I'm so excited about a new business opportunity!!

[catherine]

I've been thinking for the past few months (since my permaculture design course) of starting a locavore food delivery service in my area. Central Jersey actually has a lot of really great little meat, poultry, dairy and produce farms. I personally would take more advantage of them if it wasn't so time-consuming to drive around to them all.

So, I started mulling around the idea of a food delivery service that specializes in JUST local farms and foods. I would also include CSA pickup and delivery.

I even have a name: Exit 9: because the business focuses on the local community (You know the joke: "I'm from New Jersey" "What exit") and also it's symbolic of stepping off the fast lane.

Anyway, I happened to be at the local poultry grower buying turkey and chicken sausages and, while I had envisioned being real professional about my first contact, I blew it and just said, "Has anyone ever spoken to you about a food delivery service?"

Bottom line, I have a meeting with the head manager/chef in two weeks to discuss it!!

SO.. does anyone have any suggestions about the best business model? Buy the food wholesale from them, have my own online menu and resell it to customers? Or simply pick up their orders and deliver?

Not sure how to do that. I've done some online research for similar businesses and it can go either way. Any thoughts?

[Mrs-M]

That is awesome, Catherine!!!

You are such a great thinker! I have no business savvy, so am unable to toss any ideas your way, but here's hoping that this thread rewards you with lots and lots of great ideas to help get your vision off the ground!

Sending good luck wishes your way!

[Tussiemussies]

Catherine, don't have anything to add but just to wish you good luck!

PS exit 9 was behind my backyard in my childhood home...in Rutger's Village....

[catherine]

Thanks for your support, both of you!

Tussiemussie, as two Exit 9ers, we're practically cousins! I know where Rutgers Village is--on the way to New Brunswick on Rt. 18?

[pinkytoe]

Here is an example of a similar operation in my neck of the woods; they have been very successful thus far so there might be some good ideas therein:
http://farmhousedelivery.com/home.html

[catherine]

Here is an example of a similar operation in my neck of the woods; they have been very successful thus far so there might be some good ideas therein:
http://farmhousedelivery.com/home.html

Wow.. Amazing info. Thank you so much, pinkytoe!!

[SteveinMN]

SO.. does anyone have any suggestions about the best business model? Buy the food wholesale from them, have my own online menu and resell it to customers? Or simply pick up their orders and deliver?
By buying the food wholesale, do you mean you hold an inventory? If so, really bad idea. You'll have to get commercial freezers and probably specific vendor's licenses. You'll also have to figure out what sells and (literally) eat what doesn't sell. OTOH if you are simply picking up orders and delivering, 1) you'll need to price it in such a way that it remains attractive to customers; and b) you are in competition with pretty much any other delivery service out there, including package delivery services like Speedee or FedEx, taxis, courier services, etc., and that's going to be tough.

Give us your "elevator speech" -- why would someone want to buy stuff from Exit 9? How do you expect to make money? Who is your primary competition and why are you better than them?

[Kestra]

I'm sure things are different in Canada, but here's a similar service that I use. Main difference is their first focus is organic/pesticide free, so not everything is local, but they do that as best as they can. And the company is vegetarian as the owner's are vegan.

www.freshoption.ca

Probably not similar enough of a business but the owner is super nice and I'm sure she'd talk to you, if you emailed them.

[catherine]

In answer to Steve's questions:

Elevator speech (first draft):
Everyone would love to take advantage of all the great local foods that are available in Central Jersey, but who has the time to drive around buying them? The supermarket may be the default option for shopping after a long commute, but not the best or preferred option. So, let Exit 9 do your locavore shopping for you and bring it right to you on a regular basis. You'll get the best and freshest food available while supporting the local economy.

Business model:
Buy food at discounted rate + charge a delivery fee (either per delivery or monthly membership--not sure how). I'm in an affluent area that values organic food. And they're all really busy.. commuting long hours into NYC and elsewhere in NJ.

Competition:
There really is NO locavore delivery service. There is Peapod, which delivers Stop & Shop stuff, but that's it, to my knowledge. I "liked" our local poultry farmer on Facebook, and they had a recent post that talked about how a lot of people are asking how they can get the products from food outlets closer to them.

[catherine]

I'm sure things are different in Canada, but here's a similar service that I use. Main difference is their first focus is organic/pesticide free, so not everything is local, but they do that as best as they can. And the company is vegetarian as the owner's are vegan.

www.freshoption.ca

Probably not similar enough of a business but the owner is super nice and I'm sure she'd talk to you, if you emailed them.

Great! Kestra, do you mind my asking what you pay for the delivery? I know it's not apples to apples, esp since we're in different countries, but just curious.

[Bootsie]

CSAs are popular in my Manhattan neighborhood. I don't belong to one, but several friends do and they like it. The complaints I hear are that having to pick up produce at a specific time can be too restrictive for their schedule, and they also wish they could "take off" a week when they are on vacation, rather than having to give or sell that week's share to someone else. I think a big draw is that they feel committed to the farmers and like the community feeling of helping local farmers. I would definitely play up the part about being local...sort of a combination of an old-fashioned farmers' market that supplies fresh food with a delivery service that suits a modern lifestyles that demands convenience. Go for it! (I think customers would like "knowing" their farmers so perhaps include a handout in your deliveries spotlighting the farmers, highlighting different food items, and perhaps including little history bits or agricultural facts about your local area...instill that community feeling even if the customers aren't directly interacting with each other or the suppliers. You can be the link between all of them. Fun!

[Tussiemussies]

Thanks for your support, both of you!

Tussiemussie, as two Exit 9ers, we're practically cousins! I know where Rutgers Village is--on the way to New Brunswick on Rt. 18?


Hi again Catherine, yes the entrance to Rutger's Village is where Rt. 1 and Rt. 18 meet.... :)

[awakenedsoul]

I use a local organic co op. www.abundantha (http://www.abundantha)rvestorganics.com. They're really popular in California. The nice thing is, you can order just when you need it. You're not required to buy every week. Since I grow so much produce, I only order from them about every 6 weeks. I get raw milk, raw cheese, grass fed beef, free range chicken, and a box of their produce. I love it! They sell all kinds of stuff, and they are growing rapidly. Good luck with your business!

[herbgeek]

There's a service in the Providence area where you can order a food box (whatever is available that week) and they deliver to your workplace if you have at least 10 people getting a delivery. This might be more cost effective from a delivery perspective. Its not a CSA, you aren't obligated to buy a whole season's worth of food (but I think you do have to commit to a number of weeks in a row). Its just a local food delivery service. I just found out about this, don't know if I could get 9 co-workers in on this, as I'm in a place where most of the people work from home 2-3 days/week.

Here's the link to the winter box:http://www.farmfreshri.org/about/veggiebox.php

[leslieann]

Someone here got the same bug: it started out as an information clearing house and now is a storefront as well as location where people pick up their boxes of local food. Here's the site: http://realfoodsfredericton.ca/2010/

Great idea, Catherine.

[Kestra]

Great! Kestra, do you mind my asking what you pay for the delivery? I know it's not apples to apples, esp since we're in different countries, but just curious.

Not sure if you mean just the delivery charge or what I pay for the produce. If you chose to pick up your food from the warehouse, it's $3.00 less. But I think the delivery cost is generally built into the prices, so I don't know if that $3 fee is accurate.

And also, to give more details based on what others have said, here are things I like about the service they provide:
- a weekly newsletter with your delivery - what's in that week's box, a recipe, some local food information, general organic food info - it's just one page on the back of the invoice
- they have a large selection of grocery items that you can add onto your box of produce - all done by email
- if you pre-pay you get 10% off. They just charge my credit card $300 whenever my balance is down to $0 so I never have to deal with payment when I get my delivery.
- you can get a box weekly or bi-weekly
- you can skip a week whenever you need to
- you're aware that you're supporting local farmers and food manufacturers, even if they aren't certified organic.
- More and better local produce than we can get in stores - for example, we get awesome greenhouse tomatoes in Manitoba by around February, and cucumbers a short time later. Which is something we never get in the regular grocery stores. If you grow them yourself you won't be harvesting until July or worse. Local hydroponic lettuce as well, virtually year round.
- they decide what produce you get each week, based on what's available, so you get veggies you never would have tried otherwise.
I could go on and on but I'm pressed for time. I absolutely love this company and the whole local/chemical reduced food movement.

[awakenedsoul]

The one I use charges $5.00 for delivery. I just pick it up at the designated location. I know they were having problems with people not picking up their orders, or being late...they extended their hours for pick up time.

[SteveinMN]

catherine, thanks for the info. It sounds like this could be a big hit in your area -- people with the interest in the food and more money than time (gee, I used to be like that).

A few more thoughts:
- Are you planning to offer a full line of food -- that is, to fill in gaps? If you can offer local beef and pork and seafood, but not chicken, how many miles out will you range to offer a full line of foods? Would you offer a local line of more-processed food? Or will you just stick with whatever you can find within an X mile radius?
- Is there a way you can emphasize your relationships with producers so customers will associate you quickly with the producers? Maybe you could arrange with producers to get some product exclusives (limited quantities, special flavors, etc.) that will drive demand to you in preference to their other outlets?
- Are you setting up for e-commerce ordering? Especially ordering through a mobile phone? How much will that cost to maintain?
- I understand that there is no locavore delivery service in your area. I think it will be key, though, to establish yourself somehow so that customers think of you first (or only). Frankly, the barriers to entry to this opportunity are not high. It's a great idea, but what stops someone else from doing it if they think there's a buck in it? It could be a courier service or another entrepreneur or even Peapod. What keeps your producer clients from defecting to someone else with a bigger company (but maybe no locavore cred) or better payment terms?

I don't mean for these questions to sound like I'm taking a pin out to burst your balloon. I'm just curious as to how you see this working out and how you plan to respond to very likely circumstances which may work against you. I'm very much enjoying this conversation.

[catherine]

Steve, great questions... you're not bursting my balloon at all. Through the informal research I conducted a couple of years ago during my "no HFCS Lent" I was able to pinpoint a number of local meat, poultry, dairy and produce farms. In fact, if anyone is interested in a great resource for local, sustainable agriculture, check out sustainabletable.org.

So, within a 25 mile radius I have a number of partnerships I can engage in. My preference would be to be able to offer the producers' full line of products to customers, so that would automatically put me in a more competitive position to outlets who carry limited offerings from the producers.

Also, Exit 9 started out as a blog idea. So, I'm hoping that I will be able to leverage my writing/blogging skills in helping to educate and communicate with people about the local community and also be a resource for permaculture information and education.

I definitely plan on ecommerce--no doubt about it. My daughter, a graphic designer for non-profits, is currently working on my logo and website. I'll get a website designer/developer who is experienced in ecommerce to take her design and provide the functionality I'm looking for in terms of full menus from the partnerships I am able to forge with the 5-10 local providers.

In terms of payment and competition from the "big guys"--I think that the local angle will work for me. The people who want to support the local farmers will also like the "neighborly" aspect of the delivery service--hopefully it will conjure up nostalgic memories of the milkman of days gone by.

The only thing that will trump any payment/fee advantages between me and a bigger guy will be GREAT customer service, and to be honest, I've got that. That's why I've been able to build a really successful market research consultancy. I simply don't mind hard work and I can't sleep at night if my customer isn't happy.

I'm going to do my own market research on this of course, and I've also got my permaculture network out there to help brainstorm.

Thanks so much for your hard questions. Right now, I'm just downloading websites of similar businesses and within the next two weeks I hope I have a business plan and a logo/branding design!!

[citrine]

Fantastic idea Catherine! I wish you all the best :)
Will you be providing the delivery service 7 days a week?
Also, will you be hiring drivers or just handle it yourself?
Another great thing to look into is the corporate kitchens off Scudders Mill Rd.

[puglogic]

Congratulations, Catherine -- this sounds awesome!

[Tradd]

Good luck, Catherine! I'll be awaiting updates!

:)

[gimmethesimplelife]

I love your enthusiasm, I can "hear" it loud and clear! It is so nice to run across someone that has it and in relation to making a living, too! I wish you the best and look forward to hearing your updates, triumphs, and challenges. Rob

[HumboldtGurl]

Yay! Congratulations! The best businesses often happen in just this way.

Catherine, my biggest suggestion to you is to make an appointment to meet with your local Small Business Development Center. They are a program of the SBA and offer free and low-cost support for aspiring entrepreneurs. They can help you grow your idea into something profitable and sustainable, and hook you up with experts in your field. DH and I worked with our local SBDC when we started our first business in 1998 and they were a HUGE help. I'm not sure we would have been as successful without them, so I always encourage new businesses to check 'em out.

Good luck!

[SteveinMN]

Excellent point, HumboldtGurl. I would add that the State of Minnesota offers a decent-sized paperback book/PDF (free) on "Starting a Small Business in Minnesota". It has been helpful to me in setting up my photography business. Perhaps New Jersey has something similar?