Herbs - my Business - input needed

[Kiwi Phil]

I grow Herbs in small pots, in big numbers, and supply a rather large retailer.<br /><br />My business is about to expand. I will give you the details of that later.<br /><br />I have the physical reconstruction of the nursery in hand and under way.<br /><br />What I am struggling with is packaging.<br /><br />I am moving away from a simple stick label (one that sticks in the side of the pot) to a cellophane sleeve.(polypropoline I think they call it).<br /><br />Years back when visiting NZ I saw a good idea. Bought the herb, threw it away, and kept the packaging, which will suit my "new product" perfectly.<br /><br />I have been to their web site in NZ www.superbherb.co.nz<br /><br />Their product (the actual herb) is identical to mine. (actually mine may be better, probably due to me having a better growing climate than them).<br /><br />Their packaging is exactly what I want to do with my Herbs.<br /><br />Their web site is exactly what I want to do with mine.<br /><br />The 1st Question I have is, do I just copy their packaging, replacing their busines detail with mine. I can't see a copyright on anything.<br /><br />The 2nd Question is, do I do the same with my web site. I would obviously have different pictures and layout etc. (It is hard to change the description of a plant or a recipe).<br /><br />I am starting to get tunnel vision on this problem. I know what I want, (have had their sleeve tucked away for years, and have bought it out and studied it many times) and I am having difficulty "re-inventing the wheel" so to speak.<br /><br />I always buy my oppositions product, and take it apart for ideas.<br /><br />I need fresh ideas so I can start my thinking and planning from scratch.<br /><br />Being a wide range of "thinkers" on this forum:<br /><br />1. How about chucking some ideas at me<br /><br />2. Do you have local Herb Farms with web sites like this one I have quoted above, that I can study for fresh ideas.<br /><br />(Please understand, the packaging of this product is the most costly and important part of the product. I accept that. That is what sells the product.)<br /><br />Finally, I have learnt to listen to everyones opinion as often the most least qualified person has a horizontal view to a problem.<br /><br />Anyone game to contribute?<br /><br />Cheers<br />Phillip

 

[crab bait]

Re: Herbs - my Business - input needed

i used to grow herb back-in-the-day..<br /><br />a sandwich bag 'baggy' was a excellent packaging medium..

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Herbs - my Business - input needed

Yo Crab.... I looked at the site I did not see the herb you used to graw listed! The ones they list enhance flavor and I think your herb made you hungry! <br /><br />Kiwi.... if you copy the other companies it could either increase your business or start a war. Just change the color or make a colored background on the tag.

 

[tomatolord]

Re: Herbs - my Business - input needed

if you supply a retailer then you should really just have a subset of his site, so if you go to kmart and click on herbs that is really your site not kmarts.<br /><br />Now being on Iboats - you should make it exactly like Iboats except Iherbs...where people can come and participate with the world of herbs. <br /><br />I would even offer the ability for local herb people to sell herbs through your site, even Iboats has a used and new boat site Remember you sell Basil but there are quite a few variants of Basil out there and you wont sell them all, but if someone can come to a site where they can get ALL the varieties of basil then why go anywhere else.<br /><br />That other site is a plain old flat non interactive web site. While pretty it is the old way of doing a website.<br /><br />As far as packaging is concerned herbs are better fresh so I would consider the packaging that the lettuce people use to keep their product fresh<br /><br />good luck!<br /><br />Tomatolord!!

 

[ZooMbr]

Re: Herbs - my Business - input needed

Kiwi, you can check with a packaging supplier, I'm sure they can change the design a little and also know if there is any infringement. I don't know about agreements between NZ and AU as to copyrights; but, it doesn't take much to get around that.<br /><br />I'd design the WEB site different, I agree with TL; won't take much to make a better one. And, the wording used for descriptions can be changed enough to describe the same herb, just different way.<br /><br />Don't need to reinvent the wheel just add a spoke or two to make it a different design; one design change on the packaging can be where/how your company's name is desplayed and another is the use of color to identify the herbs: like vertical strips.

 

[Frankhanhart]

Re: Herbs - my Business - input needed

Kiwi, you sure it's a legal herb?

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Herbs - my Business - input needed

Does the kiwi supplier sell their product in Aus? and do you plan on selling your product in NZ?

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Herbs - my Business - input needed

What a great mix of relies, and I appreciate all of them.<br /><br />Thank you all for your suggestions. <br />I have 2 in particular tucked in to the back of my mind. I will action them when I have a spare week. I feel at the moment they will prove invaluable.<br /><br />Am up to my butt in Crocs at the minute, so hard to keep my mind on the job of draining the swamp.<br /><br />Crab, Frank and Bob: yes yours we appreciated too. I don't actually grow the happy herbs, but when I did try years back; what can I say. My worker reckoned it was the best. The speed and the dense size amazed me.<br /><br />I have started copying off the descriptive uses, but have varied them/combined them with the info I have on my existing stick labels.<br />It is going to be a big long hard job.<br /><br />Have 2 packaging manufacturers quoting on the job. they will do anything I want, I just have to supply the info/detail and they will put together the art work. I need over 250,000 year (if it dosn't all collapse) so they are keen.<br /><br />Aldo, the product is not going to NZ or vice versa, but i am going to vary it maybe 30% (size, depth of colour, size of printed letters etc).<br /><br />Thanks all, very helpful. Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.<br /><br />Cheers<br />Phillip