New Product New Plant Award winners at GLAS 2022

Winners of the Supplier of the Year award Nuala, Rachel and Joe Young - Young Nurseries at GLAS 2022

In case you missed it, the quality of the new plants and new products at GLAS 2022 was extraordinary, with some exceptional shortlisters and deserved winners

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Horticulture

Read More: Awards Events GLAS GLAS 2022 Industry Update trade shows

One of the major highlights of the GLAS trade show is of course, the New Product New Plant showcase and Best in Show Awards.

Each year, GLAS celebrates an array of new products and new plants that have been whittled down from a large number of worthy contenders to form the New Product, New Plant Awards.

These highly anticipated awards returned at GLAS 2022, which took place last Thursday, 21 July at the National Basketball Arena in Dublin.

During the event, the hottest New Plants and New Products, as well as the Supplier of the Year, Best in Show Trade Supplier and Best Stand award winners were crowned.

Our esteemed judges – independent horticulture consultant, Anna Kavanagh, and Westland Horticulture’s James Spillane – began assessing the contenders at 9am, and the winners will be announced in the afternoon.

Announcing the awards was John McDonald, managing director of Mediateam – the organiser of GLAS. The winners were as follows:

Best New Plant – Rentes Plants for the Buddleia “Butterfly Candy” Range

The Buddleia “Butterfly Candy” range is available in five colours – red, pink, white, purple, blue. Naturally dwarf, the range is ideal for smaller gardens. Meanwhile, it is extremely attractive to pollinators, well-branched and very floriferous.

“It feels really good to be acknowledged,” says Roy Rentes of Rentes Plants, when discussing the Best New Plant award win. “This is an extremely presentable plant, and definitely a worthy winner. We’re very happy with this win.”

As to what he thinks set it apart from the other plants in the category, Rentes says: “All of these plants are interesting in their own right, but I think the timing is what tipped it for the buddleia. I think it was a well-timed entry. Some of the other entries are perhaps coming to the end of season, but this is a great time for the buddleia.”

Rentes continues: “It’s great to be back at live events. Seeing is believing, and being here makes a real difference. Nothing quite beats meeting customers face-to-face.”

Best New Product – Reesink Turfcare Ireland for the Farmtract FT25G electric tractor

The new Farmtrac FT25G electric tractor easily manages the smaller yet tiresome yard or paddock tasks with great ease and efficiency, delivering seriously useful eco-friendly maintenance. Its compact size makes it an interesting proposition for nurseries, stud farms, local authorities, sports pitches and golf courses.

The FT25G tractor has all the functions and features of a compact tractor, with the benefits of electric power. A compact machine designed for when you need quieter, cleaner machinery, that’s still powerful, it was a worthy winner of the Best New Product award.

Supplier of the Year – Young Nurseries

Selected from a list of more than 60 suppliers, Young Nurseries were crowned the inaugural winner of the Supplier of the Year award. This award is held in association with Growtrade.ie and our winner was chosen by members of the industry.

Speaking with Joe Young after the win was announced, he says: “It’s really nice to be recognised after the ordeals of the last number of years. Trying to grow the business during Covid-19 has been very difficult, but we have tremendous staff, we work very hard, and we try to give our customers the service that they need so that they can give it to their customers. Thankfully, that’s been recognised by the industry.”

So what set Young Nurseries apart from the other suppliers? “We’ve made a lot of new improvements in the nursery, and we’ve adapted to new methods of growing without using chemicals,” says Young. “Over the last 12 years, we’ve been making significant changes, and we now use minimal amounts of chemicals. Plus, our growing methods have really improved with modernisations we’ve undertaken.”

Delighted to be back at a live event, Young adds: “It’s fantastic to be able to shake people’s hands. People appreciate being able to look into someone else’s eyes, have a chat and have a laugh, it makes all the difference. We’re very happy to be back.”

Best in Show Trade Stand – The Flower Gro team

This award went to The Flower Gro team, for their highly impressive Flower Gro Peat Free Multi-Purpose Compost stand. There to accept the award was Sean Furlong, director of Greenleaf Horticulture, as well as Jason Maguire and Declan Byrne.

Best in Show Horticulture Stand – Tully Nurseries

The winner of this award is one of Ireland’s leading wholesale nurseries supplying landscape contractors, garden centres, DIYs and supermarkets in Ireland

Commenting on the win, Niamh Tully says: “I love putting the stands together. I really wanted this one to be fun and full of colour. We’ve had so much doom and gloom, so I wanted to go a bit over the top with it. Our stand has everything from information about bees, to balloons new plants we have for next year and I think it came together really well.

“It’s fantastic to be back at the events. I love meeting people. We visit people quite regularly, but nothing beats a good show and the buzz of a one-on-one interaction.”

Congratulations to all of the award winners and finalists at GLAS 2022.

Return of GLAS

Proudly supported by Bord Bia, GLAS 2022 saw the coming together of a strong, dedicated horticulture sector in Ireland. From the calibre of exhibitors, to the ICL seminars, and the awards presentations, GLAS 2022 was a fervent success.

After a three-year hiatus, it was wonderful to bring the industry’s leading professionals and businesses under one roof once again. This was reflected in the feedback from exhibitors and visitors on the day, as well as the results of our Exhibitor & Visitor Survey forms, which were very positive overall.

Indeed, 95% of visitors at GLAS said their experience was “worthwhile” or “very worthwhile” in our exit poll, while 89% said they will spend money with an exhibitor as a result of their visit. This number was reflected in the exhibitor exit poll, as 90% said their experience was “worthwhile” or “very worthwhile”.

Read More: Awards Events GLAS GLAS 2022 Industry Update trade shows

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