WHAT MAKES CATERING SUCCESSFUL IN A GARDEN CENTRE

WHAT MAKES CATERING SUCCESSFUL IN A GARDEN CENTRE

Over the past couple of years, we have seen the catering sales in garden centres continue to grow. We are all aware of this because it is widely covered in the industry press and published statistics. When I speak to garden centre owners, it is clear to me that most of them would agree that investment in catering in today's market is a must, and when done, it has added value – not only to catering sales, but to retail sales too.

What has changed in the past few years? In short, pretty much everything!

Garden centres are not standing still –  they are improving! 

For starters, we have seen improvements in design within garden centre restaurants. The attention to detail and reasons for improving ambience has been a huge factor for some garden centres throughout the UK, helping to create a destination of choice that has a ‘wow’ factor. The restaurants’ interiors have developed significantly, encouraging customers to feel warm, welcomed, immersed and essentially, pleased.

An interior design project isn’t just about colour and furniture, it is also a key commercial review. There are so many garden centres that don’t get the correct seating numbers versus potential – and I see both over- and under-estimating seat numbers when working with garden centres. When developing a restaurant/cafe design, it is essential that internal and external seat numbers are correct. Can you image not being able to sit down because the cafe is packed out, or visiting a café that seems empty which ultimately affects the atmosphere.

I recently worked with our team on a garden centre restaurant interior design, and when we reviewed the seat numbers and kitchen size the business had prepared, the plan we were shown was not effective for a variety of reasons – but most importantly when we reviewed it, we identified that we could add an extra 25% of internal seats in and also increase the size of the kitchen which were both needed because the existing garden centre had the footfall to deliver higher turnover. This revisited layout gives the business approximately £170k more turnover in the cafe per year. Design is key, but so is the specific commercial review for the catering area and whole garden centre.

We have also seen garden centres develop their menus. However, this is not a one-size-fits-all. The focus on their own demographics and customer needs has meant that garden centre menus are variable across the UK. There are some stand-out, top-selling lines for pretty much all garden centres, but the menu changes have allowed garden centres to create more focused food, at a higher quality with reviewed prices, which if the quality and choice is correct, customers are happy to pay.

It has also led to improvements in staff quality – and this is especially noted back of house, where recipe management and standards have meant further staff training and sometimes introduction of a head chef.

We have also seen improvements in processes and service methods. The old queue system has moved forward, with table service or counter ordering now introduced, and these work well where the ‘restaurant’ type offer is in place. It’s not for all, but most garden centre customers expect a high level of service and without the stress of rushing an order or standing in a queue. We have also seen improvements in average transaction values by offering either table service or order at the counter after reading the menu.

Linked to the menu developments, we have seen garden centres diversify their catering offer to complement other catering areas. This concept is not rocket science, but it does take data analysis and site planning to get it right. For example, for a garden centre with a strong restaurant that is too small for their needs, creating a separate coffee shop-type offer can work very well ‘if the data says so.’ This sort of development allows a garden centre to offer its restaurant products, and then also to have a separate ‘light bite’ offer that complements the restaurant. Customers have different requirements – some want meals, and some want a drink and maybe a slice of cake. Creating different zones works for many businesses. It doesn’t have to be huge developments either, in some cases we see garden centres with cafes implementing takeaway areas, and often diversification just adds turnover without affecting the existing catering offer.

The challenging thing here is to get the customer proposition and processes correct, so not to overstaff or create expenditure where the return on investment doesn’t work. Every site will have different things to consider here, due to the size of facilities and locations, which means the best options to maximise catering turnover will vary for many. This also includes the particular placement of an additional catering offer. This may be decided by the size and location of the kitchen, or the type of offer that is being introduced – but again, this comes down to data and review of the site.

Just a side note, I have seen garden centres who want to add more catering, but on review they did not need to do it – just yet. What they needed to do was to either to improve what they were already offering first, or in another case, the capital expenditure was better spent improving the retail offer. Catering development is hot on the  list, but don’t under-estimate the whole site’s potential. There are so many aspects to consider to help maximise potential through catering, including size, ambience, choice, location and competition.

I believe garden centres continue to grow their catering because they are flexible, open to ideas and, quite simply, they give their customers what they need.

We also know that developing your catering offer will lead to improved footfall and impact positively on retail sales. This will have the most impact when the catering offer is in the right place to maximise footfall through the centre.

The one stand-out thing I have to state is that those who plan properly, looking at the whole picture within their garden centre, and therefore identify their specific opportunities, are the ones that will make the most impact.