Keen consumers still like their seeds presented in an A-Z format – despite the industry’s attempts to segment displays by sub-category –a leading marketing manager said this week.

In a presentation to journalists of the impressively stylish re-branding of the Johnsons Seeds range, Ian Cross, Retail Marketing manager for the Mr Fothergill’s group, said that while a great picture was confirmed by their latest research as the consumer’s top requirement on the front of a seed packet, the plant’s name came next – “and they tell us that A-Z by name is the way to go”.  The exceptions were herbs and wild flowers, which customers expected to see in their own sub-categories. Even organic seeds could take their place in the A-Z, Cross said.

The re-designed Johnsons packets will continue to include a pictorial plastic label, but it will now be on the reverse, to ensure clutter-free impact on the front.

Instructions on the reverse have been kept to “an absolute minimum”, Cross added, to avoid counter-productive information overload in the 700-variety range, which has, he said, been welcomed by the trade as “more ‘gardening’ and more ‘premium’” than its predecessor.

Segmenting, however, continues in the Mr Fothergill’s range itself, with the new GroBox range targeting ease and convenience for novices. You just plant the entire box, cover with soil and water it in for the nearest thing to an instant herb, salad, veg or flower garden. There is a version for children.

Also new is the GroTray, essentially a propagator in a plastic film bag. The kit includes a growing tray, disc of coir compost and a sachet of vegetable seed. Once the compost has been rehydrated, the seeds sown and the tray sealed inside the bag, it doesn’t need watering again until the seeds have germinated, thanks to the recycling condensation. It’s aimed at novice growers.

The company has revealed that its packets of poppy ‘Victoria Cross’ seeds sold to commemorate WW1 had been its top-seller over the past two years. With more than 160,000 sold, the 25p charity donation from each sale raised £15,360 for the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, this year, taking the three-year total past £40,000. Sales of the ‘Give Nature a Home’ range resulted in a donation of more than £19,000 to the RSPB.

Mr Fothergill stockists will be reminded over the coming weeks that 2016 is Fleuroselect’s Year of the Tomato and Year of the Cosmos. There are special display stands to make the most of the opportunity.