KEY ISSUES FOR GARDEN CENTRE CATERERS TACKLED AT FORUM

Experts in their fields have shared advice for garden centre caterers looking to weather the challenges of 2022, including the soaring costs of energy and food, boosting customer engagement, and importance of protecting the planet.

The inaugural Garden Centre Catering Forum was held on Wednesday 12 October at Haberdashers Hall in London. Its aim was to not only consider the key issues facing care catering, but also act as a celebration of the sector, with the Garden Centre Catering Awards 2022 presented at the end of the day.

The forum began with a talk from Tammy Woodhouse, the chairman of the Garden Centre Association. She shared with the delegates comparisons of different catering models, and addressed the current challenges faced by garden centres. 

Tammy Woodhouse, Garden Centre Association

Next on-stage was Hannah Dean-Wood, engagement manager at Planet Mark. She was animated in her delivery of how organisations can unlock their potential for positive environmental change. Imploring to her audience that “you can’t manage what you don’t monitor,” Dean-Mark shared ways to boost garden centres into business that not only thrive, but also protect the environment.

Hannah Dean-Wood, Planet Mark

With restaurant and café operations an increasingly vital revenue stream for the garden centre sector, in the face of uncomfortably steep increases in overheads, the pressure is truly on to find new ways to drive increased spend, and improve the customer experience.

Our next speaker, Jonathan Grant, head of technical sales at Zonal, shared how technology that’s geared up to handle the unique demands of food and beverage operations is key to this.

Jonathan Grant, Zonal

This concluded the first part of the morning's sessions, and delegates took a short recess to discuss the insightful topics covered thus far, while sampling refreshments from the event's exhibitors.

Delegates enjoying lively discussion on the morning break

After the break, KAM’s Laurence Brown was the first speaker to resume proceedings. He delved into the three key trends for 20023 and beyond in terms of customers, their diets and their spending habits.

Laurence Brown, KAM

Following Brown, Karen Fewell was next on stage to enlighten her captive audience on the importance of story telling. She explored the psychology behind interacting with consumers and how to build meaningful connections with your customers through what you post. 

Karen Fewell, Digital Blonde

Fewell's talk was followed by a lunchbreak, but not before the exclusive announcement to delegates that the new website for Garden Centre Catering magazine had just launched. 

Delegates were then treated to lunch, courtesy of the exhibitors, and after this returned eager to hear from our afternoon's speakers, first up of which were Caroline Benjamin and Jaqui McPeake. They discussed near miss reporting of allergens - how it can enhance the safety of your business and encourage best practice with your staff.

Caroline Benjamin and Jaqui McPeake, HASUK

Keren Feeney, catering & food sales director at Klondyke Group was the day's final speaker. Lifting the room to a place of positivity, she discussed recovery after covid, what is important to customers now, and how we can navigate the issues of recruitment and rising costs to ensure the future is bright.

Keren Feeney, Klondyke Group answering delegates' questions

Closing the forum for the day Kimberley Montellier de Selincourt, editor of Garden Centre Catering magazine, said: "Thank you all for attending, to our generous sponsors for making today a reality and to our speakers for sharing their time and knowledge with us.

"Whether you implement new processes to near miss reporting of allergens, examine ways to mitigate food inflation or take a more considered approach to your social media, we hope you’ll all leave today with practical tips you are keen to put to use in your kitchens."

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