On 20 September 2020, Euro Plant Tray eG was awarded the German Innovation Prize for Horticulture by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture at the German Horticultural Congress in Berlin.
Once again, this award praises the exemplary nature of the cooperation between the 30 international EPT members and their common goal of developing and introducing the EPT tray as the future industry standard for reusable plant packaging. Production started several weeks ago and the first EPT trays are already visible to consumers in the stores.
At the Euro Plant Tray eG general assembly on 12 September 2024, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board Jutta Lehmann summarized what has been achieved so far: ‘Not only have a total of four EPT models been developed and production started, also operational tasks such as rental contracts, pool management, pool financing, RFID and much more have been implemented. We would like to express our sincere thanks to our founding board of directors, who, together with the managing director of EPT GmbH and the members, have made this possible in the last two years with tireless dedication.
With effect from 23 August 2024, the board of directors has been re-elected in accordance with the EPT statutes: Mr Rupert Fey (PlusPlants GmbH) will continue as a director and will be supported in the future by Mr Felix Thun-Hohenstein (Bellaflora Beteiligungen GmbH) and Mr Rick van der Eijk (Dutch Flower Group/Hamiplant BV).
The EPT board not only reflects the international composition of the EPT, but also, with a representative of plant production, export and wholesale and trade, all links in the horticultural supply chain.
Ms Flora Späth, previously the representative of the Dutch industry association VGB on the EPT board, is moving to Euro Plant Tray GmbH to further expand sales activities and pool development from a logistical perspective.
At their general assembly, the members of Euro Plant Tray eG also elected a new supervisory board:
Mrs Jutta Lehmann (Hornbach Baumarkt AG), Mr Christian Müller (mvb plants worldwide GmbH) and Mr Jörg Hoppe (Dehner Gartencenter GmbH) were elected for a further term of office. Thomas Berthold (FM Group BV) moves from the board of directors to the supervisory board. EPT welcomes Mr Frank Zeiler (BGI eG), Mr Patrick Dekker (VGB) and Mr Thomas Buchenau (EPS GmbH) as new member representatives on the committee.
Mrs Lehmann is re-elected as chairwoman of the supervisory board, with Mr Müller as her deputy
