spoga+gafa 2017 proves successful for UK retailers and suppliers

Last weekend the GTN Team joined UK garden centre buyers and suppliers at poga+gafa, the world's largest garden fair in the world where there were a record number of exhibitors as well as around 39,000 trade visitors from 113 countries.

Boyd Douglas-Davies told GTN Xtra that he had walked 26 miles in three days at the Cologne show; "we found a number of unique and relevant products from suppliers at spoga+gafa. We are now negotiating with them to bring in for next season."

See our spoga+gafa picture gallery below that includes; Crest, Cadix, Kadai, Veg Trug and the Efsa Trend display.

"Thanks to new, sustainable impulses we were able to offer an even more in-depth approach to themes and significantly more added value on 226,000 square metres of space at spoga+gafa 2017. As such, spoga+gafa did more than justice to its position as the leading global trade fair of the green industry," said Katharina C. Hamma, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH, underlining the result.

"In addition to formats such as the Outdoor Kitchen World and due to the new concept of the Smart Gardening World and the IVG Power Place Battery, we have offered the industry important trend platforms that met with a very positive response."

At 60 percent, the constantly high share of foreign visitors shows that spoga+gafa is a fixed date on the international calendar. 2,131 exhibitors from 59 countries (foreign share: 84 percent) presented their new products and innovations from the green world in the sections garden living, garden creation & care, garden bbq and garden unique.

spoga+gafa was staged in Halls 1 to 10. In addition to an even wider spectrum of offers, the trade fair provided an even more in-depth approach to themes and more added value for the trade visitors in the scope of the Outdoor Kitchen World in the garden bbq section and the Smart Gardening World together with the IVG Power Place Battery in the garden creation & care section. The Outdoor Kitchen World in Hall 8 celebrated an excellent premiere at spoga+gafa and presented a current trend within the industry in the form of luxurious and superbly designed outdoor kitchens. The new concept of the Smart Gardening World together with the IVG Power Place Battery was fully booked and thus already in the run-up to the trade fair a total success.

Top quality visitors too

In addition to the quantity, the exhibitors particularly praised the quality of the trade visitors. John W. Herbert, European DIY-Retail Association (EDRA) / General Secretary, was also able to confirm this: "We have drawn a very positive balance: This year's spoga+gafa was the best ever. We were able to welcome over 200 buyers from all over the world here at the Cologne fair grounds. That was more than ever before! Both numerous first-time visitors, including a delegation from Japan as well as one from the most important DIY store groups worldwide including no less than 27 buyers were among the top buyers, to mention just two examples. The great response and the positive feedback of the buyers from all over the globe is a clear sign for us that spoga+gafa is gaining further significance and is accepted as the leading international garden trade fair and platform for new products. This year spoga+gafa convinced once again with numerous new products and fantastic product presentations in the halls, but on the additional areas too. It was an impressive show!"

Satisfaction across the board

The top level of the quality of the trade visitors was also noticeable from the outcome of the independent visitor survey. Around 74 percent of the visitors interviewed are involved in procurement decisions, 39 percent are even decisive in the decision-making process. And the trade visitors themselves were very satisfied with spoga+gafa too: 79 percent of the people interviewed were satisfied or even very satisfied as far as achieving the goals of their visit were concerned. As such, the recommendation rate was correspondingly high: Around 90 percent would recommend a good business acquaintance to visit spoga+gafa.

New impulses through the supporting programme

Besides top business contacts, spoga+gafa once again offered a diversified supporting programme. The already established formats were enhanced by the five POS Green Solution Islands this year. Here, the organisers presented ideas for the concrete design of retail space for garden centres and DIY stores. The focus here lay on cross-selling and curated shopping in order to create whole worlds for the end user.

With 81 entries, the unique youngstar contest enjoyed a record participation in 2017. Jessica Bruni was able to convince the jury with 'Plants Talje' and claimed first place in the contest. Roee Magdassim showed how important the competition is to gain a foothold on the international circuit. In 2016, his table 'Edge' was nominated in the contest - now it was presented as one of the new products of Houe.

spoga+gafa 2017 in figures:

2,131 exhibitors from 59 countries participated at spoga+gafa in 2017, 84 percent of them came from abroad. These included 342 exhibitors from Germany and 1,789 exhibitors from abroad. Including estimates for the last day of the fair, around 39,000 visitors from 113 countries attended spoga+gafa 2017. The share of foreign trade visitors was 60 percent.*

spoga+gafa 2018 will be staged from 2 to 4 September. For further information visit www.spogagafa.com.

* All figures are calculated in accordance with the guidelines of the Association for the Voluntary Control of Trade Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM). (www.fkm.de).

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