With sustainability
as the underlying theme of the day the key messages to come from the quality
line up of speakers at the Cultivating Retail Conference included:
- The garden industry is well
placed to offer solutions that help mitigate the impact of climate change
and shape the implementation of the Government’s 25-year environment plan.
- The actions of individuals
and businesses can make a real difference.
- Sustainability is no longer
just a ‘nice to have’ but an essential and integral component of modern
business.
- The industry needs to provide
a unified approach to address the positive challenges and opportunities
that sustainability presents.
The conference,
supported by gold partner Evergreen Garden Care, brought together two hundred
representatives from across the industry. With movements such as Extinction
Rebellion rising to the fore and each political party vying for the green vote
these changing times show environmental concerns have become mainstream.
Consumers expect more from businesses and expect them to operate in a
sustainable manner.
In conversation with
HTA President Boyd Douglas-Davies, Dr David Bek, Sustainability Economist from
Coventry University, spoke about the positives that the industry brings in
terms of producing plant material and products that store and convert carbon. “With
a changing climate, there is a real opportunity to adapt and challenge our
approach to gardening embracing the more chaotic style of nature creating a new
normal," said Dr Bek.
"The
horticulture industry needs to be bold, innovative and nimble and connect with
consumers to make a substantive impact on biodiversity and climate change.”
This was echoed by
former CEO of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy, who said that “sustainability brings new
business opportunities for the garden industry to respond to. With changing
weather patterns, increasing emphasis on biosecurity and provenance, garden
centres are better placed and more relevant than many high street retail
outlets to meet consumer demand as they provide the solutions for many of these
issues.”
Bringing synergies
from the takeaway sector, Graham Corfield, Chief Operating Officer for Just
Eat, highlighted that “whilst sustainability is a big planet issue, individuals
and communities can make a real difference as all actions add up to help change
consumer behaviour.”
Addressing the
audience, HTA Chairman James Barnes commented that “it has never been so
important to come together as an industry to present a unified approach to
demonstrate how we can provide solutions to help mitigate the impact of climate
change.
“The HTA has an
opportunity and responsibility to help further the industry’s commitment to
develop in an environmentally sustainable manner. Our planned environmental
sustainability roadmap will enable us to be the central point of policy
information for the industry on key topics including water, growing media,
plastics, and energy.”
