Posts from — September 2007

Last night I experienced my first slow food event.  Ironically I was dashing about trying to sort the kids out before I went.

The event was the first for the Cheshire region and offered a "Cheshire Ploughman’s Tasting" held in a barn at the Spitting Feathers Brewery in Waverton, Chester.  An impressive range of slow foods was showcased.  We grabbed rich, fresh breads from the Food for Thought Bakery in Crewe, smothered it with Charlie’s farm butter from Weaverham, topped that both fruity, creamy cheeses from Anne Connolly of Malpas and rich, home-made pates from Katie Cooks of Wilmslow.  An organic side salad from Roots of the Earth in Poole complemented our plate which was washed down with either Windsor’s apple juice from Willington or, for me, one of a range of beers from the micro-brewery on the farm.   We were offered the opportunity to buy products direct from the producers after our meal - we indulged in a fab pasta sauce from Eliot Green’s School of Cookery with labels made by the local school as well as all the ingredients for a great ploughman’s.

The Slow Food movement which was started in Italy has gained momentum, campaigning for great tasting food which is sourced locally and is produced in a sustainable way, minimising both impact on the environment and artificial intervention.  And there is no obsession with the perfect shaped veg.

The event last night contributed to growing that momentum and establishing a local heart to the concept.  We met some great enthusiasts as we discussed the ethos of slow food over huge crusts of bread and lively cheese.  However, the fact we attended illustrates that we are already advocates.

One of the critical objectives of the movement must be education, particularly among children whose early eating habits establish long-term behaviours and choices.  There were a couple of children there who seemed to be tucking in with as much enthusiasm and it would be great to see more events designed around kids.  Our local school is currently considering the sourcing of ‘slow’ food for school dinners, discussing how local producers can bring produce to a hub which is then delivered to the school kitchen.  I think that the Slow Food movement is going to be an essential part of our Cheshire community, working with our kids to get them more involved too.  I’ll raise my glass of organic beer to that.

The Slow Food movement is about taking the concept to local areas.  Each local branch establishes a community offering tailored events.  The communities are developing organically, gently finding their feet and building a proposition based on a strong belief in local, organic, great tasting food.   Why not get involved early and join your local group?  Visit http://www.slowfood.org.uk/

St Kitts is a lush tropical Caribbean island in the Leeward islands.  Sounds like paradise?  However it stands at the most critical point in its development since independence, as the country seeks to diversify its economy since the final closure of the sugar industry to secure a prosperous future for its people. One of the main areas of change is, of course, agriculture, where the rural communities are having to adapt to the significant change.  The whole structure of agriculture has changed, in particular moving from a single crop with centrally managed production to the complexity of coordinating supply of multiple products

A group of us went over to work with the farmers over the summer and it was refreshing to see the energy and enthusiasm.  During on-site farm visits, it was clear that farmers are demonstrating extraordinary effort and commitment in using the rich soil and tropical climate to produce a wide range of high quality fruit and vegetables.

A key mechanism to making this work has been the set up of farmer’s co-operatives.  The co-operative meet regularly to discuss their plans and progress.  There are a number of product-focused co-operatives who all come together to share their experience, pool their thinking and propose collective responses.  They work closely with the Marketing function to align supply and demand and to develop new products.  I was particularly impressed with the women’s co-operative groups who were developing innovative responses to the shift in the sector.  One group was producing a fantastic soup base using mis-shaped or spare vegetables; bringing a new convenient product to market, meeting the needs of busy lives and using what would normally be waste.

These groups will continue to shape the future structure and ways of working of the industry as they are now starting to discuss shared machinery, collaborative supply chains and export markets.

As the country stands at the beginning of a significant program of transformation, it has been inspiring to see how the co-operatives have provided mutual support to all the farmers who might otherwise be isolated.  Working co-operatively has meant a shared perspective and a feeling of support.   This has enabled them to progress with increased pace and confidence.  We look forward to keeping in touch with ongoing developments.

I’ve just discovered Freecycle at uk.freecycle.org.  A great way to give away unwanted items to people in your local communtiy who do want them.  Equally people can ask for things they need.  The key idea is to keep ’stuff’ out of landfill,  but it also keeps things out of my loft and garage!!!!!   And I like the idea that it is local.

Freecycle was set up in 2003 and now has 444 local community groups across the UK. Their vision - Changing the world one gift at a time.  I came across it earlier this week when I just had to get rid of some unwanted computer equipment that had been lying around.  At 5.15pm I put a notice offering the items on the Freecycle site for Ilkley,  at 5.45pm I got a reply.  I called the gentleman, decided he was genuine and by 6.30pm  Andy had a computer he was going to make into a coffee table.  I wasn’t quite sure how he was going to do it,  apart from the fact he wanted a working machine which he was going to feature in the table.  Said it was the only way his wife would let him have a computer in the ’sitting room’.   Anyway, he seemed quite sane and I’ve asked for a photo of the finished object.  Nice to think my old rubbish is to become a work of art !!

Is seems anyone can set up a Freecycle group,  including local companies who  could perhaps offer support or take out some of the danger of choosing genuine people to give things away too; people who may come to your house to collect.  In the end I got a few more replies,  but some seemed to plead the ‘poverty and charity’ angle a little too readily.   No one makes up turning a computer into a coffee table!!  

 I got an invite to Facebook a few months ago; ever since I’ve been working out what to do with it.  Uploading a planet so people can send me a space creature isn’t really my thing, and I’m not into vampire games either - well not in the full glare of online publicity!!   With social network tools, and indeed other ‘content’ devices like loyalty cards, you have,as a cutomer, to work out what they can do for you - that’s where good customer research comes in.   

So, I uploaded a respectable number of friends; a real game of trial and error to find my generation.  I ended up thinking of friends who were techies, into online communities, or under 35, and then trying to identify them from the photos of everyone else with the same name!!   I couldn’t understand how one Arab friend looked so different, until my husband pointed out it was a picture of Jack Nicholson!!

Then, I came across my nieces, nephews and godchildren: of course most of this generation are members of Facebook.  So when I next saw them I mentioned I’d found them and got the response that they’d be happy to be ‘friends’.  The only person to turn me down was my son, who didn’t think having his Mum as a friend was cool.  However, his girlfriend was quite happy to link up - a good way to soften up a future ‘mother in law’ for babysitting perhaps!!

Anyway, Facebook is now an excellent way to keep up with my ‘generation xers’ and they share their problems and triumphs - Aunties can be a better ear and allowed to be more eccentric than parents!!  But the most unexpected benefit is that after years of birthday and Christmas presents I now get thank you notes on my wall - a little bit more personal than the ‘Dear Aunty Jean, thank you for the lovely etch-a-sketch you sent me for Christmas’, that I was forced to write on squirrel headed notepaper. 

So what has this got to do with business?  Well,  researching your customer segments for a start - but most of all, the thank you letters just show that if you make something accessible and fun then ‘customers’ will take it up.  That’s how Amazon started, and that is what a good customer experience is all about.