Matlock Local Food Hub

Food that’s fresh, local, tasty & affordable

The Matlock Local Food Hub hopes to offer you a way to shop locally, eat what’s in season and the chance to find out where your food comes from. For freshness and flavor, food direct from small local producers is hard to beat.

So why don't more people buy 'local and direct'?

Sourcing more than a small amount of our weekly shop locally takes time and planning, making supermarket shopping a convenience difficult to resist. But the Food Hub concept has been designed to make direct sales of local produce just as convenient both for the consumer and the producer.

What is a Food Hub?

A Food Hub provides access to affordable local produce to all –online - in a way every bit as convenient as the supermarkets. The majority of produce sold through the Food Hub is grown or produced within 35 miles of Matlock. We aim to do this by bridging the gap between producers and consumers; creating a network that makes fresh, local food affordable. If produce is not available within 35 miles of Matlock e.g. flour, wine, we will source the most local supplier where possible.

How does it work?

The Food Hub provides
- An online shop - connecting consumers and local producers
- A regular and convenient pick-up location for collecting your online order or
- A delivery service to your workplace or your home
- Each season, different producers offer farm visits so you can see where and how your food is produced
- And you can volunteer to help out if you want to!

It is managed and operated by producer and consumer members. We aim to provide a practical, friendly supply chain for small scale and family food enterprises, developing a model that enables producers and consumers to work for mutual benefit.


Benefits for Producers and Growers.
The Food Hub concept allows producers, especially smaller ones, to concentrate on producing rather than sales and marketing, which means greater efficiency. Producers can get on with what they do best - whether it's making sausages, growing carrots or producing grass fed lamb.

It offers:
- Minimal marketing & single delivery point
- Up front orders & payments, at higher than wholesale prices
- Offer as much or as little produce (a heavily fruiting apple tree in your garden!) as you like, when you like


Benefits for Consumers
The connection between food, land, producer and consumer can add a dimension to your experience of food wholly lacking from the drudgery of the weekly supermarket shop.

- Know where your food comes from & visit local farms
- Fresh food at affordable prices
- Buy exactly what you need in the quantities you need
- Delivery to your workplace or home

Buying food directly from farmers puts your money to work at the grass roots of our local economy, where it does the most economic good for the most people. If you want to give your family the best food produced around Matlock, increase environmental sustainability, and boost rural economic development, join the Matlock Local Food Hub.

If you would like to fill in our survey to help in our market research it is online here, and should only take a moment or two to complete:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8H96LGV

The Matlock Local Food Hub is recruiting more members before we launch later in the year. We welcome all ideas and if you are a grower, producer or consumer we would like to hear from you. Contact Helen for details of our next meeting, and how you can get involved.

Helen Cunningham

T 01629 57236

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