grow your own
Provenance and environmental concerns are increasingly important to consumers in the GYO market, with recyclability of planters one area where suppliers are striving to improve
demonstrations work better and our most successful ones are where we’ll take our own seed varieties, talk through how to grow them, harvest them and eat them and make a recipe using that variety - seed to plate again! Customers love this type of joined up thinking and speaking to us afterwards.
“Garden centres need to move away from the same old, same old and start thinking about who their customers are. Franchi are the only vegetarian- or vegan-approved seed company in the UK and a vegan or vegetarian will buy our seeds if they see the logo. It seems obvious, but is only obvious when someone starts doing it!”
‘Grow your own is enjoying its moment in the sun’
Looking ahead, the trends behind the resurgence of grow your own are unlikely to go away any time soon.
‘A new breed of younger, urban and gastro gardeners’
Consumer expectations around food have shifted, believes Paolo, and that expectation has implications for the grow your own market. “10 years ago no one looked at labels on food,”
he says. “Now you don't buy anything without looking at the ingredients - are they gluten free, organic, free from, natural, Slow Food, vegan, regional, ethical, vegetarian, certified PDO/PGI etc. and asking about the provenance. “People are starting to ask these questions now about seeds and whilst we tick all the ethical boxes, especially being the only Slow Food UK or vegan-approved seed company in the UK, I believe that garden centres in general have not recognised how important things like vegan certification on seeds is.” Paolo continues: “The market for seeds is becoming more and more sophisticated, yet in my opinion not all seed companies or garden centres are keeping up with the trends. I do think that the big horticultural traditions (the RHS, Incredible Edibles and Eden Project spring to mind) are changing with the times and reflecting this cool modern view of horticulture - in the same way that the British food movement is so exciting right now, with young British chefs who are passionate about food driving the market forward, though always with some welcome Italian, Indian and other positive influences behind them. “We've always worked with chefs like Antonio Carluccio and at the moment Aldo Zilli, but increasingly we're working with the likes of Borough Market, the Eden Project and Planet Organic, Mercato Metropolitano, Bar Termini and other very cool partners who appeal to a new breed of younger, urban and gastro gardeners.”
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Tapping into this energy and enthusiasm can help bring new customers into garden centres and there is a broader opportunity to develop a long-standing relationship with GYO customers, Paolo adds.
He says: “All garden centres do grow your own - they get you in, flog you some seeds, soil and a spade and the garden centre doesn’t see you again. But how many do you know that do a preserve your own area when GYO has
Heather says: “Grow your own, for many years perhaps a slightly unfashionable sibling to the ‘Chelsea’ world of glamorous gardens, is enjoying its moment in the sun.” However, there is an obvious upcoming challenge that will affect the entire industry. “Brexit will have a negative impact on the horticultural industry in the UK whether you are importing or exporting,” says Paolo. “The key problems for us all are uncertainty and inflation - whether you voted leave or remain, you are affected. If seed prices increase - and they have because of the exchange rate, then food prices go up. 100% of food, seed, plants are carried by road and petrol is purchased in dollars. It is not hard to see where this is going.
Garden centres need to move away from the same old, same old and start thinking about who their customers are
finished, with preserving tips and recipes, seed varieties for preserving, recipes, passata machines and Bormioli quattro stagioni jars? This is something we're increasingly working with garden centres to set up - and it works, if done by people who understand the whole seed to plate mentality.” This approach also allows for more theatre in-
store, Paolo believes, and increases engagement. “We have a 1968 'Franchi' Fiat 500 which we use for in-store promotions (it literally fits inside a garden centre’s double doors!),” he says. “We park it with our seed stands, a bit of Volare and Hey Mambo, recipe cards and lots of gardening advice on what to sow now, how to preserve etc. and the seeds fly out. People remember things like that but I believe we're the only seed company that offers that service to our local customers.”
He continues: “Whilst we have a cookery demo theatre in our London warehouse, talks in garden centres are difficult. Cookery
“On the one side, seeds sell better in a crisis than in a boom. But then trading conditions are worse and even exporters will not benefit from the favourable exchange rate because of this and that is being borne out by all the figures, as well as potential for further shortages, delays and price rises. I think it will be very tough for our industry and will be a case of damage limitation at best.” Despite the challenges, both from wider issues beyond the industry and changes within, Dan believes there should be optimism given the British public’s affection for growing. “More new products and trends will come along, and whilst it will undoubtedly produce some casualties along the way, we can all be confident that there will always be a need for our services and products going forward,” he says. “It may mean that we all have to adapt to new and improved ways of working, but gardening, and in particular the GYO market, will always be a popular pastime.”
GCU March 2018
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