Increasingpea capacity g pea ee

olin Stephens has certainlyhit theground running in hisnew appointmentasManaging Director of Evergreen Garden Care. He’sjoined thecompany at an exciting time following the announcement of anew partnership with green compost manufacturer SED Services. This partnership will help Evergreen drasticallyincrease itssupply of peat-free growing media to thegardencentresector.

Ccertai y hit e ground runni his new appointment as Managing or s joined the company an announcement a new Services.

will drastically increase its supply media to the garden centre sector

“Fromapartnership perspectiveitcouldn’tbemore powerful,”says Colin. “Wehavea long-term agreementwhich opens up a50% increase in havereal intentiontogrowa drive is to makeasmuch of in the long term. Getting ou free categoryisa number

“From a partnership perspective it couldn’t be more powerful,” says Colin. “We have a agreement which a 50% our capability in an area where we have real intention to grow and support the industry. Our big to make as much of our portfolio as natural as possible in the term. out of peat and developing the peatcategory is a one priority.” partnership has come from the in autumn of 2022, of The Greener Garden Company, the UK retail arm of Bord na Móna. It’s growing media were Richmoor in Somerset and Kirkby in Merseyside, both owned and run by SED Services. to new Evergreen/SED partnership the Kirkby site is up and running again, but in the short term, production in readiness for the surge in spring sales, Colin says: “It’s all guns blazing at site at the moment. We will use this season understand and make sure we get the right products to meet the season with way more comfort than we probably have ever had ability to do before. I think we’ll assess over the next six or even 12 months how best to

The background of this closure, in the autumnof2 Company,the UK retail arm production sites in the UK KirkbyinMerseyside, botho Thanks to the newEvergre is up and running again, but Somerset is on hold.

In readinessfor thesurge gunsblazing at the Kirkby season to really understand productstomeet theseas probablyhaveeverhad the assessoverthe next three, use the Somerset site.” now visited Kirkby site and describes it as a ‘very impressive operation producing the highest quality green compost’. But seeing growing media being produced is very di to it and getting good results in the garden. Bad experiences in the past have put people off, but Colin believes this should a thing of the past. “The ingredients we’re putting into peat free is rigorously challenged and tested and we’ve got a team at the R&D facility which is the best in the business. Nothing gets past them without proper screening and an process.” He goes on to say this should then give its customers and consumers the confidence that anything going in the brand starts with rigour and structure.

Colin has nowvisited the ‘veryimpressiveoperation compost’.But seeinggrowing different to using it andgettinggoodresultsinthe garden. Bad experiencesinthe past hav thisshould be athing of the intopeatfreeisrigorously ateam at the Levington R& business.Nothing getspast an approval process.”Heg customers andconsumers in the brand starts with rigo

Striving for quality

Beforecoming intothe world of horticulture, Colin worked in the food industrysohas clarity on the value of quality

“Our ambition is to really stretch the boundaries of the quality of peat free. We need to knowwe’re bringing the best and newest ingredients that deliver the best products for all aspects of gardening.And we won’tstop striving.Wewill always challenge ourselves to findbetter materials and abetterblend with the end consumer and their usage in mind.”

On this journey to eliminatepeat, Colin knows there arecertainmilestones that needtobereached. Aftergettingthe right rawmaterials andblends, thencomes the challenge of getting themessage to gardeners.“We’vegot to continuetoreally educate consumers and garden centres on howtouse peat-freecompost.Theyneed to knowwhich onestobuy andwhy,and we also want to dispel some of the myths that maywell be floatingaroundabout peat free,”he explains. WithDavidDomoneyasbrand ambassador,Colin is confidentthis canbeachieved.

There is also the question of pricing which will inevitably be higher than bags of peat-based growing media because instead of onemain ingredient, peat-free mixescan be ablend of up to seveningredients.

Colin explains:“The interesting thing about the price mechanism is there’s always going to be avalue proposition, which clearly won’tbeasgood or deliver the same resultsfor any length of time, versus the premium brands. Our job is to makesurewe can offer all things to all men, but clearly we want to sell as much of the premium, highest quality grade that we can,ascheaply as we can. Given the kind of capability we nowhave, we canoffer all aspects, whether it’savalueproposition or fora more premium specific usage occasion.”Headdsit’sa bit likethe tonic in agin andtonic. “If you’re going to enjoyyourself make sureyou use therightbasics,”hesays adding that its worthspending alittle bit of extramoney on the compost to makethe planthappier. He believesthe more people recognise the benefits, the moretheywillsee thejustifications of spending another£1.00-£1.50 on abag of compost.

Colin hascertainly hadabusy first fewmonths with Evergreen Garden Carebut has found the industrytobeone of thefriendliest he hasworked in. “The welcome, the friendliness, the openness, the care, thepassion that comes across, especially in the garden centreworld, is likenothing I’ve ever experienced before. Seeing the emotion andprideofafamily businesswinning an award[at the GCAConference] and the camaraderie is very rare…and I’ve neverseenanindustrythat’squite as muchfun”.