ONE of Bradford’s best-known garden centres has invested a six-figure sum to transform its food hall.

The former offering at Tong Garden Centre has been rebranded ‘Hearty’s’ and features a new branded range of all-Yorkshire products.

Hearty’s now occupies a 425-square metre space at the Tong Lane centre and is the result of a six-month, £250,000 project to deliver a superior food hall shopping experience.

As part of the rebrand, space has been given to a new range of branded products, which includes beer, sweets, jams and gins from Yorkshire-based Wold Top, Farrah’s, Bracken Hill, Raisthorpe Manor and Hooting Owl Distillery respectively. 

There is a ‘feature’ beer wall, which includes 135 craft ales, and there is also an increased range of artisan spirits.

Also new to Hearty’s is a deli section featuring menu inspiration from pies to curries, a patisserie counter with a range of hand-made treats and a seasonal fruit and vegetable offering. Pizza and rotisserie chicken counters will follow at a later date.

The development of Hearty’s has been led by Sarah Dwyer, former Nestlé Senior Commercial Manager.
She said: “We’re delighted how our vision for Hearty’s has been realised.
“It is now almost double the size of the former food hall, it benefits from a strong identity and it’s easy to navigate for an enhanced customer experience. 
“We know our customers look to us for thoughtful foodie gifts, everyday treats and tasty teatime ideas so this has been central to they way we’ve redesigned the space and our extended offer. Provenance is important too, so we’ve really focused on introducing more produce from some of Yorkshire’s finest artisan makers.”

The rebrand was led by Huddersfield-based branding and design specialists Picture Smiths, which has worked with the team at Tong on branding, campaigns and packaging since 2015.

Creative Director Alex Brooke-Smith said: “This has been a fantastic project to work on. 

“After working with Tong for almost six years, we have a good understanding of their ethos, their values and the way they work, so we were able to interpret and execute the brief for this bold and bright, fresh new brand in a creative and timely manner.

 “It has been a pleasure to help Sarah and the team to deliver the Hearty’s vision and we look forward to replicating it at sites that are developed in the future.”

Tong Garden Centre occupies a 19-acre site in Tong village and is one of Yorkshire’s biggest independent garden centres.