We recently found out that the GG family are lucky to be named a finalist in 3 different Soil Association BOOM Awards (Best of Organic Market). 🐞 👨🏻🌾 🚀
Growing Good Technology - for Best Organic Supply Network
Sandy Lane Farm - for Best Organic Retailer
George Bennett - for Organic Champion
You can see the full list of finalists here; 
It has been a busy few years for us - not long ago feeling like we’d put all of our (organic) eggs in a yet to be proven (software) basket. It’s amazing to see our work and ideas being recognised as it benefits more of the local veg box market as each month passes - by the end of 2025 we’ll be supporting well in excess of £10m of sales volume pa. It’s a good start but we’re mostly excited about what’s still to come.
Before pivoting to working in tech by incorporating Growing Good, George & I ran a box scheme together, what is now Sandy Lane Farm. George, Cate and the team have done amazing things since that time and fully deserve their recognition by the Soil Association this year - the nomination for Best Organic Retailer is also based on their farm shop, markets and events. However, what George will confirm is that his involvement with Growing Good, with Sandy Lane being our ‘user number 1’ (our flagship if you like) has meant he’s felt exposed (maybe accountable is a better word!) to the rest of the veg box world - he now has it ‘all on show’, needs to ‘put his money where his mouth’ is, ‘walk the walk’ etc.
A daunting prospect at times, but the results of that have been great - combining best practice e-commerce with a farm shop opening 3 days a week has brought together a brilliant multi-channel shopping experience for Sandy Lane customers. Lots of choice, customising boxes or building your own, a quick turnaround between order deadline and home delivery have combined to deliver results. Our software has allowed George to dramatically improve his customer offer while reducing complexity and saving significant admin time - just what good tech should do.
Online sales at Sandy Lane Farm have increased by 40-50% since 2022
Particularly impressive given most schemes were still benefiting from a post-covid rise in demand during 2022, AND the cost of living challenges since.
Plan for profit, prepare for success
Part of last week’s update included the introduction of wholesale pricing and margin management inside our box builder tool - giving our users the option to plan their boxes by retail value or wholesale margin, or both.
This puts us firmly on the path to start thinking about other ‘per box’ costs - boxes, bags, pack time etc. Helping calculate “Am I actually making any money from this? Could I be charging less, or should I be charging more?”
And that leads us nicely onto the defining question of our mission…
Is making organic accessible, affordable AND profitable really possible?
Well, if the answer is going to be YES then there is certainly more work to do, but we’re seeing more than just green shoots of encouragement amongst the community of veg box schemes using our tech.
Making sure the answer is YES is our driving mission - to play our part in helping make small scale truly work. For any sustainable business to be (genuinely) sustainable it must not only operate in the best interests of the land and its workers, it must also be able to turn a profit and be financially independent of reliance on donors, grants and loans to make up a budget shortfall. Profit is often viewed as a dirty word in our world but it really shouldn’t be, so part of our mission is to help repair our relationship with the term, by proving how amazing it can be if retained within the local economy.
Our software is a productivity tool - delivering much greater value back in return for every £1 spent. The time saved can be deployed more productively elsewhere, and with higher basket spend and better customer retention comes more margin, and hopefully some profit. More value can be retained inside the veg box helping keep entry prices low and making organic more affordable to more folk.
If we can manage to play a small part in making this change happen at scale, our food system will be better for it, our planet will be happier and our children healthier. Crikey, we might even make enough profit to buy a new caterpillar tunnel for next season.