Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
food offer. Others still have a long way to go in gaining credibility with
the discerning food tourist, but it is rapidly changing;
•
Kitchen utensils as a new retail category. As the food and gardening cat-
egories come closer together it is inevitable that kitchen utensils will be-
come part of the product mix. To a garden centre operator there is no
difference between a garden tool, such as a spade, and a kitchen tool such
as a cheese slicer. Both provide the total solution to today's consumer;
•
The development of the edible garden department rather than rows of
plants laid out using botanical names. This helps create the experience
the consumer is looking for. Plus the average sale per customer tends to
increase as consumers can see a range of products at the same time that
appeals to their specific buying needs.
This means that forward-thinking independent garden centre operators
are now becoming part of the culinary food tourism journey as more and
more garden centres introduce food as an important part of their retail mix.
The leading independent garden centres belong to IGCA (The Inter-
national Garden Centre Association;
www.intgardencentre.org
)
. These
centres will often have the IGCA logo displayed at the entrance to their
garden centre. The logo indicates they are recognized by their peers as one of
the best independent garden centres in the world.
Food tourists are often keen gardeners and often have an edible garden at
home in some form. During the last few years they have probably converted
more and more of their garden over to edibles and reduced the amount of
ornamental plants. They like to be able to go into their garden to gather the
freshest fruit, vegetables or herbs for a meal.
As food tourists they visit many of the activities mentioned in this topic,
but not only do they want to purchase produce they often also like to take a
plant home and grow that produce in their own backyard. In the consumer's
mind the garden centre is part of the food adventure and a visit to a local
garden centre will often be included on their itinerary to see what edible
plants they might find there. Astute independent garden centres take advan-
tage of this trend and use it as a marketing opportunity.
They will consider the following strategies.
Marketing outside of the business
•
Promote their business in local tourist food magazines;
•
Network with the local producers to develop cross-marketing opportunities;
•
Cross-promote venues at other food tourist destinations; and
•
Partner with local food activities, whether that be a community garden
or farmers' market.
