Farmaround’s fruit and vegetable bag scheme is back on track after a testing summer, said the organic home-delivery service’s Rebecca Gray, at the BBC Good Food Show London last week.
The company, which has been offering organic and local produce to various areas of the UK since 1994, was at the food show to tempt consumers with a free sample delivery of its fruit and veg bags, as well as delivering the message that UK vegetable production is over the worst following this year’s disastrous summer.
This year, as well as sourcing from a collection of growers throughout North Lincolnshire, Kent and Yorkshire, Farmaround began to grow vegetables itself. “This year was possibly the worst to pick to start growing our own produce, but I’m sure it will be different next year,” said Gray. “The weather in June and July had a real effect on the quality of vegetables throughout the season. The increase in interest rates has also affected the business and we lost customers because they couldn’t afford the scheme. On the other hand, we have also gained customers because other schemes were not delivering quality produce. But now the products we are getting in are great and I actually think that, although they are smaller, carrots in particular are much tastier this season.”
Serving approximately 3,500 customers a week, Farmaround has a base at New Covent Garden Market in London, as well as one in North Yorkshire, from where it runs FarmaroundNorth. As well as its selection of fruit and vegetable bags, the company also offers luxury and Mediterranean fruit and vegetable bags that consist of tomatoes, peppers, pineapples and mangoes from its co-operatives of growers in Sicily, France and Spain.
- Also at the BBC Good Food Show at the Olympia exhibition centre was the Pink Lady gang. Pink Lady apples were being handed out to consumers passing by the stand, which was amongst more than 200 exhibitors. A Pink Lady representative said: “We are handing the chilled apples out at the perfect temperature to eat so customers can taste for themselves how good they are.”
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