Briman Voice

Growt STORYh

Plant based merchandise is a market that continues to thrive and Briman member Sow Easy leads the field

Sow Easy has been active in the gardening and seed-based promotions market since 1988.

A family firm formed by Steve Gray, the father of current managing director Jamie Gray, the business came about after Gray senior left Wilkinson Sword where he had worked, taking a product idea with him.

One of the company’s offshoot products was books of matches, and looking to use spare capacity, it had come up with idea of using the matchbook format to distribute seeds.

Thus, Sow Easy was born as a standalone company that marketed Seedsticks, the company’s most well-known branded seed product. Each matchstick in a customprinted matchbook contains a seed which germinates when it is popped in the soil.

Offering branding of matchbooks and custom shapes ranging from planes and beer bottles to burgers and phones, the company has carved out a lucrative niche.

Its product range has also expanded to include lots of other seed and plant-based offerings including promotional plants, branded seeds, printed seed packets, seed pencils, seeded paper and seed bombs.

“It’s important to keep the business developing and to come up with new ideas all the time,” says Jamie Gray. “We try and produce Seedsticks book shapes that will fit with any industry.”

Given the rise of interest in and demand for more environmentally responsible promotional products, Sow Easy found itself in a sweet spot to respond to a changing market.

As well as being a BPMA member, Sow Easy is a Licensed Seed Handler accredited by FERA and supports the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the PEFC. Seedsticks covers are made from recycled paper and if a client asks for a product made from 100% recycled materials this can be provided. All virgin material used is replaced by fast growing trees in managed forests.

Its printers are certified to ISO14001 and it adheres to guidelines on environmental issues such as air pollution, water, waste management and efficient use of resources.

All of the company’s energy needs for in-house manufacturing are met by solar panels installed on its roof.

Although the company has undertaken some retail work it remains predominantly a promotional specialist.

“It’s more straightforward for a small company as there is a lot of red tape in the retail market,” says Gray.

He thinks that there is still plenty of growth in the promotional seed market which was worth around £19m in 2020, according to Sourcing City.

“As we’ve made the sector more visible, other bigger players have started to target it. It wasn’t a category when we started, so you can’t stand still,” he adds. “We’ve grown every year from about 2015-16.”

During the pandemic there was a muchnoted shift towards appreciating nature and plants which obviously benefitted the company. However, it was a tough time, and like many businesses Sow Easy struggled.

“Our turnover was down about 40% but we never shut our doors,” says Gray. “The pandemic changed the perception of the products with people spending more time at home and in their gardens. They have so many positive connotations whether its helping kids learn about growing, mental health awareness, or the fundamental message of CO2 in and oxygen out. It’s so powerful.”

Going into the pandemic the company was set to have its best year, something that is merely postponed Gray hopes, although he is alert to other clouds on the horizon in the shape of inflation and possible recession.

However, he remains optimistic for the future.

“One thing I did during the pandemic was start to call clients and just speak to them. Learning about their business and them as people. It worked too. We got one of our biggest orders during the pandemic.”

As a member of the Briman and Made in Britain, the message about buying closer to home is one that is obviously important to the company. With supply chain issues ever more front of mind, it is also a competitive advantage with more customers looking to source merchandise from closer to home.

Looking ahead there is plenty to keep Sow Easy busy not least an upcoming move of premises, new machinery, and staff recruitment. It is also alive to the possibility of acquisitions, says Gray.

Exports are also on the cards too, although he says that it will probably have to be from a base in Europe due to the problems of exporting post-Brexit.

Whatever is around the corner, Sow Easy is intent on keeping growing.

M AK ING MEA NINGFUL m er ch an di se

Juniper has carved a niche with quality, British made products that are made to last, says MD Andrew Langley

WHEN WAS JUNIPER FORMED?

Juniper was formed by myself and my wife Susanne, in 2003, solely to serve the promotional merchandise field as a trade only supplier. My father ran a shoe components business which I initially worked in and led the diversification into non-shoe business and led me to the promotional merchandise trade. People often ask if it’s called Juniper because we like gin. We do, but the rather boring answer is that our first home was called Juniper Cottage.

HOW DID THE COMPANY FIND ITS NICHE?

Our initial offer, was mainly as an importer of a variety of PU and real leather products, well made, with good UK branding facilities, both as stock lines but also made to order even for smaller volumes. We set out to be a specialist with manufacturing skills and knowledge born from our background in the shoe trade, and differentiate ourselves from generalists with less specific product knowledge. Over time we redeveloped and upskilled our UK production.

WHAT’S THE USP?

We sometimes joke that Juniper takes a simple product and complicates the message. We want to create merchandise that can be supplied in a variety of colours and materials, and that had variable component options, so that we could stand out as a company that can achieve a huge range of options, rather than just sell the same off the shelf items with logos to every distributor. This has been the Juniper USP from day one and one we still incorporate in product development, such as our new BPMA platinum award-winning Jute bag which has hundreds of combinations.

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE BRITISHMADE MESSAGE?

Very. We are members of the Briman Group of the BPMA and also Made in Britain, and see more and more enquiries stipulating UK made. Interestingly, in France where we export, we are seeing a distinctive anti-China message playing out and being UK made appears not to be an issue. Buying local and supporting local communities with reskilling, while reducing the carbon footprint of merchandise, are key messages.

WHAT PRODUCTS ARE MOST POPULAR?

Our eco notebooks are UK made and in a huge number of build your own options. We also have launched a Wellness notebook and specific Business Planner, as well as quarto sizes for general lined books. Also new is a folder range made in our very popular COMO rPET, available ex-stock in black, or made to order in colours. We are also working on an artisan range of UK made leathergoods, which will be made to order, but with a distinctive natural, and arts and crafts feel.

HOW DID THE PANDEMIC AFFECT YOU?

Like everyone in the trade – badly. More so because we have a 22,000sq ft factory with a high fixed overhead and 40 staff. We weren’t able to pivot overnight into selling PPE, aside from our popular sanitiser holders, which kept us going. Then we started seeing good sales on work from home items, like flexible roll up desk mats. As firms started to want to reconnect with staff we saw good sales of notebooks sent to homes. It was very tough and stressful – Susanne and I worked all hours.

IS THERE A REBOUND?

Yes, we are well on the way to full recovery. The last four months we have traded back at pre-Covid levels for the first time, but overall for the last year we have averaged back to 85% of 2019 turnover.

WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

We will continue our journey of the last few years, by investing and expanding our UK production (which now equates to over 60% of all sales) and towards sustainable products and materials. We are actively working on ways to reduce our carbon footprint, and have recently signed up to 100% renewable electricity. We also want to better communicate why we feel real leather is a very sustainable option, which I know can be controversial. New product and material development is never ending, and we continue to refine our marketing package to help our clients promote our goods.

More than anything we want to play our part in the wider industry goal of demonstrating that ‘meaningful merchandise’, that is embodied by quality, sustainable products, built ethically and to last, has a place in the future of brands marketing budgets. We are not an industry of ‘throw away’ or ‘straight to landfill’. Merchandise sourced through the BPMA, a reputable chain of dedicated professionals, is the right channel to access these products.