A number of independent cookshops are helping to raise awareness of the charity Plastic Oceans UK (see www.plasticoceans.uk) by promoting T&G’s Gift of the Year 2019 winning Ocean range in window displays and stores.
Creative display makers include Bacchanalia Cookshop (at Redbrick Mill, Batley), Potters of Hockley and Hurst on the Isle of Wight. T&G donates to Plastic Oceans UK for sales from its Ocean range, which is inspired by the love of the sea, and includes ceramic storage, wireware baskets and trivets, cork tablemats and coasters and shaped wood boards.
At Bacchanalia Cookshop, owner Kathie Hopkinson told HousewaresNews.net that its Ocean themed displays have created a lot of interest: “T&G’s Ocean range is very well received by our customers, particularly the Wireware and the cork tablemats and coasters.”
Meanwhile, displays of T&G’s Ocean range are part of a major focus on the problem of plastic waste and potential solutions for this at Potters Cookshop in Hockley. Director Tom Carter told HousewaresNews how Potters’ initiative came about:
“I came up with an idea last year of a whale made up of plastic bottles to highlight the worrying issue with plastic waste. As ever, our visual merchandising maestro Alison Hobbs took this onboard and designed something on a larger scale!”
The main window features a whales tail made of bottles, a turtle made of plastic wrapping, a milk bottle iceberg and a polar bear tangled up in fishing net. All the windows either side of this show products that help to reduce waste, including recycled, sustainable and organic options, and T&G’s Ocean range with its support for Plastic Oceans UK.
Tom explains: “All the staff, families and even customers helped collect over a 1000 bottles with Alison’s brother supplying the milk cartons from his cafe for the iceberg! The window has really engaged the local community with customers coming in everyday to comment on how brilliant and shocking it is.”
Tom adds that Potters’ display project is evolving into a unique community initiative: “We now have two local schools involved and are working with them in-store and in the schools with how they can help reduce waste. This will be on-going over the next few weeks and some children will come into store to talk to the customers on the benefit of change, also helping sell the sustainable products themselves!” Tom and Alison are also hoping to go into schools to speak to pupils.
Meanwhile, Potters has held a VIP evening with Malcolm Haradine to show off the gia Award winning Stasher range as “a great alternative to cling film”)
“We want to show we can all help to change the amount of waste we create,” notes Tom.
Top: Potters Cookshop has a window showing the devastating effect of plastic waste on the oceans.
