Founding a food business and the power of subscription

After leaving agricultural college, we founded Field & Flower to get our grass-fed beef into the hands of people who might enjoy it. Starting a business that connected the farm with our end customers was not a lightbulb idea but the way many had shopped for generations before. Almost every high street once had a butcher and greengrocer selling local produce. The beef being reared on Home Farm, where we founded, was being lost at market where no-one appreciated how special it was, and the end consumer didn’t know where it had come from. Instead of opening a butcher’s, we decided to open Field & Flower as an online shop (very 2011!).

We took on a few hundred customers who liked our mission (and often forgave our early mistakes) to give us the belief we could grow Field & Flower beyond our initial sales of 32 beef boxes a month. We met a man named Billy in Earls Court at a food festival, and he wanted us to deliver him a beef brisket every month (of course, he was forever known as Billy Brisket). Billy’s request got us thinking that maybe others would want a regular delivery from us, so on giving up our other jobs and committing to the business we decided to focus on creating a subscription business.

Often subscriptions are thought of negatively, but we noticed that many of our customers were repeat purchasing with us because they were cooking the same recipes each week, and what’s wrong with a Bolognese every Tuesday night or a smoked brisket on a Sunday! A subscription also represented their commitment to our farmers, and to a different - better - way of buying food.

When I get asked why Field & Flower exists 13 years later, the reason is still that we believe we are a genuine alternative to the supermarket. Creating a specialist business for you to buy from and for our farmers and producers to sell through creates a food system with parity and shared values for everyone involved.

We are still a small business operating in a very tough economy. We recognise there is more choice than ever before and that using Field & Flower means paying a little more, but good meat shouldn’t (and can’t) be cheap. Here’s why we hope you’ll continue to support us:

• We are an independent business owned by our founders, friends and customers. We haven’t got private equity investors driving our decisions.

• We have one of the most flexible subscriptions in the UK. You set your frequency and edit your order and delivery dates as often as you like (we also send reminder emails).

• We deliver fresh not frozen within a day of being packed in our Somerset HQ using ice packs. If the courier lets us down, we replace the order for free.

• We have over 400 cuts of free-range meat, as well as a deli and fresh fish range to choose from.

• Most importantly, you’ll be supporting British farmers, smokers, charcuterie makers, fishermen and small independent makers every time you shop with us. Not to mention, our charity partner FareShare South West.

Thanks again for your continued support and helping us ensure that free-range farming still has it’s place in the UK.