Great Week In Essen During the Annual IPM
Denise van Kampen former EU marketing associate
Beautiful new flowers, revolutionary technologies and the latest trends, all under one roof. In January the IPM Essen took place – one of the world's biggest trade fairs for horticulture. Hundreds of companies welcomed over 50,000 visitors to talk about their latest developments. Although the majority of the four-day trade fair is focused on flowers, many different aspects of horticulture were represented. Some of the halls within the exhibition building were all about technology, garden equipment and furniture, or tree breeding.
PanAmerican Seed welcomed visitors at our booth filled with new products: Pansy Cool Wave, Viola Quicktime and French Marigold Flamenco. Many familiar and new faces stopped by at the booth for information, conversations and to admire the beautiful flowers. The big eye-catcher was the huge hanging basket filled with the wonderful new Cool Wave colours Strawberry Swirl and Raspberry Swirl. This was probably one of the most photographed items at IPM!
Among Cool Wave, some of PanAmerican Seed’s new varieties were shown. One of the walls was decorated with the newest and fastest-growing Viola of the assortment: Viola Quicktime. Visitors could also take a close look at the beautiful French Marigold Flamenco, a new standalone variety with a unique pattern like Fireball and Strawberry Blonde.
This year, two PanAmerican Seed varieties were accepted in the Novelty area in Hall 1A. The new Viola Frizzle Sizzle Mini Mix and Pansy Cool Wave Strawberry Swirl were on display in this area. The varieties gathered a lot of interest from visitors all over the world.
Here’s some of the comments from visitors and colleagues about this year’s IPM Essen:
Jeroen Star, PanAmerican Seed in The Netherlands
“It has been a very good week for us. The IPM is the perfect occasion to catch up with many people within the industry and to get inspired by everything that is shown. We can show the visitors our fantastic products, and we have the opportunity to inform them about our genetics. Because our whole team is involved in the event, it is also great for teamwork.”
Kathy Varney, Ball Straathof in South Africa
“IPM is such an important show for us to attend. Not only do we get to discuss matters of importance and conduct new business, but it is always important to nurture relationships. In that respect, we just love visiting the PanAmerican Seed booth, we are always welcomed with a smile and given assistance in all that we ask – including tasty coffee. The stand this year was different and eye catching. It had a modern twist that really appealed to me. And I really need to get hold of a basket that size; it looked phenomenal! As always, it was, and is, a pleasure doing business with PanAmerican Seed.”
Christian Huseby, LOG in Norway
“I have visited the IPM almost every year since I was a student in 1997 – more than 20 years already! My impression is that IPM is more and more “meet and greet” and less new product introductions. However, no other exhibition fills the need of the flower grower like this one. It is also the place to meet suppliers, customers and colleagues! The PanAmerican Seed booth was welcoming and colourful. Always nice to have some plants to see, but more important to catch up with PanAmerican Seed account manager Ron Zandstra!”
Dhruva Parekh, Dhandeep in India
“I had a nice time at the IPM 2019 and especially meeting the PanAmerican Seed Sales Team at their booth, which was colourful and had a lovely display of Pansy Cool Wave.”
Robert Hary, grower in East of France
“It was clear that PanAmerican Seed wanted to emphasize the Pansy Cool Wave. The huge basket was really nice and attractive. The booth was different compared to previous years and very nice and open. You can see the stand and the huge Cool Wave hanging basket from far away.”
