The International Horti Fair is strengthening its position as an innovation platform and its focus on internationally-oriented horticultural businesses. With this in mind, the International HortiWeek was announced during the Horti Fair, which was held this year in the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre from 12 to 15 October. Horti Fair 2010 was a successful, high calibre trade exhibition which put great emphasis on innovation, knowledge exchange and actually doing business.

Satisfied participants
Although the 2010 fair was compacter than previous editions as it had 530 exhibitors from 36 countries, it was just as complete as in other years. For four whole days the Horti Fair House of Technology & Innovation was the centre of debates and interviews with key players in the horticultural industry. According to the jury members, the quality of the products on display in the House of Quality ranged from good to very good. A Horti Fair pavilion such as Career Plaza clearly meets a need as it brought more than 1,200 students and school pupils into contact with the horticultural industry. The exhibitors were very satisfied with the quality of the visitors. Patrick Lek of Lek/Habo Groep BV commented, 'We're certainly not dissatisfied: the mood has been positive and we have been visited by many people with investment plans, which is,after all, where it all starts. As a business, you have to be here. And despite all the focus on abroad, we are certainly not forgetting our Dutch visitors.' Roy O'Mahony of CleanGrow, which was shortlisted for the Horti Fair Innovation Award and ended in fourth place, said, 'We have achieved maximum exposure here and met very interested and well-informed visitors from all over the world and many key players. An amazing week!'

International Horti Week 2011
Next year, the Horti Fair will be held from Tuesday 1 to Friday 4 November 2011. This will be during the first edition of the International HortiWeek, the week during which both the Horti Fair and the FloraHolland Trade Fair are held in association with one another. Joint promotion, carefully coordinated exhibition concepts and shuttle services will be elements of the cooperation between them. Other hot items will be the linking of the home market and internationalisation.

New director of the Horti Fair
There are other changes as well, because Frans-Peter Dechering will be the new director of the Horti Fair from 1 January. He will succeed Wim van der Loo, who is retiring. Dechering has long international experience of horticulture. He has built up a large network of contacts in both the vegetable and floriculture sectors and among suppliers to Dutch and foreign horticulture firms. 'The horticultural industry is changing and the Horti Fair is changing with it,' comments Dechering. 'Cooperating with the participants to ensure that the Horti Fair fulfils a proper commercial function and at the same time strengthening horticulture nationally and internationally will be a real challenge and involve a lot of hard work.' Besides the fresh blood for the executive board and this summer's appointment of the new chairman, Ewald van Vliet, the establishment of the exhibition committee and the introduction of the International HortiWeek, the Horti Fair has taken major steps towards strengthening its position as a leading national and international horticultural showcase for the coming years.

Visitors from over 70 countries
The daily Breakfast Briefings held before the fair opened pulled in more visitors and participants than last year. The Horti Fair itself attracted 23,256 trade visitors from over 70 countries. Almost 80% of the visitors to the Horti Fair 2010 took or were involved in decisions on the purchase of products and services exhibited at the fair. 35% of the visitors actually made a purchase or requested a quotation during the fair. The prospects for next year are good: no fewer than three quarters of the visitors stated that they planned to return in 2011.

Horti Fair Innovation Award
The Horti Fair Innovation Award 2010 was won by Berg Product BV for its Berg- Band conveyor belt system, which was praised in the jury report for 'the power of its simplicity, the wide range of applications in horticulture both in the Netherlands and abroad, and the relatively low capital outlay'. Second place went to Frans van Zaal for its Van Zaal Container Submerger System, and third place to Bercomex for its Furora universal grading and bunching machine. For the first time in the history of the award, numbers 4 and 5 were also named. These were CleanGrow for its 'multi-ion meter' and the consortium represented by Klimrek for its 'vertical crop protection'. As international trade jury chairman Gijs Kok noted, 'This shows just how closely the top shortlisted firms are matched in terms of innovative capacity.' Bas Lagerwerf of Berg Product was pleased with the award and satisfied with the quality of the visitors to his stand. He commented, 'Dealers from all over the world come together here. After all, to see innovation you have to come to the Horti Fair!'

Berg Product B.V. - BergBand
Patented system consisting of two layers of fabric, the top layer of which is the actual conveyor belt. The fabric is stretched between rollers in which the drive mechanism is also incorporated. Standard conveyor belt components like bearings, cylinders and supporting structures are superfluous. The BergBand can be used in existing nurseries, can be connected to existing systems, takes up little space and requires relatively low investments. "May be an innovation of such apparent simplicity that colleagues in the sector will wonder why it was not thought of before'' Berg Product BV is a reliable, independent, international manufacturer of high quality, exclusive technology for the horticultural sector. For many years now Berg Product has been the leader in the horticultural greenhouse sector for plant care and the transportation and processing of crops. Berg Product has gradually developed to become one of the most important suppliers of exclusive technology for the horticultural sector.

Frans van Zaal Totaal Techniek - Van Zaal Container Submerge System
Frans van Zaal Totaal Techniek and Anthurium grower Evanty have developed a revolutionary way of supply water. This new method enables Evanty to give the exact amount of water and nutrients to realize an optimal root and plant growth. The system is integrated in the mobile transport system. Earlier, with any of the existing systems, this was not possible. So a new system had to be developed. Extensive trials have proven that this method of supply water results in a very even water absorption and an excellent root growth. "The integration of a submersion method in a mobile internal transport system meets a need.''

Bercomex B.V. - Generic Bunching Machine (GBM)
This machine forms unprocessed, unsorted flowers into a ready-to-use final product. Suitable for various types of flowers with fully automatic singling and vertical suspension of flowers, keeping the use of manpower to an absolute minimum. "Its suitability for various types of flowers makes this an innovation that the sector needs.'' Bercomex has won the Best Participant Award 2010 also at the Horti Fair. The jury praised Bercomex because of its helpfull fair crew which was there to help all the visitors, despite the enormous amount of people visiting the stand. Of course the creator of the huge crowd, the bunching machine Furora, was also praised by the jury. "This may be the world premiere of a product whose assumed effects have to be demonstrated more fully.''

CleanGrow Ltd. - Multi-Ion Meter
Cork-based CleanGrow launched its Multi-ion Meter, which measures ion concentrations in liquid, allowing growers to monitor recirculated water in particular. Company founder and chief executive officer Ciaran Long said: "It goes beyond pH and EC meters, which only give you a rough representation of what's going on, but is just as simple to use." Co-founder and chief technical officer Roy O'Mahony explained: "A tomato grower will use maybe six recipes a year and will want to know that the nutrient mix is within those values. But rather than wait four days for lab results, with this he can find that out straightaway." He added: "The reaction has been fantastic - UK growers already tell us they want one." The Horti Fair jury said: "Its assumed effects have yet to be demonstrated in more detail."

Klimrek Producten (Havecon, Horticoop, De Vette, Clean Light and Koppert) - Vertical Crop Protection Consortium of companies brought together by Syntens introduces a technique that makes it possible to apply crop protection with more precision and at the right place. "Interesting result of partnership between a number of enterprises.'' The following new products made it to the top ten of the Innovation Award:

Anthura B.V. - Anthurium Andreanum Fire XL®
This gigantic, gleaming, fire-engine red flower has a strong 90-cm long quality stem. "Strikingly large flower that also catches the eye by its colour and has added value to offer.''

Crea-Tech International - Robotic Storage and Order Processing System
Delivery system for the robotic processing of cut anthuriums. "Well thought-out and definitely interesting if it can also be used for other crops.''

HortiMaX B.V. - HortiMaX CropView
A solution for round-the-clock monitoring of crop development and for making any necessary adjustments, due to the integration of techniques (climate computer and high resolution zoom photographic technology). "Interesting means of observing growth from every angle and a good example of the integration of different technological developments."

Jenbacher BV - J624 2-stage turbocharged
This new two-stage turbo charger supplies significantly higher output and greater efficiency than the single-stage turbo charger designs and is particularly well-suited for operation in combined heat and power (CHP) applications. "The savings envisaged can achieve substantial improvements in energy efficiency.''

Koppert Biological Systems
For the complete range of new products: Aphipar-M, Capsanem, Citripar, Distribug, Macro-Mite, Natufly and Rollerfix. "Progressive development, admittedly, of innovations previously initiated, but another significant step forward nevertheless, in view of the large number and the social and economic need.'' Best Participant Award The Best Participant Award went to Bercomex for what the jury described as 'the innovative strength shown throughout its exhibition presentation and the power of its communication both before and during the Horti Fair'. The award is presented each year to the exhibitor making the best use of Horti Fair as a communication instrument. Roland Kroese, managing director of Bercomex, says, 'The Horti Fair is very important for our business. Not only as an opportunity to display innovations but also as a way of strengthening our dealer network and meeting customers who come from all over and whom we would not otherwise meet.'

Interpolis Quality Cup, plant stands and Csizik Trophy
This year the Interpolis Quality Cup was awarded to the firm of Fa. G.J.A. van Santen of Honselersdijk for its Hydrangea macrophylla Pimpernel Classic. The prizes for the best stands in the plant categories were assigned by the Permanent Judging Committee (VKC) to Floricultura (9.7), Anthura (9.5) and Floriade (9.3). The Csizik Trophy for the most attractive flower arrangement at a stand was won by Zuidkoop Natural Projects.

Prospects for Horti Fair 2011
Interest in the Horti Fair 2011, which will be held under the umbrella of the International HortiWeek, is already good. 'Contracts have already been signed and over 80 options for stand space have already been taken,' says Wim van der Loo, the departing director. 'In all my years as director of Horti Fair I have never before experienced anything like this. The exhibition concept of the Horti Fair 2011 in Amsterdam RAI, the cooperation with FloraHolland, the Technical Trials and other horticultural initiatives geared to the International HortiWeek in the first week of November 2011 are clearly proving popular in the industry.'