Jun 14, 2017
Grow With Your Customers and Keep Pace With a Changing Client Base and Product Market

By Monica Davis

The world urban population has grown dramatically over the last 50 years, increasing from 746 million to 3.9 billion. Individuals restricted by space in urban environments have been forced to find alternatives to growing, and move up in a vertical sense to the rooftop or inside to indoor growing chambers. In addition to these landscape changes, millennials are joining the growing game with a strong interest in knowing where their food comes from. Arborjet Inc. coined this group “Generation G – the Next Generation of Growers” and created a new market for pest control products that are affordable, organic and easy to use. The recent legalization of cannabis in some states has also expanded clientele for edible plant care. These developmental, legal and societal changes are greatly influencing hydroponic and gardening store sales nationwide. It’s up to pest control companies to stay with the times and give stores the tools and products they need to keep all their clients, old and new, satisfied.

Rootdown Hydroponics, a 100 percent female-owned business in Medford, Massachusetts, has a diverse clientele growing different types of plants, including edibles, cannabis and flowers. For a while, they struggled to find a product they could recommend to consumers that was safe for the applicator and had no foliage burning risks. When they tried Arborjet’s RTU (ready-to-use) products Eco-Mite Plus and Eco-PM, they were shocked at how fast both products flew off the shelves. According to owner Sabrina, “clients raved about the confidence they had with both products, knowing they wouldn’t mess up their gardens or cause burning, regardless of their experience level or what plants they were treating.” Rootdown Hydroponics now recommends these products with confidence to new growers and those with a green thumb. As developers, researchers and agents of customer service in plant care, this consumer response is Arborjet’s goal.

When asked why she thinks people gravitate toward Eco-Mite Plus and Eco-PM, Sabrina ascertained her customers really value their RTU accessibility. Because users do not have to mix the products, they fly off the shelves, further evidence that people want easy, low-risk products. The movement toward safer RTUs and 25b pesticides has transformed the industry, bringing the application process into the grower’s hands.

As indoor edible growing increases, finding safe, readily accessible pesticides is of utmost importance. Arborjet continues developing with the times and will soon release Eco-1 Garden Spray, a result of research and consumer feedback from Eco-Mite Plus and Eco-PM. The new formulation includes flax seed oil, thyme oil and peppermint oil – your regular smoothie additives. Arborjet makes it a priority to constantly think about their clientele, incorporate customer feedback and fully embrace change.

“Four years ago, we would never have thought over 90 percent of our horticulture product line would focus on edible growing, but now those products have become some of our biggest success stories to date,” said Arborjet’s Horticultural Marketing Manager, Kristin Nikodemski. “It’s taught us to keep changing, discovering and pushing the limits, because our plants and clients depend on it.”

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