More and more farmers are entering the agritourism arena. In some parts of the world this is a great business decision as there are few farmers in this space. In other parts of the world the agritourism industry is already overcrowded and the entry of new players only confuses the consumer.The challenge of new players in a crowded market is they often do not due their homework. They look at
In mid-March, 50 delegates from around the world joined John and Linda Stanley from Chestnut Brae on an agritourism tour of Western Australia’s South West. The tour showcased some of the region’s best farm-based tourism experiences. Among the delegates were Jordan and Alyson McKay from Ontario, Canada, travelling with their four-year-old daughter. Wherever she went, her beloved cuddly toy, Souci, went too—visiting farms, meeting animals, and tucking in beside her
Western Australia’s South West is a region of incredible diversity, where rich farmlands, world-class wineries, and sustainable tourism experiences come together to create a thriving agritourism industry. In March 2024, we welcomed delegates from around the world on the Best of the West International Agritourism Tour, exploring the best food, farm, and tourism experiences WA has to offer. Hosted by John Stanley Associates and supported by the WA Agritourism Association
I encourage my clients to enter awards. Yes, it takes time to get the application in, but the rewards can be tremendous. Many of you will know that my wife, Linda, and I have a sweet chestnut farm. This year we entered the Global Agritourism Awards. Farms in the sector entered from around the work. The first stage was the enters were reduced to a group of 30 and then
Telling stories can grow sales, we have proven that this works many times. The key is having the knowledge that the customer can believe.The key to success is building t credible knowledge the customer can have confidence in.How do you obtain knowledge is the key.Janet Draper of the Smithsonian Institute recently gave a presentation on knowledge that put all of this in perspective. Knowledge is based on three key elements.
As a farmer we can sell a 550 gram added value chestnut product for $15 and believe we are making good money. Okay we have to wait 7 years for a chestnut tree to fruit, but that is part of the game rules. On a recent visit to the farmers market in Helsinki we discovered a farmer making 3,800 Euro for a 500grm added value jar of product made on his farm. Now that is
Successful businesses that deal with consumers understand that they are in the solutions industry, not the product industry. On my recent tour of the USA I saw an excellent example of this in action.The Perennial Farm is located in Maryland and is one of the largest suppliers of perennial plants, except they do not sell plants they sell solutions. Many of their customers are landscape designers and installers and their
Boston is one of the older cities of the USA and famous for its side street retailing and cafes. Early February may not be the best time to go retail discovering in this city, but at least there are no crowds. Most cities in America are not designed for walking tours- Boston is. There were two spots that were on the must-see list. Faneuil Hall Marketplace and Boston Marketplace. Faneuil Hall Marketplace has the history and
At this time of year, a host of trend reports come out from around the world forecasting how the next twelve months is going to be. I’m told the word of the year in America, and one I have seen in reports already is that 2024 will be “Indefatigable”. My first reaction was to get the dictionary out ( yes, not Google) and find out what the word means. According to the report ‘Consumer spending has been indefatigable” In my
It takes time,patience and money to develop a new product. Once developed the least you can do is take pride in the product and what you have achieved. If you do not take pride in the product, the team will treat it as a commodity and eventually it will be sold on price rather than its true value. I recently came across two scenarios, one where the product was devalued
Parti Kereszet is one of our garden centre clients in the north of Hungary. They have just finished their Christmas display and we thought we would share it with you. The aim is to inspire the customer and this is what they have achieved. Brilliant job
I don’t know about you, but I love simple ideas, the often obvious ideas that increase sales. When I hear them I often shrug my shoulders and think I knew that, but I have never used it as a selling technique I had one of those moments recently at a farmers market. More and more small distillers are getting into the gin, whisky and drink flavouring market. It is becoming a
Over the month of September and early October I worked with clients in Europe, Asia and the Americas. This meant I saw a wide range of cultures and businesses in our post COVID world. Prior to COVID a lot of my consultancy was focused on creating the experience for the business to attract the visitor. That has all changed, I’m not saying that creating the experience is not important anymore, I am saying the way we think
I have just finished a week looking at agri tourism in Ireland, both on the east coast and Atlantic coast. The east coast has agricultural history with over 2,000 years of farming practices. Halloween or Samhain originated in the Boyne Valley during Celtic times and is still celebrated by farmers in the agritourism sector,whilst on the west coast the Atlantic Way, a tour route, is a more recent development within the tourism sector.
It has been eleven years since I have been in Hungarey. As expected a lot has changed. The most pleasant surprise is to see the Hungarian Garden Centre industry advance over this years and many independent garden centres are up there with some of the best in Europe. The outdoor plant area in many centres is inspiring and a place to find ideas, both as a consumer and garden centre owner from other parts of the
A flight cancellation can bring benefits and a cancellation in Budapest meant I spent a day walking the streets of this city looking at retail ideas. Budapest is one of my favourite European cities.,It is very grand and Parliament House is one of the best in the world. But,the city also has some wonderful retail zones,the key is to avoid the main streets where the global brands are doing the same thing in every
Garden Centres are traditionally horizontal businesses. One of the reasons for this was they were located on city fringes on wholesale nurseries, the land was relatively cheap and Baby Boomers were happy to drive into the country for a day of leisure. Zoom forward to 2023 and is this the right model? Danny Puan from Singapore would tell you that the traditional model is out of date The new consumer
Here is a brief look through day one of the AgroTourism Conference and Expo in Sarawak.
At the end of August I and Linda had the opportunity to present at the Agritourism conference in Kuching in Sarawak. We went having no idea what to expect. We were asked to feature Chestnut Brae as a case study to the delegates. We were in for a big surprize as the agritourism industry is developing rapidly. One of the biggest highlights was to visit Borneo Empurau Farm and resort
Linda and I had the opportunity to attend the SE Asia Agrotourism Conference held in Sawark,B orneo.The media asked us to do a short segment for the radio.You can watch and listen here
Who is the Customers Hero? It has been difficult to identify trends over the last few years, it has been a matter of survival. I am not suggesting we have beaten all the negative news, but trends in retailing are beginning to show themselves. In 2022 Sid Raisch, the American consultant joined forces to look at some of those trends across the globe and I have now presented them at
That was the question I was asked when I presented recently on ABC Nightline, the national radio programme in Australia. I was invited onto the programme because of my E Book and workshop entitled “Ghost Town ,Clone Town, Home Town”. As a business consultant I define a “Ghost Town” as a community where at least 20% of the retail premises in the High Street have closed down, this gives the
If you look at the research coming out, it indicates that consumers are going to be spending less and looking for a discount. Put this together with the “fear” of crowds and social distancing practices and the result is fewer customers spending less money, not a formulae for success. What is retailer supposed to do? This is not the time to start a discounting strategy, if you do the chances
Retailing has never changed so rapidly as it has in 2020.Prior to 2020 I was presenting “Ghost Town, Clone Town, Home Town” workshops for small communities around the world. The emphasis of the workshops was that there were three types of communities and that success meant you had to be a “Home Town” to engage with the consumer. Post Covid 19 that is more important than ever. Consumers have now
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