Does the idea of ​​opening a coffee shop in the mountains sound interesting but a bit risky? Would anyone go all the way into the mountains just to drink a cup of coffee? There is a cafe like this in a new community in Taiwan, and it has received a huge flow of customers three mo

Does the idea of ​​opening a coffee shop in the mountains sound interesting but a bit risky? Would anyone go into the mountains specifically to drink a cup of coffee? There is a cafe like this in a new community in Taiwan, and it has received a huge flow of customers three months after it opened. This is a cafe opened in an lavender forest. How did she do it? Come and take a look with the editor of Authentic Farm Travel!

01

The Origin of Taiwan's Lavender Forest Manor

In 2001, the Taiwanese idol drama "Lavender" became a hit, arousing the lavender dream of countless girls. Taiwan Lavender Forest was founded by two girls who also like lavender. One of them is a bank clerk and the other is a piano teacher. Because they were tired of city life, they gave up their jobs and took all their savings into Taichung. Deep in the mountains, I happily planted lavender and opened a coffee house. From being unknown at the beginning, to gradually lost travelers visiting and discovering surprises, and gradually expanding their dreams, Taiwan Lavender Forest has now become a popular recreational area in Taiwan, and has been shortlisted among Taiwan's top 100 tourist attractions for many years in a row, with annual revenue reaching With an investment of NT$700 million, it has become a classic case of cultural creativity and touching marketing in Taiwan, and even opened a store in Hokkaido, Japan.

02

How did Taiwan’s lavender forest become famous?

1 product system is rich and colorful

Lavender forest has planted 1,200 square meters of lavender. January to March is the season when lavender is in full bloom. The smoky purple color all over the mountain and the "wishing tree" surrounding the mountain are really beautiful. There is more than one type of lavender, and its uses are also different, including sweet lavender, feather leaf lavender, French lavender , etc. The leaves and flowers of sweet lavender are fragrant and can be used to make tea and extract essential oils; feather-leaf lavender is soft-looking and has fragrant leaves but not flowers, so it can be used for bathing.

The lavender forest divides this valley into different areas: Wang Mama Vanilla Plains, Grace Garden, Forest Cafe, Herb Shop, Purple Hill Cafe, Tifendi Forest Picnic, Herb Market, Rich content such as happiness mailboxes is unique and creative, allowing visitors to gain multi-level and diverse experiences.

2 Ingenious design, human experience

(1) Unique decorative design

The lavender forest reflects the owner's most simple attention and consideration to the guests. Even the reminder signs are unique. You can see warm reminders drawn by the owner with chalk on the blackboard everywhere, including the route, the name of each restaurant and the meals.

The lavender forest has many surprising and touching details, such as the employees nailing the chairs themselves and painting them with bright paint; the wishing tree on the top of the mountain, and tree-shaped wishing cards are sold in the beverage store, and people can fill in their own wishes wishes hanging on the tree; another example is a decorated cashier counter. Every corner of the lavender forest is special.

(2) Ritual service

Before entering the lavender forest, the owner designed lavender essential oil aromatherapy door. People go through the lavender water purification ceremony, believing that this will bring good luck and positive energy to themselves, while breathing lavender. The fragrance puts you in a good mood before entering the lavender forest. Until the "prayer ceremony" at 5 pm on holidays, lavender transforms into a wishing angel who realizes dreams, leading everyone participating to believe in the most precious wish in their hands.

Lavender Forest provides a considerate mailing postcard service. With the unique design of the postcard, you can buy a postcard and put it into a small wooden mailbox after writing. Lavender Forest will send it out, allowing the other person to feel the infinite blessings from the mountains.

The waiters in Lavender Forest all wear uniform purple clothes with two white wings on their backs. They are very cute and friendly. A set of meticulous services are provided to guests as soon as they enter the door, such as offering a drink first; there will be a fireplace in winter, and although it is cold outside, it is very warm as soon as you enter the room.

3 Diversified extended business formats

(1) Lavender peripheral products

Lavender Forest has developed many peripheral products, which will be sold in herb shops and herb markets. In addition to lavender drinks and lavender dishes that are favorite among young people, there are also Bath, skin care, and fragrance products based on lavender essential oil, such as handmade soaps, lavender sachets, etc. In addition to the scent of lavender, the fragrance products here have also developed a forest series, based on the concept of "forest after the rain", using wild ginger flower , chamomile, sage and other aromas, mixed into a rough and delicate The flavors include body lotions, massage oils and other products. In addition, there are many different flavors of spices and real lavender potted plants for visitors to choose from. It allows tourists to enhance their immersive experience through items with distinctive culture in the scene, and also allows tourists to continue to spread happiness after taking the goods home.

(2) Lavender-themed catering

The lavender forest has now formed a complex manor that integrates flower appreciation, folk customs, catering, self-produced lavender finished products, and leisure. In addition to the mid- to high-priced "Lavender Forest" restaurants in Taichung, Hsinchu, and Cingjing, lavender-themed restaurants also include the high-priced "Forest·1935", the mid- to low-priced "Tonghua Village" restaurant, and several herb shops.

food and beverage products are centered around the theme of vanilla, and the categories are rich, diverse and pleasing to the eye.

(3) Lavender theme B&B

The B&B room in Lavender Forest only has a bed, a lamp, and a tea table. Although the decoration is simple, it is full of design. You will feel its unique style when you are here, making you more Really integrate into the simple mountain life. The courtyard of the folk custom room is full of pastoral atmosphere. After leaving the accommodation and going to the lavender forest, travelers can get to know a variety of different types of flowers and plants, and can also taste dishes using flowers and grass as ingredients, so that visitors can easily enjoy the food and experience nature here. A life that blends into one.

Lavender Forest also founded the B&B brand Slow B&B, which opened in Hokkaido, Japan in 2010. Slow B&B is well-known to almost everyone in Taiwan. It currently has two branches in Chiayi Fenchihu and Beixian Jinguashi . It once set a new record of check-in reservations three months after its opening. In less than 30 minutes, 40,000 people poured in. A record of orders. In Taiwan, this is a B&B that almost everyone knows without introduction. Just like a saying in the Taiwanese industry, Slow B&B has always had the ability to keep customers waiting in line.

(4) Chain brand + brand strategic operation

After the Lavender Forest business model is successful, it will be copied simultaneously to other leisure catering markets, including leisure farms, catering, B&Bs, recreation, fragrance, wedding banquets, merchandise, and curation and other diversified businesses, from 2001 to 2018, a total of 10 brands have been created, including Lavender Forest, Heart of the Garden, Manchu B&B, Herb Shop, Forest Island, Tonghua Village, Haohao, Manchu Culture and Tourism, and Drifting Bird, of which the business opened in 2016 The amount reached NT$700 million.

03

Inspiration from the Taiwan Lavender Forest

1 Use rural aesthetics to create thematic scenes

Use rural aesthetics to construct landscape scenes and use cultural scenes to create humanistic artistic conception. Taiwan Lavender Forest creates a romantic scene of lavender forest around lavender resources, following the trend of vanilla and leisure industries With the development boom, we take advantage of the lavender hotspot and take vanilla culture as the core value to lead tourists' memories and dreams.

2 gives the product a story, leading consumers to experience it in depth

Taiwan's lavender forest can be said to be a model of creative agriculture. The selling point of the creative agriculture industry lies not only in good product functions and standardized service processes, but more importantly, in giving the product a story. , a touch, and a recognition to meet the psychological needs of target customers. Able to use creativity to create stories, rituals, activities, and totems of products to lead consumers to have in-depth experiences. They can also design high-quality and beautiful products to impress consumers.Only in this way can consumers gain an in-depth experience and establish an emotional connection. As soon as they see or think of a story, ritual or totem, they can immediately think of the project and achieve a sense of brand identity.