Riverford

How is it social?

Riverford is focused on minimising its negative environmental impact. Its farm relies on natural forms of pest control. Waste vegetables are used to feed livestock, which in turn provide manure for the crops. Recently, Riverford conducted a two year sustainability project with Exeter University to measure its carbon footprint and provide data on the carbon emissions of each type of organic box (thus allowing customers to select products based on both price and carbon cost). The project also indicated that Riverford compared favourably with supermarkets in terms of food miles. Riverford’s partnerships with other farms reduce its environmental impact, as regional farms serve their local markets, thus lowering the number of food miles of every organic box from farm to doorstep. Guy Watson provides thought-leadership in the area of sustainability (e.g. the future of food production/distribution, bio-fuels, use of plastic bags, greenhouse vegetables versus imports) through blogs, speeches and media coverage. One of Riverford’s social objectives is to bring people closer to their food (through farm visits and weekly newsletters). Riverford is one of the biggest employers in the South Devon area and has a strong commitment to its employees. Guy Watson states that ownership of Riverford will always remain with those who work in the company.

What is its business model?

Riverford runs an organic vegetable box delivery scheme, sourcing produce from its own Devon farm and other local farms that form part of the South Devon Organic Producer group. This co-operative shares machinery, labour and knowledge. Originally, Riverford served the South and South-West of the county but in recent years it has expanded its box scheme to different regions of the UK through a number of partnerships with other farms across the country (three to date, and a further two announced for 2008). Riverford owns a stake in these businesses and gets a royalty per box sold. Riverford has diversified into dairy and meat boxes and other higher margin items such as olive oils. It also has a number of farm shops. It encourages customers to visit its farm, where it runs a café and provides cookery demonstrations.

Its history

Riverford was founded by Guy Watson in the mid-1980s, when he left a career in the City and returned to Devon to convert part of his family’s farm to organic production. Riverford now has around 45,000 customers for its box delivery scheme, 250 employees, a turnover of over £23m, with recent annual growth of around 60%.

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