Question: Eden - the case continues
Tim Smit on the reasons for Eden:
Of course we have to give people a good day out, a cup of tea they enjoy and all that. But I think we have actually struck a vein which has got deeper and more important to us as a society, which is people are not just looking for leisure: what many are looking for is a purpose in their lives, and I think the combination of a great day out, with something meaningful, learning about your environment, learning about your relationship with nature, was a killer proposition. That's why I think we get the numbers we do. The mission of Eden has changed and developed over the years, but I think there's a seed of an idea that's never gone away and that is about how important it is for us as human beings to understand our relationship with nature.
We aren't independent of it: we are dependent on it and part of it. So we give visitors a narrative which is about ‘let's protect the habitat of the plants we rely on: coffee, tea, sugar, the things we use in out everyday life'. It's about understanding humans' place in nature, understanding that human ingenuity is going to be the thing that provides really good solutions to challenges as well as to some of the poor behavior We think about how we operate, how we do business, and we believe that what you do is really, really important. So the authenticity of the welcome that you get when you come here, the authenticity of how we treat our suppliers, is what I think lies behind the strength of the Eden brand.
Case questions:
· What human needs is Eden seeking to satisfy?
· How attractive do you think you would find Eden if you worked there, and for what reasons?