Make the most of the buy local produce trend

Know your customer, understand your target demographic and aim your marketing spend accordingly, Rick Sanderson of From My Farm tells Iona Walton

Growers are being sought by From My Farm, a supplier of fresh, seasonal, regional produce to supermarkets, farm shops and specialist retailers. Founded in October 2008, a recent From My Farm survey found that 80% of the 14,000 people polled would like to be able to buy more locally grown food, and the company is well on its way to meeting this demand.
“We have about 70 growers based in Eastern England, Yorkshire, the South-West and
Scotland,” says commercial manager Rick Sanderson. “New hubs are being set up in the South-East, Midlands and the North-West, so we particularly need growers in these areas.”
 Founder Charlotte Falkingham had worked for Produce World, a £250m fresh produce company that supplies large multiples, for eight years when she identified a gap in the market for the regional offer. She soon realised a brand was required to achieve the traction and volumes for the new venture to be viable, and so From My Farm was born.
“It began in the Eastern Region where Produce World had a hub and select growers,” explains Mr Sanderson.
“A deal was negotiated with Morrisons in its East of England stores and we subsequently adapted the model in the South-West, partnering with Bromham Growers, and a new grower base was established. We followed the same model to build our Yorkshire and Scottish offer, always growing the business organically on the back of retail customers.”
From My Farm partners with fresh produce growers and distributors to share understanding of supply chain management and delivery. Many growers have limited or no packing and labelling facilities, so the From My Farm hub offering includes these together with a consolidated storage and distribution system. Traceability is emphasised at every step of the way.
Although Produce World initially offered funding and support, today From My Farm has a £1m turnover and ambitions to treble that in the next two years.

Retailers
Produce from From My Farm is available in more than 50 branches of Morrisons and Waitrose in addition to Sourced Market and Wholefoods in London, National Trust properties, farm shops and delis. The company is in discussions with other multiple retailers and retail chains, and a mail order vegetable box will soon be available.
“Products are priced from the bottom up so that growers make a sustainable margin by supplying to us,” Mr Sanderson outlines. “Sale price and the cost of getting the product ranged under the From My Farm brand are analysed, and if it looks a sensible proposal we put the product to the retail buyers.
“Eight to 12 seasonal products are offered on a dedicated stand or integrated within a host category. We maintain around a 10-20% premium above the retailers’ own label lines as customers are prepared to pay a small premium for quality and provenance. To cover our costs and sustain the supply chain a small margin goes to From My Farm.
“When dealing with retailers, we approach them with something that adds value to their offer. Our approach is made up of gap analysis, monitoring their current offer versus those of competitors, identification of opportunities, analysis of price points and premiums, and only then will we approach them if we think we have something they would find interesting.”

Future growth
Mr Sanderson and his colleagues are exploring the food service sector with a partner in the East of England.
“The challenge with food service is price and margin, and while there’s increasing interest in provenance, quality and seasonality, we can’t ignore the fact that economic times are tough and people want value,” he says. “In order to offer our growers a sustainable margin, food service is a challenging arena to capture.”
The first From My Farm Meats trials, held in December 2010, were hailed a success, so Mr Sanderson plans to move the brand into new areas.
“In many respects we’ve cracked the hardest part of the supply jigsaw with our fresh produce offer, and because we’re now seen as experts in this arena it’s a challenge to get other products listed with the major multiples; we have new buying and technical teams to
convince, but we like a challenge.”

For more information visit the website at www.frommyfarm.co.uk.