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Sunday Business Post Nov 7th 2004 Why the price is right By Chris Pillow
Food prices have gone up by 26 per cent in the last seven years, according
to figures from the Central Statistics Office. Yet our response to high costs has amounted to little more than a good old moan, coupled with the odd threat to shop in the North. But around the country, individuals are finding ways to beat the supermarket trap. Box delivery schemes, farmers' markets and buying clubs offer alternative methods of sourcing produce; alternatives that not only give better deal to farmers, but, because they favour organic methods of production, also support the environment and are good for your health. One way of getting value for money and produce that is better for your health is to take your custom to one of the 42 farmers' markets around the country, many of which specialise in organic food. Denis Healy, an organic farmer based in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow, has been selling his fruit and vegetables in farmers' markets for eight years. He believes the markets offer a unique opportunity for growers. ``In the markets you can respond to your customers' needs,'' he says. ``You can grow what you like and what your customers like. ``Generally your produce will be cheaper than the supermarkets', and the farmers will get most of the profits.'' Healy sells over 60 different kinds of fruit and vegetables, some of which he imports to meet his customers' increasingly exotic tastes. ``I have a huge range,'' he says. ``If it's organic, I get it.'' Pink fir apple potatoes, heritage tomatoes and wild mushrooms can all be found at Healy's stalls. Like many other organic producers, Healy first tried selling his produce to super- markets. ``It was a big rigmarole. You have producers, wholesalers and distributors involved. There wasn't a living in it.'' Despite working manic hours, Healy seems to have found his niche, and is cautiously optimistic that there is a good living to be made selling produce at markets. Former software sales specialist John Healy found himself in the organic food business by chance rather than by design. His wife, while on a career break, set up an organic box delivery business modelled on an existing London company. After a six-month trial period, the response was strong enough for Absolutely Organic, the fledgling company, to become viable. His wife went back to work and he took over the reins, eager to take a break from the high-pressure world of software sales. ``I knew nothing about the retail business or the food business,'' he says. ``I did it to de-stress.'' Healy did have certain concepts he wanted to bring to the new company. One was providing consumers with a product other than the standard supermarket fare. He also wanted to give organic growers another channel to market their produce. Box delivery schemes are based on a simple formula: you pay between €15 and €25 and someone will call to your door with enough organic fruit and vegetables to last you the week. The main advantage of buying through a box scheme is that the food is seasonal and farm-fresh. You are also supporting local farmers, who get a better deal on what they grow than they would if they sold to a supermarket. Customers can tailor their weekly delivery, choosing from an organic range of fruit and vegetables, jam, pasta, bread and wine. ``Box schemes are one of the best alternatives to shopping in supermarkets, because they offer a high level of flexibility,'' says Healy. The company has 350 customers in the Dublin area - a tenfold increase since it started out seven years ago. For those with a little more time on their hands, buying clubs offer another way of sourcing fresh produce. Jacqui Caulfield and her partner, Joe Kelly, have been involved in a buying club for the last five years. The six-member club in north Dublin operates on a fortnightly rotation. Every two weeks one of the members drives to Dominick and Hilda Quinn's organic farm in Castleruddery, Co Wicklow, and picks up a prepared box of fruit and vegetables for each member, then returns to Dublin and distributes the boxes. The Quinns e-mail or fax each member before the collection day to let them know what is available so they can choose what goes into their boxes. ``We get an amazing range of fresh vegetables for €25 that lasts us two weeks. We never go near supermarkets for our fruit and veg,'' says Caulfield. According to Dominck Quinn, people buy boxes costing anywhere between €4 and €60. But he sees a €15 to €20 box meeting the weekly needs a family of four, excluding staples such as potatoes.
``Our prices would compare very, very favourably with conventional
prices,'' says Quinn. ``People are generally surprised how reasonable the
prices are.''
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