I am happy to have convinced Christoph Killgus, a university mate and todays chief editor of the horticulture magazine DEGA to leave his office in Stuttgart for a business trip to the region of Allgäu. Usually wehere in the south are rather second choice if it comes to ornamental production, since by far the biggest capacities in Germany lie in lowerrhine area. 

But nevertheless, facing the pittoresque Alpes in the backyard, there are still interesting and successful business models found like the rather old style company of Lukas Hauf in Simmerberg.

Lukas and already his father are always open for new ideas to keep their local company running for the future. That´s why Hauf is the ideal partner for the new online platform www.riplant.me to sell pot plants regionally and sustainably produced in their greenhouses. Another partner, the packaging pioneers of BayPack in Stetten, developped a mail carton box suitable for plants with no plastic and being fully recycable. Their production is state-of-the art and fully automized.

At the end of our tour we visited the heather breeding and production company Hiedl in Altusried. This family company breeds since generations Calluna and Erica-species and produces every year millions of young plants to supply growers worldwide with their quality products. RiPlant AG has been mandated from Hiedl recently to develop the new Ericabrand "Heidi´s" and to support their sales.