the exhibitor.

So would you like to raise your company’s profile even more during the Horti Fair and do you have a good subject for a HortiSeminar? Then Agnes van den Berg is the person to contact.

How important are trade shows for Plantaflor?
“We have customers almost everywhere across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Our office in Vechta is the main basis for the service we provide to these customers, the Middle East being the only region where we have an agent. That’s why we exhibit at so many trade fairs. So we can maintain contacts with existing customers and make the acquaintance of prospective new ones at the same time. It also means we take part in regional trade shows in countries like China and India.”

What role does the Horti Fair play for Plantaflor?
“The Horti Fair is the primary trade show for international contacts where we are concerned. It attracts more international visitors than any other exhibition anywhere. That’s due to the fair itself, but also to Amsterdam. It’s very easy for foreign visitors just to get on a flight to Amsterdam, and to add a few days’ holiday to their trip as well. That’s not an option you have with many other trade fairs.”

Will Plantaflor be present at the Horti Fair 2012?
“Absolutely. We’ve registered and we know the location of our stand. And this year we’re definitely going to put time and energy into the events that the Horti Fair organizes to bring exhibitors and visitors into contact with each other.”

The Horti Fair is delighted that Schreurs will be present. Not only because of the company’s prominent position and excellent reputation, but also because Schreurs’ participation shows that floriculture and the Horti Fair are a powerful combination.

The Netherlands is still leading in the field of floriculture. This is why the Horti Fair attaches so much importance to the presence of many good floricultural enterprises and hall 10 plays a principal role in this respect. The Horti Fair works closely with companies in this hall, in initiatives including the daily Flower Catwalk. The models in this fashion show can be sponsored by Horti Fair exhibitors.

Both Van der Arend and Nic.Sosef had been exhibitors during the Horti Fair in previous years. In January, they merged to become Arend-Sosef. The new company will also have a stand at Horti Fair according to export sales manager Xander van der Zande.

Why did Van der Arend and Nic.Sosef merge?
‘Horticulture is becoming increasingly more professional and larger in scale, both nationally and internationally. Customers benefit from a strong professional partner that can offer continuity and innovative solutions. The merger came in response to this development.’

How important is export for Arend-Sosef?
‘Export was already a strong point for both Van der Arend and Nic.Sosef. Tebarint, a subsidiary of Van der Arend, started operating in international horticulture as far back as thirty years ago. We want to strengthen this international position.  Because together, we’re the largest supplier for the international horticulture sector.’

What role does Horti Fair play in reaching that objective?
‘We will be at a number of international trade fairs this year, including Horti Fair. Why Horti Fair? First of all, because of Horti Fair’s international character. Secondly, it was evident from last year’s Horti Fair that it’s setting out on a new course. When I was in Nic.Sosef’s stand last year, I had a lot of good talks with international visitors. What you notice about the visitors coming to Horti Fair is that they aren’t just going to this trade fair – they’re really looking for something.’

What will Arend-Sosef be doing during Horti Fair 2012?
‘Our stand will have the same number of square metres as Nic.Sosef had last year. At that time, Van der Arend was being represented as part of the AVAG Market’s collective pavilion for suppliers to greenhouse horticulture. Obviously, Arend-Sosef’s stand will have to be redesigned and made to correspond perfectly with our international activities.’

Any correspondence you receive from Horti Fair will have our logo on it. If in doubt about a letter or an invoice, please do not hesitate to call our office.

The Horti Fair is the biggest international trade fair for technology, innovation and inspiration in horticulture and will be taking place this year from 30 October to 2 November inclusive in the Amsterdam RAI.  These seminars have been held at the Horti Fair since 2011. During these HortiSeminars, visitors are informed about current horticultural subjects within a short period of time. Addressed last year, for example, were the supply chain, doing business in China and LED lighting.

‘In 2011, the Horti Fair decided on set out on a new course: from m2 to m3,’ says Horti Fair director Frans-Peter Dechering. ‘We launched the International HortiCongress and the HortiSeminars because the exchange of knowledge is one of our most important focal points. These events will also be on the programme for Horti Fair 2012.’

The Horti Fair and Wageningen UR decided to consolidate the knowledge provided during the seminars given at Horti Fair 2011 in the form of a special publication: ‘Knowledge Review: Towards Sustainable Horticulture’. ‘One of our reasons for issuing this publication was to record the knowledge provided during those seminars – knowledge that could then be utilized by such people as horticulture professionals who had not attended them,’ says Dechering.  ‘On the other hand, the ‘Knowledge Review’ provides a nice snapshot in time: which questions are relevant right now in the field of horticulture, and which answers are still being sought?’

The first edition of ‘Knowledge Review: Towards Sustainable Horticulture’ was presented 21 March to Jan Willem Breukink and Loek Hermans, members of the Topteam Horticulture.

(picture: Fotostudio GJ Vlekke)

Why does Dalsem Horticultural Projects have a stand at the Horti Fair?

“Most of our company’s business involves export. Around 95% of our customers come from outside the Netherlands and we have been active in between 25 and 30 countries over the years. This is why we are present at a large number of international trade fairs every year and the Horti Fair is one of the most important of these. It’s an ideal platform for making contact with those international growers. Because growers from scores of countries come to the Horti Fair.”

Have you noticed any effects of the new course at the Horti Fair?

“We certainly have. In the first place, exhibitors are much more involved with the fair. And it was also clearly noticeable that there was more content.  Which meant that the ‘from square metres to cubic metres’ message was working. The great thing about it was that 2011 was actually not a positive year for horticulture. But the atmosphere at the Horti Fair was really positive and that says a lot. And I am also very happy that floriculture is back at the Horti Fair.”

What are your plans for the Horti Fair 2012?

“We will certainly be present again. The stand will be the same as last year’s. We don’t build a new one every year, because that costs too much. I don’t know yet what countries we will be focusing on during the Horti Fair. It varies from year to year.”