In This Issue
Rosebourne makes its first acquisition near Andover
A passion for catering, plants and Christmas are the cornerstones of a garden centre business
Ferndale’s Neil Grant wins Guardian Leader of the Year Award
Perfect plant retailing will be rewarded at The National Plant Show - last call for nominations
Haskins appoints new board members
Has your inspector called yet?
Fiskars and James Wong wow at Wyevale
HTA Futures is the venue for The Greatest Garden Centre Team Awards 2015
Retail Department Head - Garden Furniture - London
Area Sales Manager - Hertfordshire
Plant Area Supervisor - London - Boutique Garden Centre
Grower / Production Manager - Worcestershire
Poplar Tree Garden Centre appoints new General Manager
Garden activity lights up sales
Broad beans and peas join bestsellers
Irish Moss Peat is a top seller
It's been a great year for outdoor living sales, but which garden centre teams are The Greatest?
HTA National Plant show is the home for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Rose launch
Squire's Garden Centre select winning flowerbed design
Squire’s charity bike ride raises £310 for Momentum
Hylands House to bloom with new floral show
And the winner of the #GardenSecrets competition is...
GIMA partner launches Travel Booking Service
Johnsons new Micro Snips a cut above for Microgreens
The LOFA office is moving to Waterlooville in Hampshire
Will you be one of The Greatest Plant Retailing Teams announced on June 23rd?
Bestsellers Top 50 charts every week
Buy your subscription to GTN Bestsellers
All the latest news from the world of garden centre catering
Talking ‘real food’ on day two of the HTA Catering Conference
Great catering teams recognised in The Greatest Catering Awards
Special award for the F&B Wyevale Head Office team
Keeping ahead of the game - day one at the HTA Catering Conference
Coffee plants are a bestseller at Ayletts
Perrywood are The Greatest Afternoon Tea Experience Team
Timmermans Chef Team are The Greatest
lunch! 2015: Visitor registration opens for biggest ever show
Keeping ahead of the game at the HTA Catering Conference
The love flows with The Greatest Front of House team at Fron Goch
Casual Dining shortlisted for Best Trade Show Award
Local butchers are The Greatest Catering Suppliers
Situations Vacant
Retail Department Head - Garden Furniture - London
£20k -£25k per annum
Read more»
Area Sales Manager - Hertfordshire
£27k -£30k per annum
Read more»
Plant Area Supervisor - London - Boutique Garden Centre
£18k - £19k per annum
Read more»
Grower / Production Manager - Worcestershire
In the region of £35k + per annum
Read more»
Send us your news and great ideas

Contact us with your news.  Email neil.pope@tgcmc.co.uk, or trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or call the GTN News team on 01733 775700

Awards Logo 2015 CMYK v2.jpg
Sponsored by:

 





HTA-Colour.jpg

In Association with:

HTACAT~1.jpg

NPS Logo.jpg

HTA Garden Futures.png

 


Talking ‘real food’ on day two of the HTA Catering Conference



Day two of the HTA Catering Conference, sponsored by Vision Commercial Kitchens, and held at The Belfry in West Midlands, was all about real food. Tracking food trends, staying local, gluten free and creating a sense of place were all on the menu.

Tracking food trends globally and how they evolve in the What’s hot and what’s not session, Neil Moodley, Head of Bespoke Trends at thefoodpeople, introduced the delegates to emerging core trends - consumer, macro and food, that are crucial to understanding consumers. Right now there are 16 hot trends for 2015 to try in your garden centre – such as ugly vegetables, round the world breakfast, modernising classic recipes, kids’ menu makeover, and condiments galore.

The panel session, chaired by Trevor Pfeiffer, Garden Trade News, encouraged garden centres to use vouchers, particularly bounce back smart phone vouchers and special offers like BOGOF in their restaurants to get ‘bums on seats’. “Follow these with strong point-of sale and campaigns like Love the Plot you've Got and you can turn catering customers who aren’t always good gardeners into garden centre customers”, said the panel.

Local produce improves income, was a key point that came out of the Staying local session from Emma Milton, Catering manager and Beverley Spindler, Marketing manager, Mains of Drum - a family business accredited to the Visit Scotland Programme.
Close the circle was the key message from Brian Turner, Food buyer, Chatsworth Estate, in terms of telling the story of the product from field to plate. Overall Brian advised that while provenance and traceability are good – quality needs to be top notch too.

Don’t get left behind, capitalise on gluten free (GF) as it’s here to stay, was a key tip from Rebecca Rayner, Joint managing director, Glebe farm Foods. Every 10th customer is looking for GF and they are loyal, so what are you offering? There is much more to offer than a sad looking cupcake.

The delegates also took advantage of workshops that asked are you making the most of your menu, are you equipped for success, and are you optimising your offer and growing sales?

A sense of place was the key term to take away from the keynote speakers. Sarah Dunning, Chief executive, The Westmorlandland Family, told the inspiring story of her family owned motorway service area food business ‘Tebay’ in Cumbria, complete with farm shop and kitchen, and currently expanding with a £40 million project Gloucestershire. Her advice to those following a similar path was to know your purpose in order to create a real sense of place and provide an experience that feels part of the local area.



Valentine Warner, TV chef and author, closed day two with a passionate talk about understanding the link between food and nature, so you can put a sense of the environment on a plate. Like Sarah, Valentine emphasised the point of creating a sense of place and eating from the situation you stand in. His advice was to understand locality and what’s around you through research.

< >
HTA CAtering Conference 2015 01.jpg
HTA CAtering Conference 2015 01.jpg
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Del.icio.us Digg
Newsletter Marketing Powered by Newsweaver