Paolo's Kalamata Olive and Rosemary Sourdough
The first year of operations are really tough for any small business, especially a social enterprise starting from a base of pretty much nothing. The fresh food business is also very challenging; trying to establish a reliable, quality supply and organise distribution, promoting your name, establishing internal systems eg IT, policies, procedures, employing & training new staff etc etc. Its been a really big 12 months! Food Connect is also a NEW form of fresh food business, different to a regular walk-in or on-line home delivery system which buy purely from wholesalers. This means we have all had steep learning curve; both FC staff and customers!
But, we’re here! Online ordering frees up our staff from phone ordering and payment and management (a surprisingly time consuming task) and allows us to grow our social enterprise in other areas! Finally. New customers will still have to place their name on the ‘Sign Up’ waiting list and get signed up by a real Food Connect person (Toby!) but from there all orders and payments can be made online using our secured system so you can renew your subscription and order weekly extras at your convenience. This integrated system also allows you to check the status of your orders, delivery dates, subscription end dates and your city cousin contact details. As an incentive to renew your subscription online, we are offering a FREE small mixed box prize from the draw each month for those who use the on-line ordering system.
Online ordering additionally allows us to offer extras for the first time! This is the really exciting part! More great local and organic food for you! We will start our ‘extras’ with a limited range until our systems adapt (packing, ordering, delivery) and then gradually bring on more and more. The possibilities are endless! The first ‘extras’ available will be organic and local breads and organic, free range eggs, and some extra staple produce like apples, potatoes and garlic. Passwords to access our online system will be emailed to existing customers. Our online system can be accessed using the ‘Log In’ tab at the top of our webpage.