[Bigdreams]

Evening  Has anyone got any insight into meat and veg box schemes? How well they work? What do you give your customers and what do they expect from you? It's just an idea rumbling currently at the back of my mind. Nothing huge just local area as we would deliver.

[Anke]

When we lived in the city about 15 years ago (before our smallholding adventure), we had an organic veg box delivered for a while - but I hated it. Because you didn't know in advance what was coming and how much of each veg there was, it made meal planning just too difficult. I would think nowadays it would be more useful for people to be able to order via the web exactly what they want and then get it delivered. If I were still to live in town I would probably like to be able to check a local veg grower's site with weekly updates about what's available and then order. same for meat, although if you have freezer space, ordering half a sheep/pig or goat would be more useful than weekly order.


Just a thought....

[Bigdreams]

Just the kind of thoughts I need Anke  Thank you

[SallyintNorth]

And yet that was what I loved about the veg box scheme!   .

In the same way as I like to use the smaller shops, so end up with what is available / in season this week, and then have to get creative on the menu / meal-planning front .  But I didn't have children and fussy eaters to contend with

For a small local scheme you can't afford to be messing about with ordering single items, I'd say.  (I have worked, some years ago, with several places doing organic veg boxes, and talked with suppliers when I was a customer - but things may well have moved on since I was involved of course.).  Most of the schemes I have had knowledge of (all small local ones), you could have up to three preferences (eg never kiwis always sub extra pears, no avocados) but otherwise took the selection you were given. 

Most do a basic box - potatoes, onions and carrots every week plus two or three things that will vary each week, and maybe one or two other choices eg a salad box, a non-exotic fruit box.

Places that do their own eggs and so on of course let you select those items to be added to your box.

Meat in the veg box can be an issue because of people being out and meat getting warm.  So you'd maybe want people to pay up front for a reusable cool box or something.

Talking of reusable boxes, that was a bugbear for my local scheme up north.  Customers would not unpack the box into their veg racks but use the items from the box, so then the box would get contaminated from veg that started to go off, and not be usable again, etc.  So they eventually abandoned the reusable cardboard boxes and used burnable orange crates instead, wbich we were all happy to burn on our woodburners

[Bigdreams]

SallintheNorth that’s a fantastic insight ? thank you! We’re looking at producing meat, veg, soft fruit, eggs and honey. Also never thought about the packaging being an issue in that way either

[SallyintNorth]

TAS is giving your location as Devon, is that right?  Which end/bit?  (I'm in north Cornwall, only just over the border.)

[Clarebelle]

Used to get a veg box when we lived down south, I used to love it because of the unusual veg we used to get but it was not very good for the staples, i.e. 4 carrots is not enough for a family of 5 for a week etc. This meant I still had to buy veg from the supermarket

My uncle runs an organic veg box scheme where he updates his availability list every week and his customers choose what they want. He also sells at a local farmers market once a week. His website is here is you wanted to take a look at his setup. He has a blog on there too, if you look back through it it might give you an idea of what you can expect from taking on a business such as this : https://moynsparkorganics.co.uk/

[Perris]

I subscribe to a local organic veg box scheme and like SallyintNorth it's the random element and challenge of unfamiliar veg that I love, plus reflection of the season instead of everything being available all year round so nothing is ever special; on the other hand, seasonality gets boring towards the end of a long season and I then long for something exotic!

[Bigdreams]

SallyintheNorth  that was meant to be a  not  I'm pre planning my move to Devon as my partner and I will be moving in temporarily with my parents in Shebbear, Beaworthy. They've said we can make a start on half of the two acres they have which is amazing of them. I currently have my eye on 4.5 acres of land in Buckland Brewer but my partner thinks it's too expensive (£35000) but I know how hard it is to find a decent acreage at under £10,000 per acre. I'm going to do another post about that 
Clarebelle you're a star!! That information is priceless, thank you so much
Thank you too Perris  I see a theme here and that is exactly what I need to know

[Womble]

We used to take one for a while, before we moved to the arse end of nowhere.

We too liked the randomness of it. I particularly remember having to resort to google images to figure out what certain things were, which sounds kinda daft now (mind you, I did have to explain the difference between a courgette and an aubergine to a vegan last week, so.... ).

The problem with it was that there were never enough of the staples (carrots, onions etc) to do more than one or two meals, so we still ended up having to buy veg. Also seasonality meant that the boxes were considerably more interesting in the summer than the winter. It was also, if I'm honest, an expensive luxury for us, and in the end we dropped it in order to save money.

Edit: I just looked, and it seems that the folks we used to use have now stopped trading. There are still contact details on their website though, so it might be worth a friendly call to see if they will share any lessons learned?

[Maysie]

I currently have my eye on 4.5 acres of land in Buckland Brewer but my partner thinks it's too expensive (£35000) but I know how hard it is to find a decent acreage at under £10,000 per acre. I'm going to do another post about that 

Try not to get to bogged-down in the relative/comparative/going rate of the price of the land.  It is more about what the land is worth 'to you', so only you can judge what is and is not good value. 

An acre of ground at the back of someones garden could be worth £50k if they desperately want it, but if they don't want it... I am sure you know what I mean!   

[SallyintNorth]

When a pal and I moved to the farm at the end of the lane beyond the arse end of nowhere we knew we couldn’t ask the veg box folks to deliver, and they didn’t have a local pickup point near us.  So we arranged that they’d leave our box in the bus shelter as our lane met the hamlet at the bottom. We always got our box and I think only once thought maybe an apple had been taken .

[landroverroy]

SallyintheNorth  that was meant to be a  not  I'm pre planning my move to Devon as my partner and I will be moving in temporarily with my parents in Shebbear, Beaworthy. They've said we can make a start on half of the two acres they have which is amazing of them. I currently have my eye on 4.5 acres of land in Buckland Brewer but my partner thinks it's too expensive (£35000) but I know how hard it is to find a decent acreage at under £10,000 per acre.

I agree with what Maisie said - land is worth what it's worth to you. Also your partner seems out of touch with land prices, as not only (as you mentioned) is it difficult to find any under £10k/acre, but also smaller units fetch more/acre. Remember also - they don't make it any more!
It may seem expensive to him now but in 5+ years time when land prices have gone up even more it will seem a good buy and he'll be telling everyone what a bargain it was!

[SallyintNorth]

I currently have my eye on 4.5 acres of land in Buckland Brewer but my partner thinks it's too expensive (£35000)

Hopefully that's a typo, or your partner is most definitely correct! 

[SallyintNorth]

Have you been able to research what schemes are already in place in your expected catchment area?  Much if not most of Devon is already pretty well-served... :/

We have a Food Assembly near us, which seems like a fab idea.  Pooling the produce - and the risk - through one logistics network, website, etc.  Worth a look into, I would think?  There may already be a group of producers looking into setting up a Bideford one...

And having local farmers' markets where you can sell what isn't getting shifted through the box scheme is probably important too.  All the schemes I've had any connection with have done farmers' markets too.