Daily Specials

 Fakenham Garden Centre's cafe works hard to get the locals in every day of the week.

No Stings

Wasps - a real problem this summer but at least Steff's Kitchen cafe at Fairweather's garden centre in Beaulieu has addressed the issue.

 There is much to commend at Steff's Kitchen - Comment cards are posted with replies.

 Patrick's Patch - their community garden.

Real food for children and their Kitchen Quality Guarantee.

Hanging Herbs

Boskke Upside-down herb growing pots look like a great way of enhancing cafe ambiance and your local sourcing.

If you attended the HTA's Garden Centre Catering Conference yesterday, welcome to the Great Cafes Blog especially written for professional cafe operators.  Sign up to receive the blog by e-mail - we put up a photo of something new and interesting every working day.

To get the most from the blog, check out the Pinterest Photoboards on the right hand side and look at our archive.

If it makes you think you need some specialist consultancy advice to start up for the first time, make more money, improve standards, bust queues or get from good to great; do get in touch.

Over a Fiver Egg Sarnie

Individual box sandwich presentation plus crisps in Kilner jar and pickle for £5.45 at Burford Garden Company.

75% Sales Increase

Haskins Garden Centre, Southampton invested £2.3 million in a new 460-seat cafe a year ago and sales have increased by 75%.  Catering sales account for almost one quarter of total garden centre turnover.

Treacle Toffee Apple Muffins.

 Apricot Scones

Lemon Meringue Muffins

Grab a Box

Burford Garden Company have the clever idea of encouraging take-away sales of cakes (at cafe prices) by having stacks of cardboard boxes by the cakes.  It worked and we left £20 the poorer!

Snowmen

Snowmen at one of my favourite garden centre cafes, Barton Grange at Brock, Preston.  We can spot a winner - Barton Grange was recently voted Garden Centre of the Year 2012 - congratulations to Guy, Russell and the team.  See previous blog posts:

http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2012/01/multi-deck-salad.html

http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/12/toilet-humour.html

http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/12/that-local-story.html

http://greatcafes.blogspot.com/2011/12/hot-pot-footfall.html

Cake + Plants = 55 Million

55 million people visited a garden centre cafe last year according to a report just out from the Horticultural Trades Association - up from 36 million in 2008.  Garden centre cafes are booming - 10% up in 2011 on 2010 according to the larger centres represented by the Garden Centre Association.

The only slight issue may be that customers under 45 are apparently less delighted with garden centre catering than those over 45.  My take on this, as outlined at the GCA's conference yesterday, is that as the cafes get bigger and more professional they are losing some of their appeal in terms of personality, humour and quirkiness.

Solution:  Read this blog and sign up for a London Cafe Tour!  The best have already done so.

Good food is at the heart of a great cafe but I am coming to realise that good design is the way to stand out, be noticed and win the hearts and business of those under 45s.

Welsh Dresser at Waddesdon

Don't let anyone tell you that expensive custom-made counters are required to display cakes attractively.  Waddesdon Garden Centre has kept it simple, colourful and on next to no budget.