A bit of sparkle and a change to the routine does you good

Fodder, Hereford

Why did you take part in Wake Up To Organic 2017?
We did it in 2016 and had such fun, we couldn’t resist! Thank goodness the weather improved for 2017. As a business we believe in the organic movement and have gradually developed the confidence to supply more and more organic products – there is no doubt it is a growing sector of the market. Anything that tempts people to try organic is worth a shot and Wake Up To Organic certainly does that.

What did you get out of it?
Primarily FUN! Retail can be pretty relentless at times – always open, always busy and always being nice to people, even on the days you are not feeling so bright. So anything that adds a bit of sparkle and a change to the routine does you good.

What did you do on the day?
We are lucky to trade on a mainly pedestrian street in the middle of the historic quarter of Hereford, so, once I knew the weather was going to be OK, we decided to set up a huge breakfast table in the street.  People could either join us at the table or take a small pot of breakfast away with them. A few weeks before the event, we approached two suppliers separately – one that does organic breakfast cereals and one that does organic milk alternatives. They were pleased to get involved and sent us free stock to give away on the day. So we had muesli, overnight oats (made with chia seeds & coconut yoghurt – nom, nom!) and fruit compot – all organic of course.  They went down an absolute storm, with some people walking round the block just so they could get seconds.

Was it a success?
Of course! Mostly it was just fun, but for weeks afterwards we had customers coming in specifically to buy the products we had given away on the day – lots of them making their own organic overnight oats and sales of our organic frozen fruit went up and have stayed up.

How did you market it?
We have a great following on Facebook, so a week before the event we filmed a short video and then re-posted it every day as a countdown to the event. We then set up on the day and posted yet another video showing off our lovely table with the free mini breakfasts available.  This was then seen by 2.5K people on the day – needless to say, we ran out of breakfasts by the time we were scheduled to finish, having given away over 250.

Do you have any great ideas for Wake Up To Organic 2018?
Too busy doing other things to plan that far in advance and spontaneity helps keep the energy fresh – but we won’t leave it too late.  Probably more of the same and of course so much depends on the weather.  But the main thing is that everyone has a bit of fun with it – and that includes the staff!

Case studies