Food Enterprise Interview: Riverford Organics

Contact: Luke King

How did the company get started?

The Company is privately owned and was started by Guy Watson. The farm was originally owned by his father John Watson. He rents some of the land from his brother Ollie who provides the beef for the meat boxes. The idea of the business is to provide local produce to local people.


Who do you supply?

People who are bothered by the ethical reasoning behind where there food comes from. They can come from all walks of life. 



Are there any rules specifying separate transportation of meat/veg?

No, they all go in the same van. But all the meat is packed at a separate plant. That is not a regulation; it is just how Riverford operate.


How is the meat packaged?

Vacuum packed, insulated with lamb’s wool, then put in an ice box and further sealed in a steel box. It is then temperature tested, and altered to optimum temperature for length of journey, usually less than 24 hours.


How do you transport everything in the same van?

Meat in the steel box, dairy in a cool box, veg is loose in each veg box.

We do have regulations when packing ‘finger food’, things like tomatoes or ham which is eaten straight away with no cooking by the customer. If packers transfer from, for example, muddy carrots to tomatoes, we do a hygiene check to prevent things like E-coli.


Are you members of a larger organisation?

No but we are a Franchised Network company. A lot of people feel that a franchise is about big corporate organisation but truthfully it keeps riverford local to the area it is set up. Effectively we are selling them a brand name and an area of 125,000 homes (Distribution Hub), this could be a very small urban area or a large rural area. By doing this we can also control the end price to the customer. This farm supply’s South West/South Wales up to Worcester and Evesham.


If so, how does this benefit your business?

It meant that we grew quickly with little expenditure on advertising as the owner of each franchise already has established contacts in each area.


Does the company have a connection with the local community? If yes, how?

We do have marketing evenings where local people and customers come to eat here. In turn they bring their friends. This helps us keep hold of our customers. Food is about socialising and if you can tap into that you’re winning. It is also a necessity, were not at the luxury end of the market I would question anyone who thinks that £15.95 on veg a week to feed a family of four is expensive. So the key is to engage the customer on a personal level.

Riverford provides school dinners for Landscove Primary. 85% pupils subscribe to them. But it is a pain for us as a company because there is only room for one kitchen that cooks for both school and workers. There has been issues in the past about the quality of workers food and it puts a heavy load on the business; its not financially viable because we just about break even. There is not significant profit.

We also have an educational programme where schools: primary, secondary and sixth form visit on an annual basis. They do have to pay but again, as with the school dinners, there is no significant profit. In addition, we have Farmers Club where children come to learn gardening on our trial plot. 



Do you have any major wastage of crops/produce?  

We have a 2½% loss in terms of UN sellable produce. Which we deal with in Grade out.


Is there anyway it could be used?

Some of it can be used in the farm kitchen but its unpredictable one-day we could get a lot in Grade out the next nothing. Plus due to the nature of fruit and veg it becomes perishable quickly causing problems with health and safety. 


How many people work for your organisation?

I have 170 workers on site, Plus 30 here on site in head office and about a further 30, which work on the farm all year round. 


Why don’t you try to appeal to a larger audience?

Because if I asked for £100,000 for a massive media campaign what guarantee could I give on the returns. It’s about the amount of “Bang for your Buck”. Riverford isn’t a massive company that could swallow the cost. Guy would want to do that but to set up a new packinghouse there is a lot involved. Land Buildings Fittings Food stores Refrigerators etc.

You can visit the website here