Category: Environmental Impact

General environmental impact – Waste, Pollution, Ecosystem

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The Farmer’s Competitor

SOURCED CLUB

Supporting rural communities to caretake our Land & Water

2 The Farmer's Competitor

Now – let’s get a better understanding of who I am. You see I am not a Farmer or Producer, however I do come from the Riverina in South West New South Wales, Australia, so many of my friends & associates are off the land and I am reasonably well aware of the challenges the land has for Farmers & Producers and more importantly what affect corporate business (Supermarket Chains) has on their ability to reach the consumer

I am essentially a consumer – the very person you need to interact with to gain/improve your business.

Some observations from my background and employment history in marketing

1. I cannot understand the lack of cross selling or joint selling of Farmers/Producers products especially at Farmers’ Markets where we know consumers with similar ideals are in attendance. (I infrequently attend the local Farmers market in Kiama NSW and unfortunately, for the majority of stallholders, we do not know who is attending or the products they are bringing with them so it is hit & miss unless you create a separate relationship with them individually)
Todays technology can be set up to group by location – maintaining your individuality – and it is all free
Bookmark us to see upcoming post  ” Why is Linking better for us”

2. Retail Shopping Centre chains have a Marketing goal to promote their involvement in sustainable farming practices even though it represents a small percentage of the products they have on their shelves, but is available to order. A great percentage of their products are from Industrial farming suppliers under the Retail Outlets product umbrella and available immediately. We all know these products are not as nutritious as products from sustainable food suppliers however they utilise their strengths well – Price & Availability

We will be reviewing their strengths and the opportunities our Farmers & Producers have to counteract their strengths in future posts

Bookmark our page to access future post
Why is Linking better for us
Why is sustainable farming better for us than Industrial farming methods

 

 

The Sourced Club Mission

Together we can make the shift this industry needs to create and support a sustainable food system for our future generations
Bridgette O'connor
Sustainable food lady
Sourced Club Sustainable food farmer

Recent Posts

1. Sourced Club Intro

2. The Farmer’s Competitor

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Sourced Club Intro

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SOURCED CLUB

Supporting rural communities to caretake our Land & Water

The AGenda

OUR GOAL – Helping promote fresh, nutritious food for our communities that is sustainable for current and future generations.

HOW? – We will do this by utilising the technology that is available to us to connect the producers with the consumers with transparency. This will allow each and every consumer to make a decision with purpose – be it the quality of the product for our family or the impact on our environment.

We at Sourced Club have developed a Customer Relationship Management program that will achieve this outcome.

During our review it provided us with additional outcomes that enhance the opportunities available to every user from Farmers & Producers – Wholesalers and Farmers’ Markets to Retailers and Consumers

1. It is extremely User Friendly with access to set up and maintain absolutely minimal as you simply create 1 Landing page on the program that links all your existing digital exposure (websites and/or social media) then as you update your existing presence the landing page is automatically updated

2. Your 1 Landing page is complimentary (yes free) to thank you for joining us and there are no ongoing costs.

3. Landing pages are also created when an existing user creates a link to the business as one of their Business Partners or via a Farmers’ Market allegiance

4. The Public also has free access to utilise the the program to search a business –  Retailer, Producer, Farmer etc that will utilise the Landing page created.

Bookmark us to find out more  – Coming up this week
Who is your competitor?
Why is Linking better for us?
Why is sustainable farming better for us than Industrial farming methods? – No Shortcuts

The Sourced Club Mission

Together we can make the shift this industry needs to create and support a sustainable food system for our future generations
Bridgette O'connor
Sustainable food lady
Farmplate

Recent Posts

1. Sourced Club Intro

2  The Farmers Competitor

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© All rights reserved Sourced Club

Made with ❤ by Omage

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Farmers – Know your competitors

Farmers - Know your competitors

I really struggle to understand the thinking of some of the Farmers Markets who do not list and promote their stallholders -24 hours a day – everyday, as if it needs to be a closely guarded secret and in one very suspicious case promotes a new identity of farmers who supply them in an effort to hide their true identity.

To me there is only one competitor that local sustainable Farmers need to concerned with and that is the Locally positioned  Retail Supermarket who:

  • has a bricks & mortar outlet in prime community locations that is open all day, everyday with an extensive range of food items to pretty much meet the expectations of most community members attending
  • has a significant marketing budget to promote “specials” to attract patronage
  • has the buying power to absolutely minimise the costs of the products, even with substantial distribution costs, forcing their suppliers to minimise their costs usually at the expense of quality in the product supplied
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Mission

From Paddock to Plate

The Sourced Club Mission

A sustainable food system starts with the knowledge of the source of our food and what is in it. Empowering consumers to purchase in line with their ethics and local community.

Australia is famously a land of ‘droughts and flooding rains’

The diversity of our food system allows me to connect and support the paddock to plate structure from our farmers through the distribution channel to our retailers and dining venues. I campaign to consumers on every level from business owners and organizations that purchase from the wholesale market to our end consumers. Always consider the source of your purchase and the impact it has on our future. 

I am passionate about giving recognition back to our farmers and bridging the gap in our food experience not only through technology and education but through events. Encouraging communities to reconnect to the life source that is our food system.

In my efforts to promote sustainability. I advocate for knowledge and a food system of integrity.  When people stand behind their opinions and actions, our community is more accountable.

My Connection to this field is I was brought up in a farming family from the Riverina in NSW. My grandparents and immediate relatives are farmers, in our home we are chefs and restaurant owners, we had small local catering businesses to large licensed clubs. In my early adult life I saw the relationships behind the likes of international grocery giant Unilever and our supermarket leaders, right through to the distributors for our convenience stores. I know the logistics of our food system and I know the people.  Unlike others in this space I’m not here to say this is what everyone should eat or cut out. I’m here to encourage business owners to showcase and promote your food story connection allowing consumers will find you. 

Today's consumer cares about transparency
and ethics in business.

Food sustainability for very good reason is a hot topic at the moment. Our population is increasing and our resources and the health of our environment is in decline. Sustainability defined by the Brundtland Commission as

“Meeting today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”

When we purchase with knowledge and purpose we can make a difference

A sustainable food system is crucial. Unfortunately anything of such importance to our survival will always be controversial. The conversations around our food industry problems is usually fuelled by personal greed and a business bottom line. Likewise we also contend with agenda pushing sideline food critics jumping into the debate. Telling people what not to eat, yet do not think of the origin and sustainability of their own choice.

” An apple can be just as bad for your body, the environment and your economy if you do not know its source and what was used to produce it.”

I don’t pretend to know the answers to our food system troubles but what I do know is that knowledge is power, giving consumers a transparent look into the food system they support when they shop and dine is a great place to start.

Together we can put value into businesses that are in line with our ethics and local community and together we can ensure that the businesses that are not up to our standards are the ones that fall.

I advocate for knowledge and a food system of integrity.When people stand behind their produce and actions, our community is more accountable.

The Sourced Club platform was created to help advance my mission. The objective was to construct a platform that was both user friendly and affordable. I wanted to ensure that all businesses are able to access the technology to inform their customers what they are eating. Realistically should we actually be eating anywhere they won’t tell us what’s in our food and where it’s from?

The platform’s purpose is to give a digital presence to all businesses in our food community, to connect and empower you to express your business and its place in our food system.

We want people to use sourced club to promote their business and the food community they work with, but not at the expense of the well-being of others or the integrity of our community.

People will only build community on Sourced Club if they feel safe. We encourage you to communicate what matters to you in both your business network choices and practice standards. We for see no circumstances that our platform will add a public or members review arena, therefore eliminating trolls and false attacks from competitors. 

The Sourced Club Mission

Sourced club is about integrity of our food story, all businesses should feel safe to promote their business and network allowing consumers to find them without having to justify their existence to people with an agenda against.
Bridgette O'connor
Sustainable food lady
An apple can be bad for your body, the environment and your economy
if you do not know it's source and what was used to produce it.
Bridgette O'Connor
Bridgette O'ConnorSustainable food lady

Recent Posts

The Farmer’s Competitor

07/01/2024 No Comments

SOURCED CLUB Supporting rural communities to caretake our Land & Water 2 The Farmer’s Competitor Now – let’s get a better understanding of who I

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Restaurants the gateway to a sustainable food system

Restaurants are the gateway to a sustainable food system

Promote your Business and Network
Join Today

‘Today I’m going to share with you some of the most important ideas that can not only show your businesses place in a sustainable food system but to elevate your brand in the eyes of both current and new customers.

My mission in our food industry is to support a sustainable food system. Our contribution is to connect and promote good food stories. We aim to do this through traceability allowing consumers to purchase with purpose not only when they shop but also when they dine.

Food is on trend and as restaurateurs I believe you are the gateway to local food community survival. 

People want to feel connected to
the businesses they support

 

Lets start with what we know

The most important factor on purchasing decisions is trust 

People want to feel connected to the businesses they support and transparency shows a business with integrity which ultimately leads to loyalty”

Now our restaurant industry is about two things food and service 

Food has been the new black for over a decade now,” and there are no signs that is going to be changing . We are immersed in a culture of #foodporn and celebrity chefs, like honestly 20 years ago would we even put those two words together celebrity and chef. Yet today, consumers of all age’s can name and follow multiple of these new celebrities.

We have seen what effect TV shows like masterchef have had on the way people eat and the influence it has on how they purchase.

The phenomenon has capitalized on consumers’ expectations on transparency in their food

Consumers want to know what they are feeding their body. Something easily done when they prepare meals themselves.

 

Today's Consumers want to know

What Social Impact a Business has

  • Where is it from
  • What's in it
  • Fair Pay Farmers and Workers
  • Animal Welfare
  • Local Economy
  • Storage
  • Distance to Plate

And that’s not even getting into the gluten free, dairy free, vegan questions.

Restaurants play a very important role in their local communities food system.

It’s time for restaurants to benefit on the sustainable trend and I say trend here quiet loosely as trends come and go. Yet I do not believe that consumers expectations as far as  transparency is concerned will go backwards on such an important topic like the food we eat.

With such an intense focus on food and its source, There will be more competition, and opportunities than ever before. 

While I’ve touched on the ease of consumers knowing their food story when they shop and prepare themselves.

What if restaurants matched even bypassed their traceability expectations?

 

Now to build the connection

One of our most basic needs as humans is the need for connection, sense of belonging sits alongside the needs of food shelter water

The names and faces of the people behind your produce will market your venue and dining experience better than anything.

Consider the connection from consumer to their food story when you compare a waiter or waitress adding fresh caught local seafood or reading grass fed angus beef on a menu to seeing the names, faces  and stories behind your produce on their phone or tablet as they are ordering or waiting for their order.

When a business associates its brand with a cause, it gives consumers the chance to express their values with their money.

Let’s have a look at a restaurant's
sustainable food Trump Cards

ECONOMY

Your buying power in just dollars can make more of a difference in a good food community than any household can.

ACCESS

Your connection to the wholesale and even primary producer market does not monopolize your buying habits.

SHOWCASE

You can showcase good food stories on plate and serve it with the aroma and taste that no TV show or magazine can compare.

Your business can be known for integrity and being socially conscious just by showcasing your network.

Socially conscious marketing is a powerful way for businesses to connect with customers. 

66% of consumers will pay more for a product or service committed to a positive social impact

People want to feel connected to a business they support and transparency shows integrity

"

The names and faces of the people behind your produce will market your venue and dining experience better than anything.

"

The journey is gratifying and the greater goal of a transparent sustainable food system an epic finale

"

A restaurants connection with food for the consumer is one of pleasure. For this reason and many more I believe restaurants play a very important role in their local communities food system

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