Naples, Florida-based American Farms has become the newest member of the eclectic Hoffmann Family of Companies with the sale of a majority (75%, according to local news reports) of the business to entrepreneur David Hoffmann.

I say eclectic because the Hoffmann holdings include more than 240 businesses worldwide (but primarily in Florida, Missouri and Illinois), including quite a few wineries, two minor-league sports teams, lots of golf courses, a florist (Kaleidoscope Floral), a garden center (Town and Country Nursery), a tree farm (Ferguson Valley Nurseries), an organic herb farm (World Wide Farms), Segway Tours of Naples, an Everglades airboat tour outfit, several day-cruise boat lines, a gourmet cookie company, … and now a 90-acre wholesale bedding plant nursery.

How have they come to invest in such a broad mix of businesses? David Hoffmann says on his company’s HOMEPAGE, “We invest in the people and business of the communities we love to visit and live in.”

David and his wife, Jerri, have a strong interest in hospitality, but an equally strong interest in agriculture, based on the vineyards, golf courses and other land holdings listed above. In fact, the garden center and tree farm (both in Missouri) were purchased days apart in August 2021. They acquired the herb farm (in Woodstock, Illinois) in the fall of 2020.

One profile of the organization I read was headlined, “Entrepreneurial family has invested $500M and is just getting started.” Apparently!

The bigger news is that this is just the beginning of his foray into floriculture, as he added in the company press release, “We will be acquiring other flower farms in Florida and across the country as well.”

How did the Hoffmanns (that's Jerri and David on the right) come to know about American Farms? I asked that question (and a couple more) of American Farms co-owner and Managing Director Christine Raber via email.

“We hired an Investment Bank to market the company and they sent out a prospectus to many candidates in the industry, as well as the private equity world,” Christine replied. “Hoffmann’s investment bank in Chicago, Osprey Capital, received the prospectus and they made us the best offer and the best fit for our company.”

As mentioned earlier, Hoffmann bought a majority share, but not full ownership. What does that mean for her and partners Jim Pugh (director of horticulture) and Alejandro Salazar (operations director)?

“We had been looking for a succession plan, as all three of us have been hard at it for quite some time,” Christine answered. “We are taking this opportunity to expand our management team so that in three years’ time those of us who want to phase out can or just phase into a different role. We are lucky in that we don’t have to move to a warmer climate to retire; we can just stay and enjoy our beautiful community that we have had little time for so far!”

I then asked if she knew what expansion plans the Hoffmanns might have for the nursery.

“We had already begun expanding before the sale,” she answered. “We are developing 10 more acres of growing area, as well as more propagation to accommodate the growth we are seeing in our existing business segments.”

Lastly, I queried Christine about David Hoffmann’s comment about more acquisitions. If she knows what he’s up to, she’s not spilling the beans.

“Who knows what business may spark his interest next, but there are no plans that we know of at the moment.”

If you’re not doing anything Week 13 (ha!), why not pop down to Homestead, Florida, for a look at Costa Farms’ annual Season Premiere Trials Gardens? It’s a great way to see the 2023 plant introductions ahead of the California Spring Trials. The three-day event—open to growers, retailers, brokers and other industry members—is scheduled for March 9-12.

The Costa Farms Trial Garden offers a mix of landscape beds, row beds, pots and hanging baskets to compare plant performance in the ground and on decks and patios. New varieties, which were transplanted last December, will be evaluated throughout the spring and summer of 2022 to determine the best performers. Varieties get a good test of temperate weather followed by the heat and humidity that only South Florida can offer.

Representatives from more than a dozen sponsoring breeding companies— including Ball FloraPlant, Dümmen Orange, PanAmerican Seed, Sakata, Suntory and Syngenta Flowers—will be on hand to provide technical information about their new releases.

Interested? Register online HERE. But do it soon, as attendance will be limited to 250 individuals per day to prevent overcrowding. (Insider’s tip: Book for March 10, as there’s a cocktail party and dinner in the garden.)

… by entering him or her in our annual Young Grower Award. For the last 17 years, GrowerTalks has recognized young horticulturists for standing out from the crowd in this tough business, who—for whatever noble reasons—have chosen to have a career in this industry. Our definition of “young” is under the age of 35 by the date of the event—in this case, July 18.

Our team of editors will carefully study all applications, from which we'll choose three worthy finalists. Each finalist will write a guest editorial for the June issue of GrowerTalks and be interviewed by our expert judges, attend Cultivate’22 as our guest and, while they’re in Columbus, attend a special dinner with Anna Ball and other industry luminaries. The winner will be announced at the Unplugged event during Cultivate’22 and will be the subject of our September issue cover story and serve as one of our judges for next year’s award.

Find the nomination form at www.growertalks.com/YoungGrower. Deadline is March 1.

The Young Grower and Young Retailer finalists and winners from 2021.

Of course, Green Profit has you young retailers covered as well. Visit www.greenprofit.com/YoungRetailer for the nomination form.

A special thanks to The Garden Center Group and AmericanHort for helping make the Young Grower and Young Retailer awards special for our nominees!

It’s so nice to report on live events that will actually be live this year! One of the next is going on right now (February 1-4): ProGreen EXPO in Denver, Colorado. As the organizers so rightly say, “Business is just better done in person.”

ProGreen EXPO is the only green industry conference in the Rocky Mountain Region. More than 4,000 green industry professionals gather every year at the Colorado Convention Center to gain vital knowledge and skills to improve business, educate employees and discover the latest information for the upcoming season.

If you’re headed out there, you won’t be required to show proof of vaccine or negative test results to attend. However, the City of Denver is requiring that all participants wear a face covering to enter the Colorado Convention Center, as well as in the ProGreen EXPO and Education Sessions.

For information, go to www.progreenexpo.com.

This one you don’t have to travel to: It’s the first-ever Global Garden Retail Conference, a three-day online conference and trade show geared toward garden retailers of all shapes and sizes. All the sessions are recorded, meaning you don’t have to set an alarm clock—just log in and enjoy excellent education from experts such as John Stanley, John Kennedy, Sid Raisch, Todd Baker, Katie Elzer-Peters and others.

A special treat will be the first-morning keynote by Anna and Susannah Ball, the third and fourth generation of the global family business, who'll be speaking on “Our Views of the Massive Worldwide Opportunities for Horticulture.”

Sign up at www.gardenretailconference.com. It’s free!

Did I mention I’m your emcee and host for the event? Yup! Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Speaking of international retail trends (that’s part of what you’ll hear during the Global Garden Retail Conference), you have the chance for a real, live trip of a lifetime if you sign up for the 2022 International Garden Center Association Congress in the Netherlands.

If you’ve ever wanted to visit this global center of the horticulture industry, this is as good an opportunity as you’ll find, as the five-day itinerary includes garden centers, breeders, the flower auction in Aalsmeer, canal boat rides and a tour of Amsterdam, and a visit to the once-only-ever-ten-years Floriade. There’s also an optional pre-tour where you’ll visit more garden centers and more traditional Dutch sites.

Get details at www.igca2022.nl.

Laurie and I have been on eight of IGCA tours, and every one has been magical. If you want a taste, watch this VIDEO I made some years back of a typical IGCA tour day, packed with learning and fun.

Where am I this time? Hershey, Pennsylvania! No, I’m not giving my sweet tooth a treat (although I do hope to sample some wares). I’m speaking Wednesday at the Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable Convention, which is expected to draw some 2,200 fruit and vegetable industry folks from all across the region. It’s jointly sponsored by associations in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.

What’s a greenhouse guy doing there? They have a greenhouse track, that’s what! My talk is titled, “The $64 Question: What Will Spring Bring?” I suspect more than a few people want to know the answer to that question—which is worth a whole lot more than just 64 bucks. Can’t wait to hear what I have to say!

Wednesday? That’s Groundhog Day! Wonder how far it is to Punxsutawney? …