One of our biggest recent projects is just coming to fruition (or should I say harvest!). We have been working with the Sarvari Research Trust since April of 2013. The Welsh breeder of blight resistant potatoes has worked to develop six unique varieties that are now ready for commercialisation. Garden Ethos is at the centre of a small team that is bringing sales, marketing, production and financial management to bear with this potentially vital family of potatoes. It has meant building up a business almost from scratch, starting with the brand, developing a strategy of both increasing production and prioritising sales across gardeners, allotment holders, organic growers and export to Ireland and much further afield. The essence of the Sarpo varieties is that they are non GM, traditionally bred to have effective resistance to potato blight and to be be low input spuds needing little or no sprays be weed smothering, reducing or removing the need for herbicides be storeable all winter without the need for refrigeration or the need for anti sprouting fumigants. The 2014 harvest is in and we are very busy developing new packaging, leaflets, PR materials and all the background support materials and systems to get Sarpo Potatoes Ltd off the a flying start Key is our website development which will be going live in time for spring orders, It’s a tall order to create a complete e commerce site from scratch and incorporate the Sarvari Research Trust as well! Watch this space
We have just completed 9 months of engaging, “learning by doing” workshops across the UK. Where a Homebase store is being refurbished we have provided 2 days of back to back events covering garden tools and Garden Care “Garden Tools” were run at wonderful venues with lawns, hedges and trees where both branded and own brand products could be tried in comparative exercises. The response was overwhelming as the majority of attendees had not had any hands on experience before! “Garden Care” followed on from tools.We used a nearby Proposition Store with the days activities moving from training room, to plant area, garden care fixture and even a product trial area in the warehouse yard! The results were beyond our expectations and we had a series of very happy store colleagues either coming away fully informed or revitalised.
We have all just returned from a great interactive experience, representing Fiskars at a well known retailers trade show. The whole team got to work together building, running and inspiring 750 store staff. Each group had exactly 13 minutes to hear about Fiskars 365th birthday (yes they really have been going in Finland since 1649) and then try out key products like Powergear pruners & loppers and the now famous weedpuller As you can see from the shots we had a stand built to use and branches to prune and “weeds” to pull. The attendees were kept happy and busy for the whole period and entered into a competition to win the famous tools for their own gardens. After 4 days of being on the stand and presenting to 180 groups we certainly knew our stuff . But then … it was easy talking about and demonstrating the best tools in the world!
We have recently been getting to grips with this new service product that appears to be meeting a need for some garden care companies. The seasonality and weather related nature of our beloved national pastime means that with consumers it is all or nothing! Our new service allows you to do one of several things .. Have your out of hours emergency calls taken and answered by a first aid qualified, gardening expert who can handle the matter with empathy Programme in periods during the season (during periods of staff leave for example) when we can answer calls, emails and even letters Use the service on an ad hoc basis when the queries start to backup! All our staff are gardening experts, have worked with garden care products for many years and are first aiders. If you look at what we can do and our reasonable costs then it could well mean savings on having to employ temporary staff or using a haz chem type emergency service (hardly the kind of response for a concerned consumer). Contact us to see what we could do to help.
Garden Ethos has been working with Sarvari Research Trust who have bred the Sarpo (pronounced Sharpo) family of spuds since April 2013. Our aim is to launch the new trading company, bring production up to the point where we can start to meet the demand that has been created! A dynamic business plan has been developed and the various channels that Sarpo can serve have been researched. Sarpo potatoes are resistant to the devastating late blight as well as viruses that lower yields. They have fast growing foliage that quickly smothers weeds and can be stored without refrigeration or fogging with anti sprouting chemicals. All this has been achieved using traditional (Non GM) breeding methods. What’s even better for the grower are the very high yields that are obtained. Its a win win situation. With all the skittles lined up , it was time to move onto funding. We have been running a 3 month crowd funding campaign through Buzzbnk (the ethical crowd fund platform) and have been delighted to achieve our first funding milestone with the help of multiple donors and lenders Buzzbnk . This will now allow us to move to the next stage of creating the brand and ID ready to start trading the 2014 crop come autumn. The fund is still open .. why not visit our site above and join the crowd. The overall aim of Sarpo Potatoes Ltd is to get the Sarpo varieties into the hands of gardeners, allotment holders, organic and green veg box scheme growers, export customers and eventually the ware crop growers of the UK and ROI. Profits from the business will flow to the Research Trust Sarvari whose function will be to continue the breeding work, campaign for sustainable potato production and “release” these wonderful, low input spuds to places in the world that need them. Sarpo had another boost recently when independent top Chef Gelf Anderson of River Cottage fame, tested and raved about the quality of the Sarpo varieties. They are now going to be test growing for their own kitchens this season. River Cottage Report
This project is part financed by Gwynedd Council and the Welsh Government through the Local Investment Fund and the European Union - European Regional Development Fund.
Mae'r prosiect hwn wedi ei rhan ariannu gan Gyngor Gwynedd a Llywodraeth Cymru drwy'r Gronfa Ddatblygu Lleol a chan yr Undeb Ewropeaidd - E.R.D.F