Massive ‘thumbs-up’ for spoga+gafa from British garden and leisure product exhibitors
A survey carried out by the Gardenex export federation following the spoga+gafa fair in Cologne in September has revealed that over 1,000 positive enquiries were received from 64 countries by the UK exhibitors participating in the Gardenex-organised group.
The garden and leisure suppliers that responded to the survey also confirmed that significant orders were taken at the show. ?Among the most notable early successes were Smart Solar who secured export orders worth ?750,000 for its solar powered garden lighting and water features, and VegTrug who estimated that the company could get orders worth up to ?500,000 for its vegetable growing systems from positive enquiries received at the show.
The biggest aggregate number of contacts seen at the show was from the main European markets including Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, followed closely by Australia, Japan and the US. ?Some of the more unexpected markets included Tahiti, Costa Rica, Montenegro, Colombia, Tunisia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Taiwan and Singapore.
A mix of the latest product innovations and traditional British-made items were shown on 37 stands in the British group. ?One recurring comment from exhibitors referred to the high profile of the buying companies that visited the UK stands at the show. ?Overseas buyers were seen from OBI, Bauhaus, Dehner, Pflanzen K?lle in Germany, Lee Valley Tools and Vesey?s Seeds, Canada, Gardener?s Supply and Plow & Hearth Germany, Viva Home Japan, Jardiland, France, Aveve Belgium, Co-op Swiss, Switzerland and Granngarden, Sweden. ?There were also leading distributors and mail order companies, many of whom have attended Gardenex ?meet the buyer? events in recent years.
Commenting after the show, Amanda Sizer Barrett, the director general of Gardenex said: ?The federation now has over 40 years’ experience of taking British groups to spoga+gafa and this has resulted in positive export business year after year for the UK. ?However, this year?s excellent results underline the importance of taking product to the marketplace at this time, and of the value of the export potential for British supplied goods. ?From comments received it would appear that many companies benefited from the pre-show publicity provided as part of the Federation?s exhibition package, and from meeting some of the overseas buyers previously at the popular ?meet the buyer? events staged by Gardenex. ?Spoga+gafa will be on our calendar of events again in 2014, together with other key international garden and pet trade exhibitions.?
For further information on future events planned by Gardenex, the trade association that works on behalf of British companies to help them increase sales worldwide,
telephone: ?+44 (0) 44 1959 565995 ? or ? fax: ?+44 (0) 1959 565885
Email: ?info@gardenex.com ?or visit the Gardenex website on ?www.gardenex.com
