Golden Acres Nursery has announced that it will no longer be producing nursery stock in favour of concentrating its focus on bedding plants.
The Dorset-based firm explained that the move will allow it to boost its sales of bedding plants and rebrand these products ‘to sell through a larger base of plant retailers.’
GAN has been stocking both nursery stock and bedding for around a quarter of a century, but will now be removing approximately 3,000 lines from its range and expanding bedding to around five acres of heated production space.
The firm will additionally be installing a temperature controlled germination room, which should offer improved control of conditions for seed germination and chitting. This adds to a second transplanting line which was recently installed at the nursery.
As part of the support plan for bedding, the new packs will have branded handles, which are said to be popular with retail customers and allow the company to introduce barcoding at the beginning of the production process. The new brand name has not yet been announced.
Golden Acres’ group operations director Simon Edwards said that the focus on bedding meant that the company can ‘simplify the business and increase our specialisation.’
“We see better profits in bedding than nursery stock and there’s an added benefit of ironing out some of the clashes associated with growing both lines.”
He added that the specialisation would improve the quality of bedding products and customer service.
GAN stressed that its wholesale and cash and carry operations will not be affected by the change, and those divisions will continue to sell a wide range of UK and European nursery stock. The GAN trade show will also be unaffected.
The company will be rebranding its three wholesale delivery lorries during the changeover.
No comments yet