French gardeners keep up spending spree

Market researchers at GfK report an extraordinarily positive year for the French garden sector, with the 2011 season exceeding the previous year’s results in terms of both sales and volume. They state that the market was driven by environmentally friendly products. Biological garden products, which were up 16.8 per cent by volume and 15.7 per cent by value, meanwhile make up nearly one quarter of all purchases. After all, almost half of the French population grow vegetables in their garden. At the end of September, seeds were up 8.7 per cent by volume and 7.9 per cent by value above the previous year, a situation that was mainly due to sales of vegetable seeds. Cordless tools set the tone in the motorised garden equipment segment. In this category robot mowers now account for the highest percentage at 47.7 per cent; the average price of these tools is € 2 065. Altogether lawn mowers are the most significant product family in the outdoor power equipment market with a 31.5 per cent share of sales.