Interview with Open Food Network

Location: New Zealand

Date: InterviewED on October 28th 2019

Throughout my conversations with farmers, crop marketing consistently surfaces as a key pain point. There are unique challenges in crop marketing from the scale of market gardeners all the way to thousand acre grain farmers. Many farmers really identify with the agronomy part of agriculture. They are passionate about the planting, weeding, scouting, harvesting… but not so much the actual selling of the crop - or at least it isn’t something that comes naturally. 

Crop marketing also takes a fair bit of knowledge for each type of crop along with its unique supply chain. For example, for large scale corn and soybean growers, it is helpful to learn how to hedge risk by trading against the board of trade and learning about different types of crop contracts. Small scale vegetable growers face a whole different set of challenges. It is about finding the right farmers markets, grocery stores, or other avenues to sell fresh produce and differentiating your produce.

My conversation back in October with Rory Fogerty from Permakai  highlighted some of the challenges that small vegetable growers face when it comes time to sell their produce. Many of these challenges added up to become the reason why Rory is starting the Open Food Network in New Zealand. Learn more about the Open Food Network and how it can help small scale producers below!

What is the Open Food Network? 

The Open Food Network offers an opportunity for producers to connect with consumers who are keen to buy local, nutritious, fresh produce. It is an open source software that was started by a woman in Australia who is passionate about creating a way to connect producers with consumers and create a more local food system. 

The Open Food Network is the perfect sales channel for a small producer. The work that a farmer does is optimized to what they’ve sold so they aren’t  over or under harvesting. And the consumer can get a range of products from different farms in the region. It is like an online shopping cart that becomes an alternative to the supermarket with the advantage of supporting the local economy and getting good produce. 

How do you define local food? 

Something that is produced within 40-60km (roughly 25-40 miles) radius. 

Explain how the Open Food Network is good for farmers.

The concept of the Open Food Network removes the risk of unsold produce being turned into very expensive compost or chicken food because you can harvest exactly what you have sold. For the small producer that is the silver bullet. The issue for the small producer is that if you harvest your bed of carrots and you take it to market and then it rains, you end up taking up to 60% of them home. By the next week they will have lost their value and you are faced with deeply discounting them or not selling them at all. 

With the Open Food Network you harvest exactly what you’ve sold so it removes that risk and it increases the efficiency. It has huge benefits for the small producers. That is one of the reasons why environmentally it is good as well because there will be a lot less waste.

How is this Open Food Network model different from Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)?

A CSA is usually with one specific farmer. On the Open Food Network, the software supports the fact that someone can buy nuts from Farmer A, cauliflower from Farmer B, potatoes from Farmer C and then pay for them in one transaction.That is the strength of it. And at the moment we have expressions of interest from all across the North and South Island of New Zealand.

What types of products are sold on the Open Food Network?

The hope I have is that it will become a substantial alternative to the supermarket. I see it selling vegetables, fruits, preserves, honey, and finished products like cakes and breads. It is a place where the farmer, the cake maker, the soap maker and the bread maker are all coming together. 

What is the ultimate goal of the Open Food Network in New Zealand?

In a year I would like to see a number of local food hubs operating. I want families that can’t afford good quality food at the moment being able to afford it because the overhead through the use of the system is only 2-3%, compared to the 50-60% markup in the traditional system. I want it to be feeding more people with good food. 

The ultimate scenario is that by creating a local food network, the money will stay in the local economy. It could also potentially create a local currency that could have a much wider effect in terms of local services, improved resilience and a feeling of well being and community pride. That could be the consequence of an active local food network.