Broadly, most businesses focus on providing their customers with either a product or a service. Established in 2015, Edibleculture is a business offering their customers both products and services. In terms of products, the business grows and sells plants including herbs, vegetables, fruit trees and flowering perennials. They also sell plants grown locally by other nurseries and individuals, as well as peat-free composts, organic plant feeds, seeds, locally coppiced posts and handmade planters by students. In terms of services, they offer garden planning, installation (based around edible gardening) and specialist fruit tree planting and pruning.
Director Chris Williams commented on the challenges that the business has faced since its inception two-years ago. “We moved premises to the Abbey School recently, which has enabled us to expand on what we grow and to develop a shop. This in itself has been challenging both from a staffing level and also from tailoring the site to work for the business and students in terms of working efficiently and safely. We are very community focused and find our customers can be anyone from young families to retired people living local to the shop. We have a much larger reach for specialist work such as fruit tree pruning.”
Edibleculture is thriving despite the fact that in the region a number of plant centres and nurseries have closed down. Chris attributes the business’ on going success to their specialisation. “Our ethos is to sell locally sourced, sustainable products as much as possible. Keeping to our speciality of growing edibles and also growing them organically and peat-free gives us an edge over local competitors. We also find our customers really appreciate us taking the time to talk to them and share knowledge of our stock and also how to grow and look after the plants when they get them home. We feel we are bucking the local trend and aim to continue to do so!”
Finally, Chris elaborated on why he felt that his business was in with a chance at the 2017 Swale Business Awards: “Although we are a fairly young company, we are formed around two individuals with a huge passion for what we do. It is really important for us to make sure we provide interesting, healthy, sustainable and honest plants and provide a service that goes beyond what would be expected of us. We are locals, working with locals and want to have the opportunity to improve the local community through what we do.”
Edibleculture Ltd
The Horticultural Unit
The Abbey School
Faversham
ME13 8RZ
01795 537 662
www.edibleculture.co.uk