Food DisAssembly

Background

Chester is one of more than 700 Food Assemblies actively bringing communities and producers together to offer an alternative to way to buy local food and support our local economy. It launched last September and has grown to include 9 producers supplying about 30 orders a week, plus walk-ins at the monthly pop-up assembly.

Chester Food Assembly makes it easy for people to access amazing quality food direct from its source. On Monday nights at Telford’s Warehouse, customers have access to organic fruit and vegetables, free range pork and grass-fed beef, as well as bread, cakes, preserves and yogurt. All their producers come from less than 150 miles away. You will meet them during the collections.

Katie Lyttle, the founder and Host of Chester Food Assembly, is originally from Northern Ireland, and has lived in Chester since early 2014. In May she set up Chester Food Assembly, at the time only the second in the country. Katie is passionate about sustainability and local food systems, and we can guarantee you’ll be enchanted by her, stop everything else you’re doing and devote the rest of your waking hours to her hopes and goals, and those of Chester Food Assembly.

Challenges

1. Super Size our Assembly

The Assembly in Chester has gone from strength to strength. It now needs to be bottled and sold far and wide across the City. Chester Food Assembly recognises that while it’s been a great success, it needs to keep innovating in order to survive and grow. Together, we know, the wisdom of the (right, GFN) crowd is the best way to move into the unoccupied space of the next big thing!

• How do we grow from 9 producers to 15?

• How do we grow from 30 orders to 60 orders a week?

• What and where is the ideal venue in Chester?

• When is the best time to hold the assembly?

• Co-lead(s) to help deliver Food Assembly (if demand increases and Lisa needs to re-focus)?

• How do we demonstrate our vision?

• What does our business plan look like, visually?

• Where will we be in one year?

*2. Reach the unconverted masses: *

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** Communications

– Audience: who do we want to target , what do our existing/potential customers look like?

• Messaging: what are our top 3 key things we want people to remember about us the next day?

• What comms channels could we use to spread the word – online and offline?

• How do we make more of our existing methods?

Digital

• Which online channels will work best for us given limited resource (and how much resource/time do we actually have?)

• How can we make our online channels work harder, increasing awareness and leveraging the love?

• Scope out relevant online networks to target for support/spreading the word – forums / hubs / directories, Telfords? etc.

• What digital tools can we utilise to increase resources / efficiencies e.g. social media dashboards

• What will go VIRAL??

Surveys/feedback

• Survey the next pop-up market on Monday 11 May – offline, on the floor?

• Email customers an online survey (PollDaddy / SurveyMonkey) ??

• Review all postcodes – who is our demographic?

• All people who ordered once but never ordered again – why not?

3. Partnerships and collaboration

Creating solutions to global problems like food poverty and environmental degradation in the food system is a big responsibility for a small social enterprise.

“One effective way is to engage the macro and the micro – in particular by bringing together creative start-up companies with the huge global multinational companies that hold so much power and influence to create a better future together” 100% Open, The Global Innovation Imperative

We want to increase the networks, interconnectedness and trust around Chester Food Assembly by collaborating in partnership with other vibrant networks, big businesses and innovators.

What is Good for Nothing? Read about what our friend Adam Kirkup wrote about GFN Chester.

Or, take a look below to feel the real deal...