Farmdrop

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Farmdrop
IndustryFood
Founded2012; 10 years ago (2012)
FounderBen Pugh[1][2][3]
DefunctDecember 17, 2021; 36 days ago (2021-12-17)
Headquarters
London
,
England
Area served
London
Key people
Eleanor Herrin, CEO
ProductsFoods
ServicesOnline grocer – food ordering and delivery
Revenue£3.9 M (2018)
Number of employees
214 [4] (2020)

Farmdrop was an online grocer with a focus on food sourced from local farmers, fishermen and other producers.[5][6] The company provided farm-to-table foods for consumers in Greater London and surrounding counties, along with ethically-sourced baby & kids, household, pets and deli products.[7] They informed customers on 17 December 2021 that they had collapsed following a failure to secure additional funding.

Ben Pugh, a former stockbroker for Morgan Stanley, founded the company in 2012, which was based in London, England.[8][9] In December 2015, the company had 20 employees, and in April 2016 worked with around 80 food producers. As of April 2018, it was working with 450 producers. Farmdrop had a mobile app that consumers used to interface with the company.[10]

History[]

The earliest work in forming Farmdrop began with Pugh meeting local farmers at their farms to acquire prospective producers to work with the company.[11] Various foods including organic foods could be ordered online and delivered.[11][12][13] Farmers and fishermen received a higher percentage of the retail price using Farmdrop because no middlemen were involved in the supply chain.[a][5][11][15] In March 2017, the company had around 30,000 active users.[10]

The company was formally founded by Pugh in 2012 using around £750,000 in funding from other sources.[11] In 2016 the company received £3 million in funding. In April 2017, the company received another £7 million.[16][17] In June 2018, the company raised another £10 million.[18]

In late 2018, Farmdrop upgraded its brand identity with a new logo and positioning,[19][better source needed] coinciding with the addition of new product lines such ethically-sourced household goods, wine and drinks, as well as baby & kids items. It was realized in collaboration with design studio Confederation Studio following co-creation principles.[20]

in March 2019, an ad from the company featuring a mix of fresh produce, bacon, eggs and butter, was rejected by TfL (Transport for London, which operates the London Underground) due to its updated regulation on HFSS (high in fat, sugar and salt) foods and how they are advertised in the London Underground.[21] A debate ensued, with Farmdrop raising questions around the scoring system used to determine what is healthy food.[22][better source needed] The company declared it fully supported "preventing brands from aggressively advertising junk food to children".[23]

In March/April 2019, Farmdrop launched an initiative to review and reduce plastic packaging in its fresh produce. It shared the findings and results, including using plant-based compostable bags for broccoli, kale, salad and bread.[24][better source needed]

In December 2021 the company collapsed due to inability to secure sufficient capital to continue operating.[25][26][27]

Education campaign[]

In September 2016, Farmdrop began providing its "Farmology" education campaign, which provided information to consumers about the origins of foods.[8] The Farmology campaign corresponded with the start of the school year in England.[8]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ "As of 2016, farmers and producers were given an average of 70 per cent of sale revenue through Farmdrop as opposed to 30 per cent from supermarkets."[14]

References[]

  1. ^ Clawson, Trevor. "A Moment Of Transition - The Realities Of Taking Over From A Founder". Forbes. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  2. ^ Smith, Sophie (19 November 2019). "'I don't know why supermarkets find it so hard to go plastic-free': New chief of Farmdrop boxes clever". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Farmdrop picks up £10M Series B". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  4. ^ "FarmDrop profile", Craft, retrieved 13 August 2019
  5. ^ a b Carolan, M.S. (2017). No One Eats Alone: Food as a Social Enterprise. Island Press. pp. 128–132. ISBN 978-1-61091-804-6. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. ^ "The Great British Box Off: which veg box is best for quality and value?". The Telegraph. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  7. ^ "This man has created an app that could be the beginning of the end for supermarkets". The Independent. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "Farmdrop to host 'Farmology' educational push on food origins". The Grocer. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  9. ^ Smith, Rebecca (19 February 2016). "Meet the entrepreneur who wants to break up the food chain". Management Today. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  10. ^ a b Rodionova, Zlata (3 March 2017). "Farmdrop: This app could stop shoppers going to supermarkets for groceries". The Independent. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d Brouwer, Lotte (19 October 2015). "A man on a mission: How Farmdrop is fixing the food chain". Country & Town House Magazine. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  12. ^ Cohen, Claire (27 March 2014). "Word of mouth: FarmDrop, bringing local food to the masses". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  13. ^ Scott, Sue (17 April 2016). "Online farm produce company enjoys rapid growth". Farmers Weekly. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  14. ^ Burns, Michael (5 April 2016). "News". Digital Arts. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  15. ^ Leal, Natalie; Zee, Bibi van der (20 August 2014). "Off the shelf: are people finally turning away from supermarkets?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2016.
  16. ^ Ghosh, Shona. "Skype's billionaire cofounder funded a startup that delivers fresh local produce". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Farmdrop Secures £7 Million During Series A Funding Round Led By Atomico". Crowdfund Insider. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  18. ^ "Farmdrop picks up £10M Series B".
  19. ^ "A shinier Farmdrop: our brand upgrade". Farmdrop Blog. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  20. ^ "Farmdrop brand identity and positioning project - by Confederation Studio". Confederation Studio. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  21. ^ "TfL's 'junk food' ban rejects ad containing fresh produce". www.campaignlive.co.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  22. ^ "Can you spot the junk food in this ad? TfL could". Farmdrop Blog. 1 March 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  23. ^ foodnavigator.com. "Transport authority jams breaks on Farmdrop advert under new HFSS policy". foodnavigator.com. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Plastic packaging: our 6 week challenge to reduce plastic". Farmdrop Blog. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  25. ^ Farmdrop collapse leaves customers without Christmas orders
  26. ^ Important information about Farmdrop
  27. ^ Jones, Rupert (17 December 2021). "Online grocer Farmdrop goes bust and cancels Christmas deliveries". theguardian.com. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
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