Naturally connected….. to your market
The successful Appetite for Angus members networking event at Glamis on Thursday 19 June was thoroughly enjoyable and a reminder of the benefits & opportunities of maximising your assets and connecting with key market trends.
Head Gardener Des Cotton generously gave his time to showcase the Glamis Kitchen Garden – a fantastic asset for the estate. Described as “a horticultural haven” this four-acre garden achieves a natural balance of semi-structured ornamental planting and fruit & vegetable production. The beauty of this garden is in its seemingly attainable elegance. A simple grass maze for children, small spaces to enjoy the peace & tranquillity, and a beautifully laid out fruit & vegetable space. Fruit and vegetables are grown in simple frames, supporting structures are made from branches, partition fences feature simply carved apples & pears – making the visitor feel that they can recreate this at home – an achievable elegance. In this garden you will find rhubarb, apples, root vegetables, brassicas, beans, soft fruit, herbs and much more.
Produce is grown for the castle kitchen and features on the restaurant menu alongside the estate’s venison and beef. This continues the tradition of kitchen gardens and appeals to consumers’ interest in nostalgia with 76% of consumers drawn to treats that evoke childhood memories. Coupled with the growth in consumer interest in botanicals and in embracing seasonality this garden ticks a number of key 2025 food & drink trends. Consumers are increasingly aware of ultra processed foods and are looking for healthier options. This interest in a healthier diet is increasingly linked to food that has a positive environmental impact, and a kitchen garden connects food with growing and the land.
Eating out trends for 2025 highlight that 50% of consumers are proud to support local food; they are looking for provenance, less travelled ingredients and connect these characteristics to quality & freshness. Sustainability is critical and some of the key things of concern to consumers are food waste, carbon reduction and seasonality.
Many tourists in 2025 are looking for ‘Calmcations’ – places where they can get away from the noisy city. Many are also looking for tranquillity and ‘off-the-beaten-track’ opportunities. And let’s not forget the ever-important TikTok / Instagram opportunity enabling visitors & customers to capture and more importantly create & share that picture perfect post.
This garden increases the visitor dwell time at Glamis, it appeals to varied audiences, and it tells a story – whether that is the story of the estate & family, the featured Shakespeare connection through the Macbeth inspired wooden sculptures or the story of a kitchen garden over time. Enabling the visitor to enjoy a story makes an experience more memorable and evokes emotion and action. It’s about being creating meaningfully different experiences. Today consumers expect functional excellence so one way to gain competitive advantage is to be meaningfully different.
As a business what will you take from this visit….
- The value of local, simple, nostalgic food
- The importance of experience
- The value of a story
- The TikTok / Instagram opportunity
- The way to create meaningful difference?
Ceri Ritchie
Founder Member, Appetite for Angus and Principal Consultant, SAC Consulting part of SRUC