Hort Trends: Data & Discussion

This episode is a solocast – meaning it’ll be me the entire time with no guest. I decided to talk about this episode’s topic because I’ve gotten a lot of questions and requests to share trends lately but not just trends – data driven trends. So I reached out to my friend and industry guru Dr. Marvin Miller for some current data and added some trends gleaned from industry reports from the past one to two years – state of the industry articles, year-in-reviews, research summaries and more.

We talk about a lot this episode but I want you to remember a few key things. First, we are currently seeing some of the highest lawn & garden participation numbers that we’ve seen in more than a decade, which means there’s a ton of opportunity out there. Next, Millennials make up a gigantic percentage of this growth and the population at large and they are into categories like fruit trees, vegetables, houseplants and decorative foliage. Also, customers desire experiences, not just a store and some products. You MUST stand out from the crowd as a wholesaler delivering the absolute best product or a retailer with a fantastic consumer environment. Finally, the more well-rounded you are in terms of product mix, events and workshops, activities for families and maybe even store locations or formats – the more exciting you will be and the more likely to attract a new, enormous customer base. So that’s the challenge – easy, right? I know it’s not but I have full confidence in our industry to figure this all out and remain relevant in the lives of a whole new group of end customers!

If you have any questions or comments, you know where to find me – bcalkins@ballhort.com or on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdcalkins/.

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