Growth does not happen automatically. It requires choices, initiative and making connections. That is exactly what GrootGroenPlus wants to stimulate at the trade fair floor this autumn with its theme ‘Growing Together’. But what does that mean in practice? “Sometimes growth simply means taking a step back for a moment,” says marketing expert and board member of the trade fair, Loïs Lodders.

Last year, ‘Heart for Green’ proved how a theme can connect a trade fair. That turned out to be a success. “This year, we again wanted a theme that you really see reflected at the trade fair and in conversations,” says Lodders. According to her, the strength of ‘Growing Together’ lies precisely in its broadness. “We wanted to choose something that resonates with participants. Something everyone can relate to in their own way.”

Growing within the chain
This openness is intentional: ‘Growing Together’ is not a fixed concept, but a framework that leaves room for different interpretations. For some, this lies in collaboration with suppliers or partners in projects; for others, in the development of their own business, for example in business succession or training staff. Growth is not only an individual process, but also something you shape together.

Lodders therefore deliberately defines growth more broadly than just production or sales. It is also about how entrepreneurs and expertise strengthen each other. Which partners do you work with? And how do you shape that collaboration in practice? “Companies are increasingly seeking each other out in this,” she says. “This can be very practical: if you specialise in ground cover plants, it can be useful to know which trees go with them, or vice versa. But it is also about how you approach projects or share knowledge.”

‘Growing Together’ is not a fixed concept, but a framework that leaves room for different 
interpretations

This means the theme touches on something that is already visible in the industry. In recent years, more has been produced, but there has also been growth in quality and in the way companies find each other.

A trade fair as a meeting place
This movement takes on a physical form at the trade fair. At its core, GrootGroenPlus remains a place where supply and demand come together, but it clearly aims to be more than that. “Here, you get the opportunity to really talk to each other,” says Lodders. “Not only with customers, but also with colleagues, suppliers and new contacts.”
It is precisely this mix that makes it interesting. The trade fair attracts a wide and international audience. According to Lodders, that is also its strength. “It is very diverse. And our international participants also bring their own networks. That creates a very unique dynamic that you cannot control.”

To stimulate this dynamic, the layout of the fair is deliberately mixed. All types of participants from different countries are positioned together. “You notice that they all connect in a natural way,” says Lodders. “It’s easy to have a conversation with your neighbour.” Over the past two years, a networking dinner has been introduced to further strengthen these connections.

Connection that continues
Three days of intensive contact is valuable, but it is only the beginning. That is why GrootGroenPlus also focuses on activities outside the trade fair. For example, it has its own news platform, where partners remain visible and can share developments. “We want to maintain that connection. Not just because it is enjoyable, but also because it fits with where we as an organisation want to go. As a trade fair, we have experienced that growth ourselves, so the theme also suits us.”

“As a trade fair, we have experienced that growth ourselves, so the theme also suits us”

That requires continuity. Maintaining relationships, sharing information, staying visible. These are aspects that are becoming increasingly more important in an industry that operates internationally and in which developments follow each other rapidly.

Room for new initiatives
Within this context, new ideas are also considered. Initiatives such as the Square of Tomorrow will be continued, although the exact format is still being developed. The idea behind it remains the same: offering space to companies that present something new.

This can be a product, but also a collaboration. “A good example of this is the automatic transplanter from TTS (Total Transplant Solutions), winner of the Jan van Dongen Award 2025. An innovation that came about through a collaboration between several parties,” says Lodders. It is precisely these kinds of initiatives that underline what ‘growing together’ can mean in practice.

Smaller players in particular play an important role in this, Lodders emphasises. “It is not about who is the biggest, but who brings in the most knowledge and expertise. As a smaller company, you can switch more quickly. Show what you are good at and seek out that collaboration.”

Growing at your own pace
Looking back at recent years, Lodders mainly sees an industry that continues to develop. “We have only grown bigger,” she says. “And also more international.” That growth requires choices. About how you position yourself, with whom you collaborate and how you want to move forward as an industry.

GrootGroenPlus chooses not to define those questions too strictly, but to leave them open. The theme provides direction without prescribing what it should look like. Not everyone will interpret it in the same way. “Sometimes growth simply means taking a step back and seeing what someone else is doing.” That too is Growing Together.

GrootGroenPlus will take place from 30 September to 2 October 2026 in Zundert.

Source: Boom in Business