A New Pot

About 10 years ago, Dan Parcel and the team at Kaw Valley Greenhouses decided to switch from generic pots to ones with the company logo on it.

“I think it was just to kind of brighten the display some and give it that unified appearance,” says Parcel, retail director for the company which has operations in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. “It just seemed like the thing to do, and since it doesn’t cost a lot, it was an easy call.”

Switching to the logoed pots cost the company between one and two cents per pot, making it easily worth those extra pennies.

“It doesn’t cost a lot, and it gives a little bit of a unified look to our display, and it might help for our name to stick in the consumers’ minds a little bit,” Parcel says.

He says that pretty much every product larger than a four-pack is in a logoed pot these days, and these pots help develop the brand to the consumer. Green pots hold perennials, lavender is for annuals and tan/terra cotta is for vegetables and herbs. The custom pots also help differentiate the premium product and help justify the higher price, as on the company’s “Collector’s Series Perennials.” Additionally, Kaw Valley uses the extra space on larger pots, such as the 2-quarts, to tell the story of the company and why their plants grow better for the consumer.

“I think people are always happy to know that we’re locally grown or Kansas-grown and whether they know our name or not, that’s a good thing,” he says. “But, also, we do have a pretty loyal following, and I think it’s good just to reinforce that name identity.”

Parcel says he’s not sure if there’s any way to gauge an increase in revenue as a result of switching pots, but there are intangibles that certainly help the business.

“I don’t know if there’s any way to tell, but we feel better about the look of our stores and the uniformity of the product so it probably has,” he says.

Want to know more?
For more: Kaw Valley Greenhouses, www.kawvalleygreenhouses.com