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Instore Days a real treat for farming folk
Words by Anita Body, Images by Genevieve Barker and Amy Piper

Mid Canterbury farming folk have been treated to a fantastic display of all things agricultural at this year’s Ruralco Instore Days.

Site holders once again brought their ‘A game’, which was clearly demonstrated through the many engaging and informative displays on show, along with their knowledgeable staff who ably interacted and informed the hundreds of people who visited the two-day event at Ruralco in Ashburton.
It all contributed to the resounding success of this year’s Instore Days according to Ruralco Group CEO, Rob Sharkie. “It’s testament to the support of all of our members, suppliers and retailers. This year we had exceptional numbers in attendance and in sales, which we are all extremely proud of.”
Rob said the high level of participation shown by the rural community was fantastic. “There was a really positive feel to the event this year, despite the hardships being felt by some, and this sentiment was echoed by our site holders and our staff.”
Opening day saw queues lined up outside Ruralco’s Gift & Homeware Store ready to snap up the pre-advertised specials—several of which were sold out by lunchtime. Out in the Farm Supplies store and under the big marquee in the carpark, a steady stream of cardholders were spoilt for choice with the event once again at full capacity with around 100 site holders taking part.
Every year the sites are eagerly sought after by suppliers, business partners and retailers.
Participants are carefully selected to ensure farmers experience the best of the best by way of products, expertise and special offers.
Instore Days are a great opportunity for farmers to take advantage of various specials, especially for bulk items such as calf feed and milk powder.
“There are lots of items like this which people have to buy, so many make the most of Instore Days to learn about the best products and prices available for their needs and then place their orders. Lots of people came in here with lists this year,” said Rob. Instore Days a real treat for farming folk 

"There’s also a flow-on effect after the event, with lots of positive leads generated, which might not be realised for a few months yet.”
The event has grown dramatically over the last five or so years and the Ruralco team are confident they have hit on a successful formula which allows the event to go from strength to strength every year. “Our staff and suppliers give it their all in the lead up, and throughout the duration of Instore Days. We are also very grateful for the attendance and support shown by those of you who come along and we are looking forward to next year which will be our 25th Instore Days—it should be a biggie!”

2018 Site Holder Prize Winners 

Many of this year’s Instore Days site award winners are looking to come back for the 25th birthday celebrations next year. A large proportion of the winners have been attending for a number of years and have grown and expanded, just as the two day event has since its small beginnings.
Each year the Ruralco best site judges look at the sites, how the site holders interact and connect with farmers, new innovations and points of difference the different participants might have.
This year’s winners certainly know how to best serve our farming community and some also have first-hand knowledge of what it takes to take out the top prizes, with a few having been winners in the past.

Best Retail Supplier Site:
WINNER: Gallagher
RUNNER UP: Milk Bar

Gallagher is a progressive innovator of new technologies in the areas of animal management and is always guaranteed to bring its newest innovations to share with local farmers. This year was no exception according to Canterbury Territory Manager, Mark Maitland.
“We received plenty of good feedback and interest in our new TWR 5 scale which combines tag reading and weighing in one product and makes tracking growth rates and mob data even easier.”
“Instore Days are always a great opportunity to display new innovations and to connect with our end users. They provide us with great feedback and we have built up a great rapport over the years.” Mark said they were surprised and very pleased to receive the top award for Best Retail Supplier Site and said part of success could be attributed to the passion and confidence the Gallagher team have in their products which they found easy to share with farmers.
Runner up, Milk Bar (specialists in calf rearing solutions) is another business with a long association with Instore Days, although it was South Island Technical Sales & Consultant, Cheryl Farrar’s first time representing the organisation. Locally based, Cheryl said it was a great opportunity to meet and interact with old and new clients and to share information and knowledge around the calf rearing solutions that Milk Bar products, like its specially designed Milk Bar Teat, deliver. “We were wrapped to receive the runner up’s award for our site. We tried to keep it simple and engaging for farmers. At the end of the day people can spend thousands on genetics and so it is really important their calves get the best start possible.”

Best Business Partner Site:
WINNER: Seed Force
RUNNER UP: Meridian

Seed Force’s Best Business Partner Site win has been several years in the making. Central South Island Territory Manager Stevie Young said they had been attending Instore Days for nine years but had never won an award.
This year’s planning got underway a few months ago after a few of the Seed Force team came up with a plan to feature resilience pasture with samples grown specifically for Instore Days.
It proved to be an impressive interactive and living display, and a great talking point. “Farmers could touch and feel the difference between the different varieties,” she said.
“Instore Days is more about education than securing deals and our Seed Force team was made up of experts able to answer questions and offer advice.” While attending Instore Days was not solely about winning site awards, Stevie said it was certainly nice to take home a prize.
Meridian is no stranger to Instore Days or to winning site awards and although it has been a couple of years since the last prize according to Agribusiness Key Account Manager Glenn McWhinnie, the two day event is all about connecting.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity to talk to our customers and to see them face to face. We have tried to talk to everyone that has walked past (our site).” He says it’s a major event on the Meridian team’s annual calendar and the feedback and interactions are invaluable.
“We really value our Ruralco partnership and look forward to Instore Days—and especially next year’s 25th anniversary!”

Best Card Supplier Site:
WINNER: Silk Estate
RUNNER UP: Compliance Partners
THIRD PLACE: Neumanns Tyres

Silk Estate’s Toni May was especially surprised and pleased to win the Best Card Supplier Site, describing this year’s competition as being of an extremely high standard. “It must have been incredibly difficult for the judges to decide.”
The business, Silk Estate Marquee Weddings by Toni May, has evolved as a specialised division of Peter May Marquee and Event Hire (Ashburton) which has a very long Instore Days history and enjoys a close relationship with Ruralco. “We like to support Ruralco at these events and we are great advocates of Ruralco. Our supplier status makes it so easy for our cardholder customers—we don’t take a deposit because we don’t need to with guaranteed payment. Our clients think that is great.”
Toni said this year’s Instore Days were one of the best they had ever experienced with good sales recorded over the two days and plenty of connections made for future business opportunities thanks in part to a promotion encouraging social media networking and to a competition offering free chair hire. Toni said both proved very successful.
Place-getters Compliance Partners and Neumanns Tyres also have strong and long lasting connections to Ruralco and both have been winners of site prizes in the past.