BASED at Sacrewell Farm near Peterborough Nene Valley organic vegetables is a sister operation to Devon based Riverford organic vegetables. Founded by Guy Watson Riverford was supplying organic vegetables as far back as 1987 to local shops. In 1992 Guy set up a box scheme for organic produce delivered direct to the door. At that time there was little interest from supermarkets for organic produce. Guy encouraged existing organic growers to supply produce for the box scheme. By careful planning and cropping he was able to supply fresh organic vegetables throughout the year.
His model for production, packing and marketing was a simple one. Bringing growers together to ensure continuity of supply, having a central packing base and then franchising the sales in specific areas.
By 2004 Riverford was supplying in excess of 10,000 vegboxes a week. The success of the veg box scheme was such that in 2004 River Nene organics was set up to organise the supply and marketing of vegboxes throughout East Anglia and the East Midlands.
River Nene, originally based at Yaxley near Peterborough, moved to Sacrewell farm in this year where a brand new purpose built packing centre has been built. Produce is supplied from their own farm near Sutton and from a network of 9 organic growers all of who are Soil Association approved.
The Peterborough operation, run by general manager Rob Haward, is already supplying in excess of 8,500 vegboxes a week. Rob works closely with the growers producing a crop plan a year in advance so that for any week of the year they know exactly what will go into each vegbox. At the same time prices are agreed which provides stability for the growers. Over 75 different crops are grown which along with some imported organic fruit and vegetables which cannot be grown in the UK ensures the widest possible choice.
As produce arrives at the packing centre there is an immediate quality check and if there are any problems the grower will be contacted immediately and the problem resolved.
The franchisees, who are responsible for the vegbox sales, are supported via a comprehensive web site www.rivernene.co.uk, which details the contents of each week's vegboxes. Each franchisee has a distinctive River Nene van. Sales are built up through leaflet drops, attending local shows and through the local press. Four veg boxes are offered each week from the mini priced at £7.50 delivered to the large box at £14.00. In addition customers can also purchase a fruit+veg box, a summer box or individual fruit and veg and a wide range of extras, which include organic eggs, fruit juices, milk, wine cream, yoghurts, olive oil and chocolate.
More recently a third sister farm, River Swale organic vegetables based at Newby Wiske North Yorkshire, has started trading in Humberside, Yorkshire and Durham. Run by Peter and Joanne Richardson River Swale works to the same principles as Riverford and River Nene of providing a fair deal to farmers, customers, staff and the environment. Their message to customers is simple, ' think of us as your allotment- without the digging'.
