The landscape design industry in Georgia is experiencing a burgeoning demand that currently outpaces the available supply, a situation attributed to a workforce shortage.

Gigi Tabagua, the founder of the "Santi" startup, reports that there's a noticeable disinterest among the youth in pursuing landscape architecture and design, creating a bottleneck for companies in need of skilled staff. Compounding this challenge is the country's lack of nurseries.

"Most of the seedling varieties we use are imported," Tabagua shared with "Business Partner." "Regrettably, we lack a comprehensive nursery that would allow us to purchase saplings at any given time of the year to meet our customer's needs." Tabagua is optimistic about the sector's potential, noting that landscape design is gaining popularity globally and in Georgia. He credits the pandemic with accelerating this growth, as people have become more aware of the value of spending time in healthy, well-designed environments. Regarding competition, Tabagua observes that the landscape design industry is relatively nascent in Georgia.

Although there are a handful of capable firms, they are not sufficient to satisfy the market's escalating demands. "The field is ripe for expansion," he says.

"At 'Santi,' for instance, we're seeing our customer base grow significantly every month, catering to both private individuals and businesses." Having been operational for just a few months, "Santi" is already planning to broaden its services and introduce Copenhagen-inspired green spaces across Georgia. Tabagua's inspiration for the startup came from his time studying in Denmark, where the verdant urban landscapes inspired him to transplant Scandinavian greening concepts to Georgian indoor and outdoor settings.

CBW.GE