In brief

Final result positive, despite slight decrease The feedback from the Spoga +Gafa fair, which was held from 5 to 7 September, was generally good, though visitor numbers were slightly down. A total of 40 800 trade visitors were recorded over the three days of the fair, amounting to 1.7 per cent fewer than two years previously. The number of exhibitors was also down, by 4.6 per cent to 2 155 companies altogether. However, there was increased internationality on both sides, with 56 per cent of visitors coming from abroad and 79 per cent of exhibitors as well. Both the specialized traders and the big mass-marketers were well represented at the event by their buyers and management. The trade and industrial associations are giving positive assessments of the fair and its outcome. Around 80 high-powered representatives alone from the membership of Edra (the international DIY Retail Association) attended the event. Offshoot in Moscow Around 26 000 trade visitors arrived in Moscow for the Flowers fair from 2 to 5 September, where 680 companies from 29 countries displayed their solutions for everything concerning plants, horticultural technology and floristry. For the second time the IPM Tech Moscow was integrated into Flowers. Here 24 companies from five countries showed their products on an exhibition space that was double the size of last year’s event. UK: Good progress for the garden The product group of decorative garden finishes experienced growth of 7.7 per cent in the United Kingdom from January to July 2010 on the same period last year. The majority of other product groups also made good progress, according to information from the GfK. For example, volume sales of grow bags increased by 19 per cent, and of tomato fertilizers by 13.5 per cent. Moreover, the market researchers point to the fact that 14 per cent of the sales attributable to the core product groups of growing media, fertilizers, garden chemicals, lawn seed and soil conditioners, valued at £ 48 mio, are made during the period from September to December. Moving to Peking The next IPM China will be held in Peking. The event is moving by request of exhibitors and visitors from the current location Foshan to the capital city, Messe Essen reports. “Not an easy year” Last year the European market for electric garden tools declined by nine per cent, with unit sales seven per cent down on the previous year’s total according to figures published by Bosch. As Stefan Hartung (pictured), president of the…