Industry Sentiment Survey – shared challenges, different priorities

Pic: Joe Keogh

A comparison of the top-ranked issues across three sectors of the green industry shows that while workforce development and rising costs dominate, each sector faces its own concerns

Horticulture

2 July 2026

The results of Growtrade.ie’s latest Industry Sentiment Survey reveals an industry grappling with many of the same challenges, but with each sector facing its own distinct priorities.

Growtrade.ie’s annual Industry Sentiment Survey proudly sponsored by Klassman-Deilmann helps shape a clearer picture of where the sector is heading.

In this year’s survey we asked you to rank the issues, trends, and topics that matter most to your business, whether that’s energy costs, managing pest and disease, sustainability, raising input costs, skills and staffing to name a few.

More than 130 professionals from across horticulture, landscape and design, retail, machinery, sportsturf and related sectors took part in the survey, ranking the issues they believe will have the greatest impact on their businesses.

Among all four sectors, horticulture demonstrates the greatest diversity of priorities.

This breadth reflects the complexity of modern horticulture, where businesses must balance commercial viability with environmental regulation, sustainability goals and ongoing workforce challenges.

The prominence of peat alternatives also reflects the sector’s continued adaptation to changing environmental expectations and legislation.

Unlike the other sectors, retail stands out for its strong focus on retail price pressures, which received six #1 rankings – more than any other concern within the sector.

This reflects the unique commercial environment retailers operate in. Businesses must balance rising supplier costs with customers who remain highly price-sensitive, often limiting opportunities to pass on increased costs without affecting sales.

While recruitment and career development remain important for retailers, maintaining competitive pricing appears to be the more immediate challenge.

Landscape and design businesses appear focused on two core issues – building a skilled workforce and managing increasing operating costs.

These results suggest that while environmental considerations remain important, businesses are currently more concerned with securing the people and resources needed to remain competitive.

Although each sector has its own pressures, the findings point to several common themes.

Workforce development remains essential for much of the industry, reflecting the continuing challenge of attracting skilled people and creating long-term career pathways.

At the same time, rising operating costs continue to affect businesses across every sector, reinforcing the need for efficiency, careful financial management and sustainable growth.

Together, these findings paint a picture of an industry that is resilient, but operating in an increasingly challenging environment.

While the nature of those challenges differs from sector to sector, success across the industry will depend on developing skilled people, managing rising costs and adapting to an evolving economic and regulatory landscape.