GrainsWest summer 2016

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The Food Issue 2016 33
farmers, both as customers and partners, to help them extend
their growing seasons. The online ordering platformprovides
customers with detailed information for each product, including
the farmers SPUDworks with, the distance products travel to the
distribution centre and nutritional information.
“Our relationship with our customers is based on trust and
price, in that order,” said Corbin Bourree, managing director
for SPUD’s Edmonton operations. “Everyone has a million
questions about how delivery works, what happens if it’s not
perfect. The web experience does a good job of providing
customers with enough information that they know what to
expect and can trust the process.
“Beyond that, it comes down to value. The products that we
carry are healthy and local. You are buying products you can
feel good about. We’re going to give you good value because
we want it to be a service that as many people can access as
possible,” he added.
SPUD is focusing on consumers like Ewert who are invested
in the quality of the food they are serving their families, busy
professionals who don’t have time to shop during the week,
and people with mobility challenges who appreciate the
convenience of having food delivered.
SPUD currently delivers to 2,000 regular customers in
Edmonton and 4,000 in Calgary. Within a month of their first
order, 70 per cent of customers return and more than 50 per
cent will carry on as long-term shoppers.
EXPANDING THE RETAIL BASE
“Home delivery is not a new concept, it’s been around for
decades. What is happening is the concept is increasingly
becoming embedded in the strategy for growth,” said Sylvain
Charlebois, dean of the faculty of management and agriculture
professor at Dalhousie University. “Location is key, but also
limiting. Delivery is one way to increase the accessible market
for any retailer to extend their footprint beyond the borders of
their store.”
On a local level, many smaller farmers have turned to
community-supported agriculture (CSA) models to expand
their retail footprint and reach beyond the farmers market.
Danny and Miranda Turner took that enterprising spirit to the
next level with The Organic Box.
In 2010, the Turners partnered with four farms in northern
Alberta to offer a vegetable box distribution program to 100
families in Edmonton. The modified-CSA program also provided
distribution for fruit from the Turners’ orchard in Creston, B.C.
When they decided to expand to a year-round program, they
had to look at different ways of making the business sustainable.
“Bananas and avocados are two top-selling items in Canadian
produce markets, so we made a decision to include all produce
options for our customers,” said co-founder Danny Turner. “We
started a produce importing and distribution company, and
used the bananas to help sell our own potatoes.”
Today, The Organic Box represents 75 growers and
producers from across Western Canada. The company offers
over 2,000 grocery items, and delivered to more than 12,000
families last year. The products that it can’t source from local
growers are imported from organic producers elsewhere,
providing an economic benefit to their own communities no
matter where in the world they farm.
“Our model is based around a virtual farmers market. You
won’t see national brands in our catalogue because we want
to represent producers and businesses like us,” Turner said.
“Getting your food delivered is a convenience thing, but we
differentiate ourselves with our transparency and connection
to the source. I’m not concerned about the major retailers
because when people buy food from us they are buying from
the farmers.”
It’s a point of differentiation that is appreciated by consumers
and producers alike.
“I really like SPUD and Organic Box because of their focus on
‘local,’ and I love that we can get such good-quality ingredients
delivered to the door,” said Gail Hall, owner of Seasoned
Solutions Loft Cooking School and Culinary Tours in Edmonton.
She has used both services, for her personal use and to order
ingredients for cooking classes.
“A lot of producers don’t have the know-how to market what
they make,“ she said. “They are more concerned about growing
what they grow and doing it well. These services help them get
their products to the consumer.”
CANADIANS COOL TOONLINE FOOD PURCHASING
Canadians, however, have been slow to catch on to the online
LOCAL DELIVERY: After only a few clicks at , you can
have a box full of fresh, local produce delivered right to your door.
Photo: SPUD.