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1. THE BEGINNING
This innovation came to life when…
I was working in the kitchens of some of London’s well-known restaurants alongside chefs such as Gordon Ramsay. I noticed a fundamental problem in the local food movement where chefs wanted to regain their relationship with where the food that they cooked came from and farmers were really keen to tap into these markets, but there was no easy way for the two sides to directly connect and trade.
2. WHAT & HOW
The purpose of this innovation is to…
Enable wholesale buyers such as chefs and restaurateurs to connect and trade directly with local farmers and growers online. We are shortening the supply chain and making buying and selling local, responsibly farmed food, simple!
It does this by…
Empowering local farmers and producers to represent their produce, list their inventory and promote their business online in a highly visual and searchable format whilst enabling chefs to easily search for producers by location and produce before placing one order from multiple farms and getting the produce directly from them.
3. PURPOSE & BENEFITS
This innovation improves on what came before because…
Chefs would have to find, research, and contact numerous farms, who would then have to send out inventory lists, negotiate prices and take orders from multiple buyers by phone, email, fax, and paper and pen. Otherwise chefs would use wholesalers, whose food has no story, lacks freshness and is more expensive.
The benefits to the customer/end-user include…
For the farmer, we promote their offerings, increase their sales, enable connections, manage invoices, reduce risk and save valuable time. For the chef, we save them time, enable them to buy direct, purchase fresher produce and manage invoicing.
4. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
In the past, this problem was solved by…
Chefs would have to find, research, and contact numerous farms, who would then have to send out inventory lists, negotiate prices and take orders from multiple buyers by phone, email, fax, and paper and pen. Otherwise chefs would use wholesalers, whose food has no story, lacks freshness and is more expensive.
Its predecessors/competitors include…
A completely manual effort from chefs that takes months to make connections, build relationships and trade. Farmers have previously sold stock at rock-bottom prices to Flemington Markets, being a price taker, whereas now they’re a price maker.
5. TARGET MARKET
This innovation is made for…
Wholesale buyers who want to both know where their food comes from and differentiate through quality produce — chefs at first but then retail food shops, catering companies, canteens, schools and hospitals. Sellers are local growers and farmers who want and need to sell their produce direct to market.
6. DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
It is available for sale through…
Our marketing strategy is to…
Currently we are working with TAFE University, some celebrity chefs and finalising an article for the SMH. Through local food events, we will promote Food Orbit as well as through significant press, online video production series and social media. We have a direct sales team that is signing up farmers from local food markets.
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FINE PRINT
This SMART 100 profile and the information it contains is a duplication of content submitted by the applicant during the entry process. As a function of entry, applicants were required to declare that all details are factually correct, do not infringe on another’s intellectual property and are not unlawful, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, obscene, or otherwise objectionable. Some profiles have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.
