IFTF 2019 Holland and Trade Fair Aalsmeer

Wow!. These were fabulous shows and both just keep getting better. Amsterdam was a pleasant respite from the constant heat of Miami, where summer never ends.

There was so much going on at these two shows over 3 days, it is hard to describe, but I will do my best.

To begin the weeks events, I attended the Floriflorum presented by Unionfleurs. This is the second edition of this brainstorming event where company executives get a chance to share ideas. There was a lot of information presented and way too much for me to review here. The highlight to me was a presentation by Martin de Munnik COO of Neurensics. They performed brain scans on a test group of people to learn how the brain makes buying decisions.

Allow me to over simplify the complex results with this statement. Our buying habits are driven by two factors, “gain” vs “pain”, so when marketing your brand, acknowledge the pain but promote the gain. eg, “Flower bulbs planted in the fall (pain since you have to wait for the results) yield beautiful flowers in the spring”,(thus, Gain).

IFTF and Trade Fair Aalsmeer are the most international floral events in the world. Exhibitors come from all over the world to be part of this floral extravaganza. Netherlands, Colombia, Ecuador, Africa, Iran, Turkey, Israel, Japan, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, Thailand, USA, Poland, China, France, Taiwan, South Korea, Ireland, Myanmar.

And there were buyers from many of these countries and more.
The IFTF trade fair brings the world together for this event, which is a breeders and growers showcase. All of the top breeders have come here to show off there new varieties and hope to wow the audience.

Pleased I am not the one that has to decide what new yellow rose is going to be better than the 30+ yellow varieties that already exists. We see lots of signs that proclaim “NEW” but the differences are so subtle that only a trained eye can discern the difference.

What you do not see are the hundreds of test varieties that never make it out of the test greenhouses. Too short, not straight enough, low petal count, disease prone, low production, ugly etc.

What you do see at these shows are the fabulous results of many failures and what a show it was. Happily there was more to see than just roses, Tinted, gyp, sparkled carnations, huge hydrangeas in many colors, exotic blooms from Japan and much much more.

When your feet get tired you can take a short trip over to the Trade Fair Aalsmeer at Royal Floraholland where the members of this organization put on an even larger event. You can find many of the same companies with displays in both fairs, since they are both important events.

The Aalsmeer fair is larger as it contains potted plants, bedding plants, cut flowers, and many other floral relayed items. It is certainly worth your time to visit both but the IFTF fair is the better one, with more cut flowers, logistics, and software which, I believe, better suits the interest of (you) my audience.

The most interesting new product I observed was a software program from a new company called BloomyPro. This is a virtual 3D bouquet maker that allows users (customers) to create their own bouquet design. Check out their free test version at bloomypro.com.

Random notes:

Calflowers did not renew its’ contract with Michael T Lobue.

The Scoops from Danziger are still a favorite and now come in even more colors.

Always a highlight at these shows are the latest new, super fragrant Garden rose varieties from Alexandra Farms. Worth a whiff.

Finally, the video I have created is below. There was so much to show I did not want to leave anything out so please sit back and walk a few flower shows with me.

Thank you for reading and following flowersandcents.com

Williee Armellini
Editor: Flowersandcents.com
williee@flowersandcents.com

https://youtu.be/Jawg3_vqYrk
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