trends
Technology and sustainability driving growth in garden retail
The UK garden products market is expected to grow by 2% annually until 2023. What is driving this growth in 2020? Alex Fordham reports
he future is looking bright for garden retail according to research from garden retail trade show GLEE, ahead of its trade show in September 2020. According to AMA Research’s 2017 Garden Market Analysis Report, the UK garden products market is currently valued at £5.7billion and is expected to benefit from a two per cent annual increase until 2023. With technology, sustainability, ethical living, and millennials driving this growth, the long- term picture offers a stark contrast to the doom and gloom that is shaping the UK high street.
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But what is accounting for this growth? Glee’s event director, Matthew Mein, observed: “Garden retail is witnessing a real resurgence at the moment, as a new wave of consumers engage with the market, and exciting new trends place gardening on both the national and international stage. We are also seeing gardening brands leading the discussion on issues such as sustainability and single use plastic, and in both cases offering viable and responsible solutions. There is no doubt that gardening is securing its longevity.”
Sustainability
In January 2018, the UK Government set out a 25-year Environment Plan on how to improve the environment over a generation by creating richer habitats for wildlife, improving air and water quality and curbing the scourge of plastic in the world’s oceans. Since then a number of initiative have been put into action including, banning plastic straws, cotton buds
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and stirrers, extend the 5p plastic bag charge, and overhauling the waste system with a comprehensive Resources and Waste Strategy. As a result, the garden industry is well placed to offer solutions to complement the Government’s plan, which was a theme at the recent Cultivating Retail conference in 2019. At the show, HTA Futures and Sustainability manager, David Denny, posed the questions to delegates that whilst concern for the environment is loud now, and rightly so, is it long-lasting? Demmy discussed areas of climate change such as rainfall and global warming and some of the ways in which this will affect the industry. With one in four consumers strongly agreeing that businesses should be penalised for failing to care for the environment, companies cannot afford to do anything. Whilst younger generations are still the ones that shout loudly about how much they care for the environment, it is now a global issue across age groups. But how can the garden retail industry capitalise? Sir Terry Leahy, former CEO of Tesco, said: “Sustainability brings new business opportunities for the garden industry to respond fourfold.
“With changing weather patterns, increasing emphasis on biosecurity and provenance, garden centres are better placed and more relevant than many high street retail outlets to meet consumer demand as they provide the solutions for many of these issues.” Sir Terry mentioned how we need to make clear the vital role that the industry plays, the plans that the industry has and then use this to challenge the government.
Anti-plastic
Similarly, the issue of single-use plastic is not going away for 2020. Ever since David Attenborough’s Blue Planet 2 documentary in 2017, consumers have grasped the concept of plastic waste and the consequences it has to marine life and the environment. Since then, a recent report by John Lewis
confirmed that environmentalism is no longer a niche but is now firmly embedded in UK retail. Consumers are making “small but significant changes in their lifestyles and routines,” said the retailer, which has forecasted that “looking after the environment is expected to remain at the forefront of shoppers’ minds in 2020”. The garden retail industry is adapting accordingly. A plethora of new products are set to flood the market in the garden industry, as brands seek to capitalise on this headwind. Take DuraOcean, from LifestyleGarden, the world’s first commercially viable mass-market outdoor chair made from nets, ropes and plastic waste recovered from the world’s ocean. Similarly, in the bird feed category Burgon & Ball has released feeders with powder-coated steel and leather hanging cord as an alternative to the ubiquitous mesh and plastic. On the association side, Vicky Nuttall, GIMA director, gave an overview of GIMA activities, highlighting the project they are currently undertaking on single-use flexible plastic packaging at the aforementioned Cultivating Retail conference. This focussed on bags for growing media, compost, lawncare, fertilisers, aggregates, and wild bird care. This equates to around 14,500 tonnes from GIMA members alone. That’s over 200 million bags of various
GCU January/February 2020
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