Soil health and online seed sales hot topics

Hosted by Bruno Nebelung, celebrating its 100-year anniversary, HGC 25 offered exclusive views behind the scenes of one of Europe’s leading seed suppliers and created a lively forum for shaping the future of home gardening.

Tradition meets technology: Behind the scenes of Bruno Nebelung

Founded in 1925, Bruno Nebelung GmbH is a family-owned business from the Münsterland region with now 100 years of experience in supplying high-quality seeds, bulbs and young plants. The company is well-known for their established brands Kiepenkerl and Sperli which offer a wide range of flower and vegetable seeds in their distinctive pictorial packets for home gardeners.

1

• 

• 

The conference began at Bruno Nebelung’s headquarters in Everswinkel, where delegates experienced the full funnel of seed sales from presentations on the 100-year-history of the company and their latest assortment developments to a guided tour through their facilities. Attendees were lead through Nebelung’s impressive seed packaging, storage and order-picking operations which cover 20.000 square meters.

2

• 

• 

The afternoon continued with the exploration of their Qualitätsgarten (trial gardens) in Füchtorf, where attendees explored colourful flower displays and thriving vegetable beds, as well as the Fleuroselect Gold Medal winners and Year of the Begonia display.

3

• 

• 

• 

Healthy soils and strong brands: What’s new in home gardening

The second day focused on sustainability in horticulture and the future of the seed industry. Ruth Cramer from Let it Grow illustrated how soil composition affects nutrient retention, while Pier Oosterkamp from Ecostyle discussed how plants rely on microorganisms for strength and stress resistance.

Arnold Wittkamp from Thursd emphasized the importance of defending horticulture’s green image, positioning new seed varieties as both innovations and opportunities to shape the industry’s perception.

4

• 

• 

The conference further highlighted the role of e-commerce and digital brand building. Frantisek Haba from Loukykvet shared insights on personalising online seed sales through custom-built software and gave an outlook on what could be possible in the near future by implementing artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

Britta Wiehmeier from Bruno Nebelung described how their webshop became a brand portal, connecting with customers emotionally through content marketing. Lydia Frotscher from the International Garden Exhibition 2027 (IGA) wrapped up the conference by showcasing their on-going greening projects in the German Ruhr area, ahead of the 2027 event.

5

• 

•