Growers convene for ANLA Swap Shop

A staple at the ANLA Management Clinic each year, the Grower Swap Shop allows attendees to exchange ideas – from simple gadgets that make a task easier to more in-depth production practices. Companies of varying sizes from all across the country were in attendance. Here’s a sampling of what was presented and heard from audience members.

Robert Kerns of Greenleaf Nursery in Park Hill, Okla., presented “the big three of branding.”
1. The branded plant must have value to everyone in the supply chain.
2. Breeders and growers must have the ability to test/research the plant for long-term garden performance.
3. It’s essential to produce an adequate number of plants to fulfill the market demand.
The research and resources that go into branding allows a grower to “take a plant of promise and turn it into a plant of profit.”

Ed Overdevest, owner of Overdevest Nurseries in Bridgeton, N.J., found an intriguing way to get up to hundreds of graphic designers at his fingertips. He wanted a logo for an upcoming product launch. After several back-and-forth meetings with a graphic designer, he realized this person’s style just didn’t fit his needs. So he found a pretty nifty site – www.logomyway.com. For a fee, he received logos from hundreds of designers for what the site calls a logo design contest. It’s simple to use, he said, and once you provide the designers with feedback, they send you a tweaked logo. He got feedback from employees, friends and family before settling on a logo.

Some of the more interesting audience comments were:
“We have raised our prices.”
“We are our own worst enemy because we devalue our product.”
“Burn the wholesale catalog and use pricing sheets instead.”
“Don’t put prices in a catalog, but send it out and call it a reference guide.”

For more information on American Nursery & Landscape Association’s New Clinic, click here.