Bord na Móna has announced the launch of its ‘Growing Media Academy’, a brand new, educational initiative designed to strengthen retailers’ understanding of the Bord na Móna Growise range of products. This comprehensive training platform aims to create more informed, knowledgeable and confident sales champions for Bord na Móna Growise within retailers across the UK and Ireland, with multi-channel content and in-centre training to be rolled out in 2018/19.

The upcoming Glee event, taking place from 10-12 September at the NEC Birmingham, will provide a valuable launch pad for the Growing Media Academy to garden industry experts, buyers, retailers and media. Visitors to Glee will be taken on a journey of discovery with Bord na Móna [Stand 20U30-V31] to uncover the key ingredients that make up its award-winning products, along with their technical significance.

The Growing Media Academy will spotlight five core ingredients that go into the Bord na Móna Growise growing media range: coir, green compost, peat, composted bark and wood fibre. As part of the sensory experience at Glee, visitors will be invited to handle the organic materials to better understand their natural properties and growing benefits.  

To further cement their understanding, retailers will be introduced to the Little Book of Ingredients: the ultimate handbook and training tool for understanding Bord na Móna’s approach to high-quality, responsibly-sourced products. Copies of the handbook will be available on the stand, providing a valuable asset for retail staff and consumers alike once the initiative is rolled out in centres. 

Steve Harper, Head of Commercial for Bord na Móna, says: “The Growing Media Academy is an exciting venture for us and we’re delighted to be launching it at Glee, along with our Little Book of Ingredients. Our brand is trusted for producing high quality growing media products, and we want to ensure that all our customers, their staff and those that buy our products are fully understanding of what goes into them, as well as our environmental responsibilities and brand heritage.”

The Bord na Móna Growise range will be brought to life in a creative, trend-led showcase of sculptural and living plants, with a focus on specialist growing media products including those for orchids, cactus and bonsai, and houseplants.

Bord na Móna trades peat–reduced and peat-free growing media, soil improvers, bark and fertilisers mainly through garden centres nationally, and is the largest own-brand supplier of compost and bark in the UK and Ireland. With a focus on quality and responsible-sourcing, the Bord na Móna Growise range, which launched in 2010, includes multipurpose composts, specialist composts and grow-your-own planters, in addition to a range of barks, soil improvers and fertilisers.

To find out more about Bord na Móna and the Bord na Móna Growise range, visit: www.thegreenergardener.com and Stand 20U30-V31 at Glee.