Designer barbecues, colourful raised beds and the truly ingenious fruit roller
20.9.2016
Translation: machine translated
At the beginning of September, I visited the spoga+gafa garden trade fair with four product managers. This is the world's leading garden trade fair. Over 2000 exhibitors from around 60 countries presented their innovations here. On site, we exchanged ideas with many manufacturers from the garden and BBQ sector. I'll tell you about the highlights, innovations and trends from the 225,000 square metre exhibition centre.
Grill & BBQ
We travelled by plane from Zurich to Cologne. We were already busy before the trade fair even started on Monday: On Sunday, a barbecue event organised by Santosgrills was on the agenda. We found hundreds of barbecue products from Weber, Broil King, Napoleon - and many other manufacturers - on an area of over 4000 square metres (that's half a football pitch!).
A large number of barbecue experts were present at this event and it was great to talk shop with them. You can see one of the highlights of our tour here - a smoker in the shape of a locomotive.
You can find all smokers in our range here
On Monday morning, we made our way to the trade fair and to our appointments. In the grill hall we found products for grill & BBQ worldwide. We spent a lot of our time here, as we discovered many new products that were interesting for you. From knife sets to pizza ovens and barbecues with app functions to various accessories, everything was here.
We were also able to admire the newest member of LotusGrill, the Lotus garden grill. The popular charcoal barbecue now has legs and has grown up - see for yourself:
Of course, we also visited the Grillson stand. The Bob Grillson Premium has already won five prestigious awards, including the German Design Award 2016, while the Bob Premium S and the Leif Grillson Premium are new additions to the Grillson family. You can now order the latter in our shop. The Premium S line will be available from 1 March 2017. The difference between this line and the previous Premium version is that the two meat thermometers are now wireless.
Garden
In the garden creation & care area, everything revolved around plants, their cultivation and, of course, their care. Here we found machines, tools, garden equipment and other accessories on the topic of gardening
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In general, we noticed in the garden area that design, sophisticated packaging, colours and emotions will play an important role next year. A large area in the plant hall was organised according to themes. For example, there was a jungle theme, an Italian theme, but also products centred around Valentine's Day and Christmas. Many products are offered as a combination set to make gardening easier for beginners.
These colourful watering cans from elho stand out with their special design.
Here you can find the Elho brand
One of the new products from the Freund+Victoria brand is the fruit roller (bottom left in the picture). With the fruit roller, you can easily pick up fruit or nuts left on the floor. I think it's so ingenious that I recommend the scooter to all parents for picking up toys!
Here you can find all our garden care products
We were also enthusiastic about the brands Mary's Garden and Garden Girl as well as the large range of garden clothing.
Our team leader Steve was very impressed by the raised beds for children. But the products for adults were also extremely trendy. The raised beds come in a wide variety of colours and designs. This makes them an eye-catcher in the garden.
Here you can find our raised beds
Our product manager Steffi was very impressed by the colourful, cake-shaped flower bulbs from the Baltus brand. We would love to add these to our range next year. These products are ideal for people who are just starting out with gardening.
Conclusion
The trade fair is a mecca for anyone who wants to marvel at the new season's products right now. We discovered many new, interesting products that we would like to add to our range for 2017. Two days are almost too short to see the entire trade fair. Nevertheless, we gained a very good insight into new trends, were able to cultivate contacts and make new acquaintances. We look forward to being there again next year!
Header image: Colourful pots in the plant world.
Madeleine Bello
Senior Brand Communications Manager
Madeleine.Bello@digitecgalaxus.chI draw inspiration and energy from nature – whether I'm hiking, skiing in the mountains or travelling to new places. I also have a passion for photography, music, TV series and good food.