October 2007

I met Elmar Fischer-Weiberger of Adamah on the Czech Organic Workshop. Adamah are global innovators when it comes to box schemes. Ten years ago, the farm, located near Vienna, was transformed into an organic farm with the aim of supplying produce in a box scheme to the residents within a 20km radius. The result, is […]

September 2007 saw the last H.T.A. national conference. From now on it will be a regional event rather than a national event, a sign of changing times. The UK industry in 2006/07 has had its ups and downs with the sector seeing a £230 million increase in sales, even though core products were down 3%.

By John Stanley The great pricing debate was started in a workshop in the U.K in August 2007. The debate took place in the U.K, but I’m sure the message applies to other countries. It’s not just a British phenomena. In the room were some of the leading growers and retailers from the UK, Ireland

By John Stanley The 2007 CANGC Garden Expo from my point of view was one of the best ever. Research in the UK indicates that visitors are attending trade shows to look for new ways of merchandising and new products. Gone are the days when they go with an order book and socialize. This year

By John Stanley Independent retailers have often found it difficult over the last decade . Global retailer have gained market share and as a result many small business have gone by the wayside. But, we need only to look at the retail mix more closely to see that the small business is still thriving. If

25% of Americans do not read any books ….. this must be an opportunity. Research reported on CNN August 21st, 2007

By John Stanley The Velvet Revolution of 1989 in the Czech Republic changed the dynamics of the market completely in this country. Prior to 1989 the country was governed by Communist Russia and gardening was not a priority for the 20million inhabitants. Today Czech is a thriving democracy as the growing wealth is resulting in