Pantone breaks mold, announces two colors for 2016

Since 2000, the Pantone Color Institute has designated a color of the year based on trend forecasting across a variety of industries and markets, including fashion, travel and housing. For the past 15 years, they’ve selected one hue, but for 2016, the color experts have broken their own mold and announced two shades as the collective PANTONE Color of the Year, and a specific plant was part of the inspiration.

Thinkstockphotos.com

Soft tones Rose Quartz and Serenity, reminiscent of the light pink and light blue hues used in boy and girl baby announcements, clothes and other items historically used to designate the genders, are expected to make waves this year.

The color trend announcement can impact everything from nail polish to clothing to living room wall paint, and this year, Pantone said it wanted calm, soothing colors to combat stress and anxiety and promote a sense of well-being.

Initial inspiration for the sky-blue and cotton-candy pink shades may have come from a naturally peaceful space — a garden. In an interview with American Public Media’s Marketplace, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, pointed out the blending of faded pink and blue hues on a hydrangea plant in her garden when talking about how they determined the Color of the Year.

“‘Hydrangeas, I think, are sometimes more beautiful when they’ve died than when they’re alive,’ Eiseman said — pointing out shades of pink and blue that still tinge the blossoms — the colors, as it turns out, that she and her team picked for 2016,” Marketplace reported.

The goal of the color selection was not to reinforce color stereotypes within genders, but blend and challenge them, according to Pantone.

“In many parts of the world we are experiencing a gender blur as it relates to fashion, which has in turn impacted color trends throughout all other areas of design,” according to Pantone’s press release about the announcement. “This more unilateral approach to color is coinciding with societal movements toward gender equality and fluidity, the consumer’s increased comfort with using color as a form of expression, a generation that has less concern about being typecast or judged and an open exchange of digital information that has opened our eyes to different approaches to color usage.”

These tones are also more muted than some of the hues Pantone has selected recently, perhaps signaling a return to the popularity of softer shades of pastel-colored plants that some breeders noted during the 2015 California Spring Trials.

Dow Chemical, DuPont reach deal on merger

Dow Chemical and Dupont agreed to combine their operations into one company that will subsequently split into three, marking one of the largest mergers in the history of business.

COURTESY OF DOW CHEMICAL

With collective market capitalization of $130 billion, the combined company would be known as DowDuPont, the companies said in a December press statement.

After completing the deal, they said they would pursue a split into three companies — one focused on agriculture, one on material science and one on specialty products. They estimated it would take up to two years to complete the split.

Until then, shareholders of each company will hold 50 percent of the combined giant.

Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris will become executive chairman of the new entity, while DuPont CEO Edward Preen will become chair and CEO.

COURTESY OF DUPONT

The merger of equals is still subject to regulatory approval across the globe. U.S. regulators have pumped the brakes on several major deals in recent months, including the Staples-Office Depot accord.

The companies expect to close the deal in the second half of 2016.

The agriculture company would have combined revenue of $19 billion, the material science company $51 billion and the specialty products company $13 billion.

Read the full article from USA Today at http://usat.ly/1mCa8ip.

TruGreen will buy Scotts LawnService

NEW YORK – During its investor and analyst day on December 10, 2015, Scotts Miracle-Gro announced a definitive agreement to sell off its lawn care division to TruGreen for $200 million in cash and a 30 percent stake.

The acquisition comes on the heels of record sales for both companies. According to data presented by CFO Randy Coleman, Scotts LawnService posted a record revenue of $289 million, and TruGreen grossed $1 billion. With the acquisition, TruGreen’s local network of branches and franchise locations will serve approximately 2.3 million residential and commercial customers across the U.S. and Canada with lawn, tree and shrub care, representing approximately $1.3 billion in revenue. TruGreen president and CEO David Alexander will lead the new company.

“This opportunity further accelerates the transformation TruGreen has experienced in the last two years achieving significant gains in revenue, customer growth and employee satisfaction,” Alexander said.

Clayton, Dublier and Rice, the private equity company that purchased TruGreen from ServiceMaster in 2011, will own 70 percent of the combined companies, which will operate under the TruGreen brand. As a result of the sale, Scotts will own 30 percent of TruGreen, hold two of the seven board seats and take $200 million in cash. Jim Gimeson, currently president of Scotts LawnSerivce, will move to TruGreen as chief operating officer.

Coleman said he expects the sale to close sometime in March 2016.

Scotts, which had considered acquiring TruGreen in the past, retains options to participate as a seller in a future IPO or sale to a third party, and reserves the option to purchase 100 percent of the new TruGreen.

“I can’t tell you what course we’ll take right now,” Coleman said. “The decision we make down the road will be based on what’s best for our shareholders.”

John Compton, CD&R operating partner, will continue to serve as TruGreen’s chairman.

AmericanHort releases insights from SHIFT initiative

COLUMBUS, OHIO – AmericanHort announced in December the release of the publication An Introduction to SHIFT, a downloadable PDF containing the nearly 30 insights and recommendations from their SHIFT initiative, according to a press release from AmericanHort. These insights and recommendations present all businesses in the horticulture industry with insightful and tangible takeaways to prepare businesses for future and current consumers.

Courtesy of AmericanHort

In the fall of 2014, AmericanHort launched a research initiative known then as “The Future of Garden Retail.”

“It became immediately apparent, however, that this project went far beyond the scope of retail alone — it touches each and every part of our industry. It was also clear that the results of this research would challenge us to ‘shift’ our thinking, our approach to business, and our mindsets about consumers,” according to the release.

Within the 70 pages of An Introduction to SHIFT, readers will be encouraged to see both business and industry in a new light; that is, from the eyes of consumers. Furthermore, the resulting insights and recommendations present inspiration, ideas, and tangible applications for businesses at all stages and of all sizes.

Over the course of the coming year, AmericanHort will focus on three of the insights — Customer Profiles (Insight “Customers have distinct buying motivations”), Language (Insight “Garden retail language isn’t consumer facing”), and Reasons to Buy (Insight “Opportunities for impulse buys should be strategically incorporated into a retail layout”). Through webinars, whitepapers, educational sessions, articles, and more, AmericanHort will lead businesses through these insights, helping them to develop strategies tailored to individual businesses and their specific customers. These in-depth learning opportunities will be made exclusively available to AmericanHort members.

Syngenta launches two new fungicides for ornamental market

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Syngenta is launching two unique fungicides for the ornamental market, each containing a new active ingredient. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted federal registration to the fungicides’ active ingredients Solatenol and oxathiapiprolin, with first product sales expected in early 2016. State registrations are pending.

COURTESY OF SYNGENTA

With Solatenol, Syngenta is introducing an advanced generation SDHI (succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor) that offers broad-spectrum control of damaging foliar diseases and soil-borne pathogens.

Oxathiapiprolin, the second new active ingredient, provides control of diseases caused by downy mildew and Phytophthora spp. It is an excellent rotation partner for growers who battle these problematic diseases and face resistance concerns.

“Adding Solatenol and oxathiapiprolin to the Syngenta Plant Protection portfolio gives greenhouse and nursery growers more innovative, effective and economical solutions for the disease challenges they face,” said Howard Jaekle, fungicide brand manager for Syngenta.

Solatenol will be available to growers as Mural fungicide, which will be a combination with azoxystrobin. Oxathiapiprolin will launch as Segovis fungicide.