In This Issue
HTA catering day serves up success for 250
Redundancy fears as TGCG undertake staffing review at Garden & Leisure centres
'The secret of great margins? Put a lot of veg on the plate...'
Cultivating business solutions together – Classiflora-Zelari 2014 Open Days
Charlie Dimmock revealed as new face of Planting Magic
Dragons' Den company launches Raised Bed Rescue campaign
Six products battle for orchid drip feeder sales
Prestopets has 35 years experience in the fishkeeping industry
How catering impacts on the bottom line
Bents smashed fundraising total with £17k donation
Garden centres get into the Valentine's Day spirit
Consumer confidence boost but will the weather be on side?
Newbridge Nurseries gets top national award
Jude Law, David Tennant and other stars present the Garden Re-Leaf Day quiz for 2014
Senior Buyer wanted by Greenfingers.com
Man breaks into Allwoods Nursery garden centre in Cheam but steals nothing
Tomato fever sets in already
Get involved in Garden Re-Leaf Day with 'Loose Change'
Joe Awome appointed Sales Customer Support for Easitill
Good week for growing media sales...but let's not get carried away
Award nomination for HTA apprentice
Gardman initiative helps consumers migrate to no-net Fat Snax
New GIMA Member Popadome has a new solution to garden pest problem
Slugs and snails are the most 'detested' pests
More pictures of Garden Centre Christmas displays than have ever been published before
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Situations Vacant
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Having proven its economic model, Greenfingers.com is now looking to double the scale of its business in the next three years. Part of that expansion includes the recruitment of a Senior Buyer...
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HTA catering day serves up success for 250



An attendance of more than 250 at this week’s HTA Catering Conference in Coventry was proof, if any were needed, of how increasingly seriously the garden centre industry now takes its catering credentials. It was by far the association's best attended catering day to date.

Delegates from garden centres big and small enjoyed presentations embracing best-practice in coffee shop and restaurant management, case studies and consumer trends.

HTA chief executive Carol Paris opened the day with a reminder of how far garden centre catering had developed in the past few years. In 2007/2008, 40 per cent of HTA members had catering of any sort, with an estimated turnover of £130m. Now, she said, catering at member centres totalled £200m of direct household spending and accounted for 15% to 20% of turnover. ”But the real value of our catering is more to do with how you differentiate your garden centre,” she added.

Trends to watch included ethical consumption, local sourcing, the ever-growng coffee culture and baking, affordable treats and gourmet food. Catering was an “opportunity to drive footfall – there are few better ways to do it” – and had already provided garden centres with a way through the biggest economic crisis since 1929.

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