Tamar Valley Food Hub has been invaluable throughout the pandemic
Tamar Valley Food Hub has been invaluable throughout the pandemic
This not-for-profit, social enterprise connects local, small-scale food and drink producers to customers, via a weekly delivery scheme.
Tamar Valley Food Hub’s online community shop works in a very similar manner to an online supermarket site, except customers have the satisfaction of knowing they are helping local businesses, and that their fruit and veg will be picked the day before, or even the morning before they receive it, so it will keep longer, and won’t have travelled hundreds of miles; customers are also buying delicious, high quality produce which has been ethically and sustainably produced.
Established in 2009, Tamar Grow Local CIC is a not-for-profit umbrella of various community organisations and small enterprises encouraging people to eat and grow local food. Established as a governing group for two allotment sites in Calstock and St Budeaux, it also facilitates community orchards. After developing to incorporate an educational aspect through a bee-keeping cooperative, which runs three courses a year, a commercial layer soon followed - Tamar Valley Food Hub. The food hub was formulated in 2013 to support local producers with an online platform where they could sell their goods collectively. This not-for-profit, producer-led venture provided customers with easy access to sustainable and affordable local produce, as well as publicising the benefits of local food, while helping producers engage with a ready-made market. By providing marketing, collating orders and distribution, Tamar Valley Food Hub now relieves some of the strain from small-scale producers so they can focus on what they do best - making their products.
Over 100 producers now use the platform over the course of the year, some of whom have approached Tamar Valley Food Hub, while others have been recruited by the hub to fill gaps in the range of goods on offer. Producers load their own products on the site, and set their own prices and availability; they then receive an order on Tuesday for delivery to the hub on Friday morning. A portion of their profit goes to cover the organisational costs, but this supply-to-order scenario has the added benefit of zero waste. The CIC has also teamed up with Good Food Exeter to share produce – so for example, the hub takes fish to Exeter and returns with organic chicken, and since both organisations use Open Food Network software, the process is seamless for producers and customers.
Apple juice made by the CIC apple co-operative is sold through the platform and the food hub has recently played a supporting role to the community orchard in Harrowbarrow and Metherell. With normal fundraising impossible, Cheryl of Kingston Preserves made the apples into chutney which was then sold on the hub platform to raise much-needed funds for the orchard. Customers also have an option to support Callington Food Bank by adding a donation or buying a veg bag to be delivered to a food bank client, while Tamar Grow Local works with Plymouth City Homes on the Grow, Share, Cook project, supplying fortnightly bags of seasonal vegetables to help people disadvantaged by Covid-19.
Keen to nurture new producers, Tamar Grow Local started the Farm Start scheme in 2015, by leasing eight acres in Metherell and then renting out the land in plots, ranging from a half-acre up to two acres. Prospective tenants apply with a new start-up horticultural business plan, and if successful, their rental costs can be under £1 per day, with no long-term commitment, and the promise of an engaged market once they have a product to sell. The scheme currently has seven tenants occupied in various endeavours, including a vineyard, an orchard, several market gardens and an acre of flax destined for linen. Combining the mentoring support of other growers and the CIC team, the scheme fulfils an important stepping stone between an allotment and a business, and its success can be measured by the waiting list and Defra’s interest in replicating it in other parts of the country.
Lockdown affected many local producers, causing them to rethink their business and find a new market. Pre-lockdown, Good Earth Growers grew micro-salads and herbs for high-end London restaurants. When that requirement ground to a complete halt, they had to quickly adapt and start cultivating larger salad produce for the local market, using the hub platform. After the initial panic buying in supermarkets, customers also realised the value of a local and consistently available supply, and Tamar Valley Food Hub experienced an exponential surge in interest – in one week there was a 300% increase in orders. The hub had to source a huge extra fridge, Callington Town Council gave them permission to use the council chamber to pack bags, customers volunteered to help and Plymouth Raiders basketball team even did a delivery stint. Although orders have settled down since then, the pandemic has prompted people to re-evaluate the food they eat and where it comes from, resulting in a noticeable and long-term shift in shopping habits.
Orders can be placed from 6pm on Friday to 9:30am on Tuesday for a Friday delivery across the Tamar Valley and Plymouth (£1.50 - £3.50) or free collection from Bere Alston Post Office, Mole Valley Farmers in Tavistock, The Count House in Weir Quay, plus various locations in Cornwall and Plymouth. For more details visit tamarvalleyfoodhubs.org.uk.