New Zealand retail start up, Farro Fresh, first approached architect and design firm, RCG, four years ago to create a new home for its artisan produce business.
Farro Fresh Food is the brainchild of Aucklanders James and Janene Draper and began out of a desire to create a retail space that showcased the best of NZ food.
The concept centres on creating and sharing good food and quality ingredients produced in NZ.
Farro’s store design takes the concept of the farmers’ market and enhances it with a retail strategy to provide fresh local produce under one roof for an urban market.
“We focused on the heart of the store and put Farro’s people at the centre,” said John Lenihan, RCG director.
“We transformed the traditional grocery store layout and created a centralised deli. This enabled us to unlock the potential for the deli to also act as a customer service hub.
“Farro patrons can easily interact with staff and orientate themselves from anywhere, which noticeably enhances their customer journey throughout the store.”
The concept has been a winner, and in the past four years RCG has helped Farro Fresh grow from one medium sized store to three large stores.
Once RCG developed the concept of the ‘artisan farmers’ market’ for the urban shopper, the story was brought to life using polished concrete, rough sawn macrocarpa, and metropolitan stainless steel joinery, all of which are now signature features of Farro Fresh stores.
Farro Fresh has plans to open further stores across NZ and actively encourages and assists small producers into the market and onto shelves.