This contest is designed to recognize innovative and novelty products for the home gardener. With the reach of NGB’s social media and email lists, we have a great opportunity to really promote the program winners to consumers.

NGB will award the Green Thumb Award to NGB members’ garden products that are unique, technologically innovative, solve a gardening problem or provide a gardening opportunity and appeal to gardeners. Winners will be chosen by a panel of industry professionals that are also NGB members.

All NGB members are invited to enter their products and that will be readily available for consumers to purchase in the following year. The Green Thumb Award recognizes outstanding new garden products providing a way to validate and promote those products to consumers.

 Project Outline:

• The program will include live goods and hard goods in order to properly relaunch the program as closely as possible to the format DGA used.
• Live goods will have four categories (NGB retains flexibility of the number of winners in each category; board will decide on # of winners in each category):
  1. Edibles
  2. Annuals
  3. Perennials
  4. Flowering Shrubs
• Hard goods (things that don’t grow) can be multiple categories in future years depending on entries: Garden Tools, Garden Décor, etc.
• Product and Variety submissions happen at the same time as members submit products for current New Variety and Garden Product programs.
• Products can only be submitted once.
  1. NGB will let the members know if duplication happens and it’s up to the member if they want to leave it as a duplicate or choose something different.
• How to define “new”?
  1. New to the industry in 2022 and available to consumers for purchase in 2023.
  2. For retailers, should still be new to consumers.
• No assessments or fees for winners.
• AAS will submit the AAS Winners for that year, starting with National Winners
• A Judging panel made up of NGB members will decide on winners in each category.
• Entry:
  1. Photos are key and that’s what is used to evaluate entry. One photo per entry
  2. Videos are optional but very helpful to evaluate entry.
  3. Online entry form for all categories.

Member Submission Allowances:

• Platinum ($5,000) – a total of 4 new products in any category: hard goods, edible live goods & ornamental live goods
• Gold ($3,500) – a total of 3 new products in any category: hard goods, edible live goods & ornamental live goods
• Silver ($2,000) – a total of 2 new products in any category: hard goods, edible live goods & ornamental live goods.
• Sponsor ($1,000) – 1 new product in any category: hard goods, edible live goods & ornamental live goods.
• Member ($500) – limit of 1 product at a fee of $250

Timeline:

• Summer/Fall – NGB office solicits for new products and new varieties, same as always and that’s when NGB members decide if they want to enter those items into the Green Thumb Award
• September 30 – Deadline for submission
• November – Panel of judges narrows all submissions to the decided upon number of winners
  • Panels (one panel per category) made up of NGB members (3-5) that judge all entries
• December 1 – Green Thumb Award winners notified
• December 30 – Green Thumb web page goes live
• January – Green Thumb Award promotions begin
• Summer – Award Winners recognized at Summer Summit
• Future – All past winners will remain on the NGB website for 5 years.

Green Thumb Entry Forms: