Jul 29, 2005

Latest Vendor NewsSource: Various

New Plant Health Company

The creation of a new plant health company focused on serving the turf and ornamentals specialty agriculture and home and garden markets in the United States and Mexico was recently announced. The new company, Advan, LLC is being formed by Mitsui & Co. of Japan and the Sipcam-Oxon Groups of Italy and is owned 50:50 by their respective U.S. subsidiaries. Advan begins operations August 1 in Roswell, Ga., and is expected to generate sales of more than $40 million in 2006 from a product line enriched through a number of new marketing agreements with Certis USA, Sipcam Agro USA, and Mitsui Chemical Inc., according to the company. For information about Advan and its product line, visit www.AdvanLLC.com or contact Advan customer service at (800) 250-5024.

Florikan Breaks Ground On Facility

Florikan E.S.A., a Sarasota, Fla., company that provides quality controlled release fertilizers, professional-grade containers and other Horticultural products to growers, recently announced the groundbreaking of a new, state-of-the-art container manufacturing facility in Sebring, Fla. The company broke ground the week of July 11, 2005 and plans are now being executed to open the new plant in late December or early January. The new facility will be situated on a 10-acre parcel of the Palm Grove Industrial Park.

Using current market and container trend insights from actual growers, Florikan has plans to implement the latest in blow-mold container technology and advanced quality-control systems, as well as manufacturer its pots with 100-percent recycled plastics. The facility will manufacturer Amerikan brand containers. Amerikan is a joint venture between Florikan and I.T.M.L. (Innovative Technology and Market Leadership). For more information visit www.florikan.com or call (800) 322-8666.

Karsten International

Karsten International (KI) and Cravo Equipment recently announced an agreement has been reached for Karsten International to take over Cravo’s entire Karsten line of greenhouse carts. KI manufactures a variety of customized benching, gutters and greenhouse components, including former IBG designs. For more information, visit www.karsteninternational.com