NeighbourFood OUTSTANDING ORGANISATION AWARD BY ROZ CROWLEY
Suppliers know in advance what is required of them, so there is no waste. Minimal packaging is used – another win for the environment. Producers pay a fee, which goes to the host and to NeighbourFood for this service. Jack Crotty, known to many as The Rocket Man from the name of his deli in Cork and his stall at the Mahon Point market, came up with the concept. He presented the idea of an online service to NeighbourFood’s co-founder, Martin Poucher, a software developer. Martin was crucial to operations from the start.The system now has a staggering 100,000 lines of coding assisting hosts by dealing with credit card payments, the details of orders for all collection points filtering through one central system, coping with the vicissitudes of online selling, advertising in local communities, social media, Google Maps and ever-changing
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eighbourFood provides a route to market for small producers, which is particularly commendable during a year of enormous difficulty. It is an online marketplace where a range of local producers can sell what they grow, rear and create. It is a farmers’ market, but instead of customers lining up at stalls in all kinds of weather, they order online from the comfort of their homes. Customers click to order and pay in advance, then on the designated day chosen by each host in locations countrywide, collect their order of vegetables, meat, fish, sauces, cakes, bread, condiments and ready-made meals. Starting in Cork in 2018, there are now 40 locations in Ireland and 20 in the UK, each with its own local suppliers, managed by local hosts who respond to online orders directed to them, collating each one ready for collection.
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JACK SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO BRING TOGETHER GROWERS AND PRODUCERS AND HOPED TO PROVE IT WAS POSSIBLE TO GET MOST OF THE FOOD WE NEED WITHIN OUR OWN COMMUNITY.
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