One step closer to a more sustainable food system
What our latest investment means for the future of Farmdrop
This week, we announced a new £7m funding round. This is a really important and exciting milestone in the company’s history so I wanted to take the time to explain what this means for everyone connected with Farmdrop.
The first thing to say is that there is no “fast money” motive at Farmdrop. This is very important to the whole team here.
In the real world, every company needs to make money otherwise it will quickly disappear. But it should never be forgotten that it is the supermarkets’ obsession with profit that has done so much damage to our food system. Cheap food has been pursued at the expense of pretty much everything else — the environment, our personal health, and farmers’ livelihoods.
At Farmdrop we are extremely fortunate to have received this latest investment from people who truly believe in our mission. They are firmly committed to the big sustainability challenges that we are taking on and that means we can continue to focus on our core principles:
- Empowering more incredible local producers, giving them direct market access to customers so they can continue to produce food in a way that looks after the animals and conserves the land.
- Building a supply chain that doesn’t ruin the environment, providing a ‘produced on demand’ system that eliminates food waste, deliveries made in electric vans to keep the air clean, and packaging taken away so that it can be used again and again.
- And most importantly for our customers, continuing to deliver fresher, healthier, and more delicious food with brilliant service, made as convenient as possible.
Improvements to the platform
Now we have the investment there are a few changes we want to make that will improve the experience both for customers and farmers.
For you our customers, we are going to make it easier than ever for you to shop with Farmdrop, introducing a new regular order function if you want to use it, and also give you unrivalled information on the provenance of the food you are buying.
For our producers we are going to create a new digital platform that makes it easier to promote your food and manage your stock. This will include the introduction of a live digital chalkboard as a way of selling to customers.
As a business, we are going to carry on improving the efficiency of our logistical operation. It is only by moving food at the lowest cost that we can give producers a higher share of the final retail price, the best wage rates for our delivery teams, and the freshest food for customers.
Finally, as we move to other cities outside of London, our platform will only grow in a way that fosters and protects the original mission. We will always work first with local independent producers using farming methods that look after the planet and who grow foods to maximise flavour and nutrition.
Thank you!
Four years ago, a handful of us started out with an idea to create a more sustainable and healthy food system. Farmdrop is by no means the finished article and we still know we have a very long way to go but with this latest investment we can take the whole thing to the next level.
I want to say a big thank you to our farmers, the early investors, the amazing Farmdrop team we’ve assembled, and you our customers. You can only take on a challenge like this when you are surrounded by people who are equally passionate and committed to building a sustainable food system and in that respect I have been very fortunate.
