Food and farming businesses across the country are reworking their businesses models in an innovative bid to stay afloat, as they react to the new trading environment amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Food delivery and digital subscription services have witnessed a surge in sales with consumers forced to stay at home, which has prompted farm enterprises to adapt their business strategies.
It comes after the COVID-19 outbreak saw the new Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, announce an unprecedented £350bn funding package of loans and grants to help businesses and workers cope with the lockdown of large parts of the economy.
Responding to the current climate, fruit and vegetable distributor Richard Musgrave, has switched to home deliveries after his enterprise Strawberry Fields in Keighley, West Yorkshire, lost 40 per cent of its wholesale business due to the closure of hotels and restaurants.
Mr Musgrave claimed this move was a ‘learning curve' and a natural reaction to the increase in demand for local produce, as the rise in panic buying had seen rows of empty shelves in supermarkets.
He said: "We got in touch with local newspapers and utilised our Facebook page to let the public know we would start delivering fruit, vegetable, deli and dairy products straight to peoples' doors.
"The launch of the home delivery service has had an incredibly positive response from the public and it has provided a great opportunity to increase our turnover."
Strawberry Fields is averaging around 100 deliveries a day to the surrounding areas, including Bradford, Leeds and Skipton.
Challenges
Devon-based Clothbound Cheddar producer Quicke, has similarly adapted its business model by offering free delivery to NHS staff and all vulnerable groups affected by the virus for an initial 12-week period.
It comes as supermarkets and national delivery services continue to come under pressure.
A Quicke spokesperson claimed initiatives such as these would help to address the immediate challenges facing consumers, while making it ‘easier' for the public to support independent producers and retailers.
Demand
‘Failures' in the supply chain have also prompted Our Cow Molly, a local farm shop and ice cream parlour in Sheffield, to deliver about 4,000 litres of milk to Morrisons after major processor Arla struggled to keep up with demand.
An Our Cow Molly spokesperson urged: "We are stepping up and coping with the demand but there are serious issues with the supply chain right now, we have seen empty shelves in Sheffield's biggest branches of Coop Morrisons over the past 3 days."
