Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Marketing within the business
Create an edible section in the garden centre where all edibles are located to-
gether. In the USA one of the biggest trends is combining ornamental and
edible plants in containers for consumers. Edibles are the second biggest
plant category in the USA at the time of writing and experienced a 27% in-
crease in sales in 2013.
Highlight the local, more unusual produce they have for sale within the
edibles department;
Hold food-growing classes that can be attended by locals and visitors;
Network with local celebrity chefs and provide recipes next to the
produce;
Introduce locally made kitchenware and utensils where they are available;
and
Ensure the restaurant in the garden centre serves locally sourced
produce.
Nurseries
Purists would define nurseries as operations that grow the plants on their
premises and either sell directly to the public or sell to retailers who then
sell to the public. This means that some wholesale nurseries will not be
interested in food tourism and will actually deter visitors from coming to
their nursery.
In the 1950s and 1960s, many nurseries were started by farmers who
changed from growing food crops to growing ornamental plants as at the
time that strategy proved to be more profitable. Those plants often ended up
in independent garden centres.
As we have said, the market has changed again and many of those
growers have now reverted back to growing food plants, often to be sold
in farmers' markets or garden centres. They have gone the full circle, and
have to relearn the growing skills of producing food plants for the new
consumer.
Food tourists are only interested in retail nurseries. Retail nurseries
are nurseries that grow plants and open their gate to the public who
can buy direct from the grower. In theory this should guarantee that the
plants are locally grown, but remember some growers buy in plants from
other nurseries, sometimes in other countries and then 'grow them on' in
their own nursery for sale. Retail nurseries may allow the food tourist to
buy local fruit and vegetable plants grown by the local grower and there-
fore get extra advice and know that the plants are authentic to the area.
When considering nurseries food tourists may also consider mail order
nurseries and online nurseries; these can often be an excellent source of
more unusual plants.
 
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search