Popularity of plant care products

The sales potential in the amateur gardening market in Europe is great: in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria alone there are 47.2 mio gardens altogether, as well as 86.1 mio households with indoor and/or balcony plants. And the trend towards cultivating plants is on the increase. Contrary to the slowdown in other economic sectors, the year 2002 saw consumers in these seven markets spend € 1.668 mio on potting composts, fertilisers and pesticides (up 14 per cent since 1999). This information comes from the market researchers employed by Compo, a plant protection specialist. The main marketing channels for these products are DIY superstores (26 per cent), specialist agricultural outlets (24 per cent) and garden centres (23 per cent). The DIY stores have improved their share from 21 to 26 per cent since 1999, whereas the garden centres have dropped one percentage point over the same period.
In 2002 consumers in these seven countries spent most on potting compost at € 538.8 mio, followed by pesticides at € 500.4 mio, fertilisers and care products (at € 200.16 mio each) and lawn fertiliser at € 116.76 mio.
Households with a garden plus indoor and/or balcony plants
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The German fertiliser market in 2003 is notching up growth of five per cent over the previous year in the DIY and garden centre channels, according to the Compo figures, for an overall figure of € 68.63 mio. Ever-increasing numbers of garden owners are using special fertilisers for their gardens, e.g. for roses, box trees or lawns.
The lawn fertiliser market has grown by yet one more percentage point in 2003, following on from the enormous increase recorded last year. At present it seems that 28 per cent of German consumers already apply a special fertiliser to their lawns.