Garsons has created a complete horticultural centre on one site in Esher and another in Titchfield, keeping one step ahead of the retail game to carve a niche for itself with a premium farm shop, the largest pick-your-own farm in the UK, in Esher, and a comprehensive garden centre.
Four generations of the Thompson family have produced fruit and vegetables on the farm in Esher, since 1871. The business started out with the formation of Thompson Brothers Borough Market Ltd, on the London market, which sold fruit and vegetables grown on the Esher farm. But the changing shape of the fresh produce trade saw the business adapt to market demands, with the opening of Garsons Farm Shop, pyo farm and garden centre on the Esher site, in the 1970s and 1980s.
Garsons is still very much a family-run business, with Peter Thompson overseeing marketing and food, his brother Bob in charge of production, and his daughter Claire James running the Titchfield site. Their cousins, Ian and Derek Richardson, run the garden centre and administrative side of the business respectively. The management is supported by a 170-strong team.
Total turnover for Garsons across all its two sites has reached £12 million. The annual turnover for the farm shop at Esher has reached £3m, with £1m on fruit and vegetables, while the adjacent pyo farm turns over £500,000 a year, and the garden centre £5m. A second farm shop and garden centre at Titchfield turns over a further £3m a year.
A third site could be opened in the not-to-distant future, in between the Esher and Titchfield sites.
“Our aim was to create a horticultural centre,” says Peter Thompson. “Bob, Derek and I studied agriculture at Writtle College in the 1960s, so we have an interest in the whole spectrum of products that we deal with, and this has helped us to develop the business.
“It was a conscious decision to set up the Esher site as a horticultural centre, starting with the farm shop, then we saw opening the pick-your-own farm as an opportunity, followed by the garden centre, selling only plants at first.
“We have adapted the business over the years, looking at what others in the market are doing, and striving to offer something different.”
The farm shop provides an upmarket shopping experience, selling a range of produce and fine foods, from fruit and vegetables either grown on the site or brought in from New Covent Garden Market (NCGM), to dairy, fish and fine foods from local suppliers. Some 70 per cent of the flowers sold at the store are sourced from the UK, and all are brought in from NCGM.
Where possible, the fresh produce has a 75-mile guarantee and, when it is brought in from the adjacent farm, the proximity of the store to the production area is a real selling point.
The independent retailer, hidden away in a small village with no passing trade, has shown that it is possible to run a successful business by offering its customers a new experience.
There are around eight Waitrose stores in nearby areas, but this has not stopped Garsons from continuing to build its business. “We are trying to be different from supermarkets where we can, and we are nibbling at their heels all the time,” says Thompson. “Farm shops do something a bit different from the high street, and they are continuing to grow, while some would say the high street is in decline.
“We have created a nice destination for people to come to, with the farm shop right by the farm, so part of what we offer is the experience of shopping here,” he adds.
Garsons sources fresh produce from Hilliard Bros (Ewell) Ltd in NCGM, as well as local suppliers, including Secrets Farm in Millford, for salads, and Sussex-based Nutbourne Nurseries, for tomatoes.
A stand-alone cheese counter was introduced three years ago, and a fish stall was set up outside the store six months ago, open from Friday to Sunday. The wide range of fine foods, including bakery goods, allergy-aware products, preserves and oils, are sourced from local suppliers that have been sought out especially.
The shop is a haven for local people, for those who have time for leisure shopping, and foodies.
Nigel Chandler has managed Garsons Farm Shop in Esher for 12 years. “We try to offer as wide a range as we possibly can, and we get daily deliveries to make sure the produce is as fresh as can be,” he says. “We have to have a wide range of fruit and vegetables 52 weeks of the year, because not all consumers understand seasonality, so it is essential for us to source from NCGM for continuity of supply. But when the UK seasons start, we make a real song and dance about it.
“Our aim is to sell an interesting range of top-quality foods,” he continues. “I walk the market every Wednesday morning, rather than relying on price lists from wholesalers, to see exactly what there is on offer and what looks good, so that we can source the best possible products for our customers.
“We only source from top growers and we always buy first-grade products because we want the very best retail spec,” he adds. “But this has been getting increasingly difficult, as more and more producers disappear from the market.”
The family-run business is keen to work with suppliers that have similar backgrounds and the same independent ethos, in order to offer a complete package to customers. This is complemented by the hands-on service in store. “We do not want to have the same brands as the supermarkets, so where we can, we try to offer something different,” says Thompson. “We have built long-term relationships with our suppliers. A lot come to us when they start out, when they are not big enough to supply the multiples, but still have reasonable volumes.
“A lot of our suppliers go to farmers’ markets as well, so we have that feel in store. Consumers might go to a farmers’ market once a month, then they come to us the meantime to stock up on fresh fruit and vegetables, and other specialist products.”
This means that the service in store must mirror that in a farmers’ market, in which growers tend to be on hand to explain how produce is grown, and coax shoppers into tasting their offer.
“Staff are encouraged to talk to the consumers and get them to try products, to open them up to something new,” says Chandler. “We especially like to highlight the fruit and vegetables we grow, and celebrate UK produce, which tastes amazing because it is so fresh.”
The farm shop has only ever sold conventional fresh produce but, though customers often assume the produce sold in store is organic because they can see the farm next door. Thompson and Chandler agree it would be very difficult for the farm shop to stock an organic offer. “We do not sell any organic fruit and vegetables because we like to have everything displayed in loose, open wicker baskets, but this is not possible when you bring organics into the mix, as they have to separated from the conventional products and packaged separately,” says Chandler. “There is a conflict between organic produce and the packaging it requires, and it just is not as presentable as conventional fruit and vegetables. Shoppers buy with their eyes, and we need our produce to be visually appealing.”
The 150-acre pick-your-own farm, next to the farm shop, is the largest of its kind in the UK. It is open to the public from May to October, with the aim of starting on the May bank holiday with asparagus and ending with pumpkins at Halloween.
Strawberries, raspberries and cherries are the biggest items in value terms, attracting both locals and day tourists in the peak period, in June and July. Sweetcorn is the most popular vegetable line on the site.
A wide range of fruit and vegetables, from seasonal treats such as berries, cherries and plums, to staple items such as potatoes, cauliflower and carrots, is produced at the Esher site.
“Everything is grown so that it is easy to pick,” says Thompson. “We get quite a lot of locals coming here in the week, especially retired people and families with children, who like to come and see the fruit and vegetables growing. At the weekend, day tourists come from London and nearby areas, who come for the experience of picking their own fruit and vegetables, and for something a bit different.
“It tends to be a craze, where people come a fair few times over a short period and then they may take it up again a few years later. This is why we work really hard to keep telling people that we are here, and invest a lot in promotion and advertising.”
The wide range of products that can be hand-picked at the farm can be up to a third cheaper than the equivalent items sold in supermarkets. The more labour-intensive fruit and vegetables, such as raspberries and mangetout, are the most value for money when purchased at the pick-your-own site.
“It is really nice out here on a summer’s day,” Thompson says. “The farm is surrounded by a river, which runs around two thirds of the site and makes the farm more secure, and we have a picnic field right next to it.
“The garden centre is busy in April and May, so this fills the car park before the pick-your-own farm reaches its busiest point in the summer. The farm shop is a steady business all year round, though the more people come to the site, the more customers we have.”
Thompson intends to take the business forward by continuing to grow the number and variety of products sold at Esher and Titchfield, establishing new local supplier relationships in order to make this happen.
A third site in the nearby area is also on the cards. “We are limited by planning laws in terms of how we can expand the Esher site, but in terms of the food we sell, we are hoping to increase the number of local suppliers and the range of products we stock,” says Thompson. “We always make sure we know exactly what is going on in the market by talking to both our suppliers and customers. This is how we are going to continue to make the business work for us.”
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