With lockdown providing ample opportunity for us to spend time in our gardens, it’s no surprise that 2.7m new households entered the garden care category last year, resulting in a growth of 76.9% YOY (according to GfK data, YTD to April 2021). For Evergreen Garden Care, the growth was above and beyond this at 84.1% YOY.
According to GfK data between January and April 2021, the company grew ahead of the market and competitors, delivering +84% of value growth, most notably adding over £1m incremental to the plant food category and over £2m incremental to the growing media category. We know this has been a particularly unusual season due to how fast sales began this year, but this doesn’t underestimate the growth we have seen across the gardening category.
This year, many people will still regard the garden as a safe space to socialise, and so further garden care growth is expected. While some home and garden subcategories such as tools and paint are unlikely to see consistent growth, as products last for a few years, consumables such as garden care products will drive repeat purchases.
The company is now the UK’s leading supplier of lawncare, with nearly £1 of every £2 spent in the category on the Evergreen Garden Care brands. Of the top five products in the category, four belong to Evergreen. Fast acting grass seed was a key growth area for lawn seed – and Evergreen is the fastest growing supplier of Luxury/Fine seeds, up by +369% YTD.
House Plant Care is one of the fastest growing categories at +78% YTD – the category is becoming increasingly important with more consumers joining the houseplant trend, and the ability to grow and enjoy gardening in any space. Evergreen doubled its market share in this category. This has been driven predominantly by the Miracle-Gro Pump & Feed, which delivered incremental growth into the category since launch and has grown rate of sale by 93%YTD.
This year has not been without its challenges, with suppliers continually being forced to evolve and the industry-wide challenge of meeting the increased demand for growing media. This has led to a reshuffle of distribution and Market Shares in the short term. The core range of the Miracle-Gro and Levington brands has been vital for this growth, providing new and novice gardeners the tools they need to start their gardening journey. That being said, consumer behaviour is changing in terms of both shopping habits and product choices.
A trend to watch is natural alternatives which are leading the growth in their respective markets, with natural lawncare seeing +82% YTD growth and natural plant food growing at 193% YTD. Moreover, Evergreen Garden Care is backing the demand for peat-free; £1 in every £8 is now spent on peat-free growing media and to meet this interest, Evergreen Garden Care launched the biggest range of peat-free products in Europe and will continue to expand in the natural, organic and peat-free product categories.
