From Isolation to Innovation: The Case for a Bulk Supply Community

If you run a bulk landscape supply business, you probably know the feeling. You’re often up before sunrise, juggling orders, trucks, and customers with little time to step back and think about the bigger picture. You make it work, day after day, but it can feel like you’re operating in your own world.

The truth is, most of us are.

Across the country, bulk suppliers face many of the same challenges: pricing pressures, delivery logistics, labor shortages, shifting customer expectations and we do so largely in isolation. There are “Nursery”, “Green Industry”, “Compost”, and “Lawn/Landscape” trade shows, but it feels like we’re always on the fringe. There’s hasn’t been a shared space for conversation, no industry gathering where peers can swap ideas, learn from one another, or celebrate what’s working.

We feel that this isolation has quietly held the industry back.

Shared Challenges, Separate Yards

Talk to any supplier long enough, and you’ll hear familiar themes. Everyone is trying to make each day more efficient. Everyone’s wondering how to attract and retain good drivers. Everyone’s balancing tight margins with rising expectations from customers who now expect Uber and Amazon-style transparency.

Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a natural way for bulk suppliers to connect. Networking with others (regionally) has made a difference for some, but it isn’t exactly fun to think of sharing your latest & greatest ideas when you might feel a little too-close-for-comfort, when it comes to competition.

The Spark Behind Bulk Summit

In the past few years we’ve had countless conversations with bulk suppliers at our BulkDelivery PRO (BDP) trade show booths and over beverages at various industry events, nationwide. When recapping our interactions at each event, we saw a pattern.

Independent of one’s interest in our software platform, bulk suppliers LOVED hanging out at our booth and talking shop. Conversations cover the entire spectrum of topics associated with running a bulk landscape supply business. These folks were HUNGRY to chat and often shared similar ideas, challenges, questions and concerns.

We started asking ourselves:

Where do people go to learn from people who actually understand this business?

That question stuck.

We realized the industry was long overdue for a space built specifically for those who move bulk materials — suppliers, haulers, delivery operators, and landscape pros who love and live this work every day.

That’s why we’re launching Bulk Summit, an annual gathering dedicated to connection, learning, and progress in the bulk materials industry. The first event will be held January 15–17, 2026, in Denver, Colorado.

But make no mistake, this isn’t a sales event or a trade show, it’s a conference. We can’t guess as to what it could become over time, but this year’s goal is to simply bring together the doers, builders, and problem-solvers shaping the next era of bulk supply.

We, BulkDelivery PRO, are sponsoring the event and have carved out a bit of time to answer software-specific questions on the first day. With that said, ~50% of the early signups are not existing customers of BDP. We think that’s awesome, and it validates our hunch that this industry is ready to gather.