2019 Show Your Colours Awards celebrate excellence in plant marketing

ESSEN, Germany: The Show Your Colours awards are one of the most coveted annual awards that are presented at the IPM ESSEN. Winning the highest accolade this year was Corokia virgata ‘Maori Green & Maori Silver’, submitted by grower’s group Addenda from Honselersdijk, Netherlands.

Created in 2015 to foster and advance the importance of emotional branding in the marketing plans of perennial and nursery stock producers, the Show Your Colour Awards have helped participating growers from Europe in finding inspiration and new ideas for branding their plants and are now acknowledged as one of the most challenging industry competitions. As in previous years, shortlisted nurseries contesting for the renowned awards were given the opportunity to display their novelty plants at the IPM ESSEN.

The products which received the most votes leaned heavily towards new plant varieties and novelties, suggesting the market continues to hunger for innovative new plant products as growers and retailers look to be one step ahead of the trend.

Here are this year’s winning varieties voted for a panel of specialist judges and IPM ESSEN visitors.

Chairman of the jury, Olivier Mathys presented Addenda’s Corina van der Heiden the coveted Show Your Colour Award in the BIZZ Holland stand at the IPM show on Thursday January 24. Mathys said that Addenda’s Corokia virgata is a prime example of a marketing approach where packaging, labels, visual attractiveness and marketing message blend perfectly together.

Van der Heiden was visibly delighted to receive the award. She said, “Winning the Show Your Colours Award IPM 2019 will greatly help us to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace.  The jury was unanimous in its verdict on Addenda’s entry which was found to be perfect in every way.

Wonder Tree fruit trees, submitted by Fruithof from Kapelle, Netherlands took second place while Hydrangea macrophylla x H. scandens ‘French Bolero’, submitted by innovation cluster Vegepolys from Angers, France finished third.

Other nominees included Camellia japonica Winter Perfume Pink & Pearl from Van Son & Koot (NL), Cordyline-Mix from About Plants Zundert (NL), Cyclamen persicum Indiaka (various colours) from Morel Diffusion SAS (F), Dianthus Pink Kisses from Selecta One (D), Laurus nobilis Feel Green Kitchen Bay tree from GOVA Decorum (NL), Lavandula intermedia Phenomenal from Joh. Stolwijk & Söhne (NL), Lucky Berry 4-month strawberry from Diederk Heinje and BCM Baumschule Christoph Marke (D) and Rubus-Mix from Jungheim Boomkwekerijen (NL).

A token system allowed visitors to vote at the fair. Voting closed around noon on Thursday 24^th January. The same afternoon, the plants and their stories were judged by an expert jury consisting of Linda Hoogendoorn-Veelenturf, director of Stichting Beurshal, Sytse Berends Blunt Communicatieadvies, Oliver Mathys ‘I green you’, Andreas Henk trade journalist Gabot – Das Gartenbau Portal and Oliver P. Kuhrt Messe Essen.

The jury’s verdict, together with visitors’ votes produced Corokia as the overall winner. The Show Your Colours Award IPM 2019 is a joint initiative of Messe Essen and BIZZ Communications.