A group of South West food producers has formed a new collective following the collapse of food delivery service Farmdrop last year.
Online grocer Farmdrop, which sold locally sourced food from more than 450 independent suppliers across the country, entered administration in December 2021 - leaving hundreds of customers without Christmas food orders.
Four of the platform’s former suppliers - Wiltshire-based Purton House Organics, Devon's Ruffle Organic Chicken, Sladesdown Farm in Newton Abbot and Plymouth fishmonger Sole of Discretion – have founded a new online food service called Farms to Doors.
The venture will allow customers to buy directly from the four businesses with products then delivered straight to homes.
Caroline Bennett, founder of Sole of Discretion, said Farmdrop customers had been a “massive part” of the business’ sales, and it had been a “huge blow” when the London-based company had ceased trading.
Ms Bennett said: “We got the news at 10pm at night, two weeks before Christmas. The next day I picked up the phone to Dan Mason from Sladesdown Farm and we discussed setting up our own service. Within under 24 hours we had started working with one another and agreed we wanted to collaborate.”
Mr Mason said the financial shock from Farmdrop’s collapse on his poultry farm in South Devon was “starting to bite.”
Mr Mason said: “There was always going to be a knock on effect when between 30% - 50% of your business disappears from underneath you.
“We’ve always had complete control over the production side of our business. But with Farmdrop collapsing, we realised that the very thing you needed in a business - the sales - we didn’t have control of. It really woke us all up.
“Setting up Farms to Doors has given us back some of this control, giving customers the opportunity to buy directly from us again. It’s brilliant that we now have the new Farms to Doors website up and running and we’re ready to go."
Ms Bennett added collectives like Farms to Doors disrupted the global nature of UK food supply chains.
Ms Bennett said: “Put simply, customers that buy locally, have a greater positive impact on the local economy and the environment.
“The collective has been such a revelation for me because I’m so used to working independently, but it’s been so much fun working together and learning from each other.
“There is a huge level of trust between us and the legacy of Farmdrop has empowered us to move it forward.”
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