The International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) members consist of thousands of growers of flowers and ornamental plants around the world who are together united by one essential goal – promoting the place of plants in people’s lives.
AIPH hosts several conferences, webinars and events such as the International Grower of the Year award throughout the year. Read about these along with the latest news about the association’s activities.
AIPH’s key aim is to stimulate demand for ornamental trees, plants and flowers worldwide. We are committed to supporting growers in achieving this by protecting and promoting the interests of the industry.
Sustainability is fundamental to the mission of AIPH: to build a balanced and prosperous future for all, sustaining the planet for this generation and the next.
We are passionate about ensuring that the AIPH International Grower of the Year (IGOTY) Awards are robust and fair to entrants whilst remaining straightforward to enter. Enter the competition by submitting your application by Monday 31st July 2023 and gain international recognition and free media coverage.
Each finalist will receive:
✓ One free entrance ticket to the horticultural trade show that hosts the event*.
✓ One free ticket to attend the awards ceremony and reception*.
✓ Be featured in a free promotion in FloraCulture International Magazine
*Subject to COVID restrictions at time of event.
Rules that apply to all entrants are as follows:
The company entering must be primarily operating as a wholesale grower of plants.
The submission must be completed by a person working for the business. You may have help from people outside the business (for example your accountant might provide your financial information), but the form should be compiled and checked by a member of staff.
You are permitted to enter more than one category. You will be required to fill in a separate submission for each entry.
All materials submitted must be in ENGLISH*. If you submit any documents in another language (e.g. press cuttings) then the judges may not be able to read this. AIPH offer a translation service if English is not your native language and would advise the use of this to ensure the sentiment of what is written will come across clearly to the judges.
All materials and information submitted (with the exception of client names and locations and budgets) must be free of restrictions of reproduction, so it can be used in the promotion of your work and of the Awards, should you win.
*If English is not your native language and you are not fluent, we would advise completing your entry in your native language and paying a fee for a professional translation service. This will ensure your entry remains accurate and that the information provided comes across clearly to the judges. If you have any questions please contact events@aiph.org.
Key Dates
31st July 2023: DEADLINE EXTENDED to submit entry – Permission for late submissions require special permission
September 2023: Additional information may be requested by the jury
End of September 2023: Final judging takes place
October 2023: Announcement of finalists
November 2023: Announcement of the date and venue for Reception and Awards ceremony
12th January 2024: Ticket bookings close
Summary of Procedure
The procedure is designed to be simple and not time-consuming. All you need to do is fill in the online submission form at the following link:
This is your application form. Submissions must be completed in ENGLISH* (Although arrangements can be made to allow you to fill in the form in your native language, the application will then need to be translated into English by a professional translation company. The applicant will carry this cost.)
AIPH is offering to IGOTY 2024 entrants assistance to help in completing the entry form. AIPH will introduce you to an interviewer who will conduct an interview with you and prepare a draft entry. The draft entry will be sent to you for you to check and amend as you prefer. It is your responsibility to submit the application online. If you prefer you can complete the application by yourself.
Please restrict your answer to each question to a maximum of 300 words.
You may provide supporting documentation with your submission; these are not compulsory for submission however they can strengthen your application. For example: photographs, videos, press cuttings, promotional materials, procedural documents, certificates for environmental or working standards etc., in ENGLISH*
A high resolution copy of the company logo in PDF and JPG formats.
Photographs: a maximum of 10 high resolution photographs may be submitted.
We encourage you to submit photographs of:
The company workforce and any key personnel
The headquarters of the company and the working environment
Photos that demonstrate your high standards
Any other photos you feel would strengthen your entry
Videos: a maximum of five high quality videos may be submitted. We recommend sending one video which is no longer than 1 minute long, if you have this available. If not, feel free to send your existing company video.
Once you have completed the compulsory questions, you will be asked if you have been nominated, or if you are applying directly.
*If English is not your native language and you are not fluent, we would advise completing your entry in your native language and paying a fee for a professional translation service. This will ensure your entry remains accurate and that the information provided comes across clearly to the judges. If you have any questions, please contact events@aiph.org.
Guidelines on how to complete the submission
A copy of the questions for the submission is available to download from the submission site. Throughout the process you can save your submission and return to continue or update it later.
All sections of the submission must be completed; any submissions which have not been completed will not be considered for shortlisting. Once you have completed the submission and it has been submitted you will not be able to amend or change the information.
Step 1:
Select “New User” on the home page of the IGOTY 2024 Awards site.
Complete your company details and create a password for your submission. Please note that you will need to use this to sign back into your entry to update or modify it before final submission.
If you are returning to complete an entry, please log in using your email address and password.
Once this is completed, select the Award Submissions tab on the top bar.
If you have already entered any categories, these will be listed here for you to review and modify.
If you have not entered any categories please select “add new” under “Your Submissions” to begin the process.
Step 2: Choose which category you wish to enter
The categories are as follows:
Finished Plants & Trees Growers of plants and trees that are ready for final sale.
Young Plants Growers of cuttings, plugs, liners, seedlings etc., which are sold for growing on.
Cut Flowers & Bulbs Growers of flowers and foliage which are cut for indoor decorative use and bulbs.
Inspiring Business Award Growing businesses with less than ten employees (fulltime equivalent) can apply for this award, which is looking for small businesses that demonstrate unique qualities and innovation.
Sustainability AwardAll award entrants will be invited to put their business forward for the AIPH Sustainability Award. The award will recognise best practice and innovation in improving sustainability in areas including water use, chemical use, climate change, energy use, transportation, labour management and social standards.
Each company may enter more than one category. You will be required to complete a separate submission for each entry. For the Sustainability Award you will need to have completed a submission in another category; you are not able to only enter this category.
Step 3: Providing Financial Information
The financial information you provide must be approved by either your financial auditor or your management accountant.
The budget for the current year must be approved by the Company Board.
The judges must respect the confidentiality of all information submitted by the entrant, whether oral or in writing. A judge will not enter into discussion, comment or correspondence, should the judges’ decision be challenged by a nominee. This must be sought directly from the AIPH secretariat. To protect and respect the confidential nature of the applications, each judge is expected to sign a legal ‘Confidentiality Agreement’.
Step 4:
Please complete sections on:
Level of Innovation
Market Orientation
Environmental Standards
Human Resource Policy
Guidelines on how to complete reference for nomination
Obtaining your Nomination/Reference
There are three routes for entering the AIPH International Grower of the Year Awards.
1. Nomination by an AIPH member
AIPH members are organizations that represent the interests of ornamentals growers in their countries and regions. AIPH members are entitled to nominate entrants; visit www.aiph.org to view the current AIPH member list. Each AIPH member can nominate a maximum of three entrants per category, either from the results of a national competition or by acting as a trade reference where there is no national competition.
2. National Trade Organisations
Where there is no AIPH member in their home country, entrants should be nominated by a national trade organisation based in their home country. National trade organisations can nominate a maximum of three entrants per category either through a national competition or by acting as a trade reference.
Conditions for Nominations by National Trade Organisations:
Where an entrant is nominated through the results of a national competition, a copy of the original report, or comments from the national competition’s judging panel or jury, must be provided in ENGLISH, giving the reasons for selecting the candidate (max two pages).Where an entrant is nominated by a national trade organisation, but there is no national competition, a trade reference must be provided within the supporting documents.
3. Direct Application
Where there is no national trade organisation, or if a grower has no links to a national trade organisation in their home country, they can nominate themselves, but will be expected to provide a minimum of two trade references.
Conditions for Trade References:
Companies acting as a trade reference must comply with the following rules:
The reference must be active in and with a focus on the horticulture industry.
The company must have been in business for a minimum of two years prior to 1 January 2024.
The reference must not be related or affiliated with your business in any way.
The reference must give a reference for your business of their own free will and must not accept anything in return for acting as a reference.
For each trade reference the entrant must complete the required information and provide a copy of the reference. The company providing the reference will be asked to answer the following questions:
How long have you known the business applying for AIPH International Grower of the Year?
What is the nature of your business with them?
Please explain why this business should be considered as International Grower of the Year?
AIPH may contact the organisation(s) that have nominated or acted as trade references for each entrant to verify the information given.
Additional Information
Judging
The judging panel comprises seven people (one chairman, three category chairmen, three judges) who are selected and approved by the AIPH Executive Committee for a period of three years. The AIPH Executive Committee select specialists to chair each category to ensure a robust and fair process, and an overall chairman to ensure the category chairmen are following the guidance, and to ensure the overall winner is selected in a fair manner.
All judges must meet the following criteria:
Their day-to-day role must be active in and with a focus on the horticulture industry.
They must be knowledgeable on the ornamental horticulture production sector and will not have any conflict of interest in relation to entrants.
They must commit to reading and understanding the regulations of the International Grower of the Year Awards and to following them closely.
They must personally read and scrutinise the information sent to them about each entrant and give a reasoned review of each entrant through the Judging Form, giving a mark for each of the criteria.
They must take part in judging discussions (if needed these will be done by phone or video call).
They must respect the confidentiality of all information submitted by the entrant, whether oral or in writing.
A judge will not enter into discussion, comment or correspondence should the jury decision be challenged by a nominee. This must be sought directly from the AIPH secretariat.
To protect and respect the confidential nature of the applications, each judge is expected to sign a legal ‘Confidentiality Agreement’.
General comment from the judges on the standard of individual entrants can be requested after the awards are revealed in January 2024 and is intended as direction to entrants for future years.
Awards
Of the three finalists chosen for each category, one will be selected as a winner.
The three winners of the Young Plants, Cut Flowers & Bulbs, Finished Plants & Trees categories will then automatically be entered as a candidate for the prestigious overall IGOTY Award.
Free marketing and PR *: Awards logos will be issued to all winning and shortlisted companies within two weeks of the Awards for use on their websites, press releases, headed paper etc. Mention on Twitter and Facebook. Inclusion in all promotional material including email, website and event PR. Your company name and logo on AIPH website and event page. Free promotion of your company in the ‘Finalist Brochure’ which is a gift to all guests (300 – 500) attending the Awards Ceremony.
