The challenges of running a food business in today’s world

They say the start-up years are the hardest. Survival is the aim, and it’s often reported half of new businesses fail in the first 3 years. However, running an independent food business in the current economy feels even harder than the start-up days. Another food business founder said to me last week business success is now survival.

I thought I’d share some of the challenges we’re facing this month. You get to see the shiny side of Field & Flower but behind the scenes is a group of people trying to overcome some big challenges. Our mission is to connect you with some of the UK's best food producers and tell their stories, but we must also share the other side of the story.

 We try and do business locally and fairly. We take great pride in employing 35 people, predominantly in Somerset, and supporting dozens of others indirectly through our suppliers. We have good relationships with our farmers, butchers, smokers, cheesemakers and many other small food producers. We consider the environment and use an all-electric London courier whilst we buy our recyclable packaging in the UK and use a local print company for our marketing. We try and do things the right way.

 We pay our taxes and continue to fight through the red tape to keep operating to a high standard. We compete with home delivery food companies that have had hundreds of millions invested by private equity and price us out of marketing channels to find new customers. We’ll take a significant impact when national insurance increases and the packaging taxes come into play shortly. The cost of our product is increasing with beef price at an all-time high. DPD have just put our prices up with 2 weeks’ notice. The supermarkets will continue to dictate what’s seemingly reasonable to pay for a chicken and we’ll continue to try and pay our farmers a fair price. The price of peace of mind as someone in my team said last week. The increased pressure of farming costs, the imports of cheap meat, the move towards processed food, all impact the ability for British farmers to operate profitably which has a direct impact on the long-term sustainability of food security and farming legacy.

James Flower's Great Grandad at Winford Market with a shorthorn bull

The UK food system is shifting and there will be no going back. I don’t believe there’s anyone sat in Shoreditch or Silicon Valley considering whether they become a free-range pig farmer on the Devonshire coast. When they’re gone, they will be gone. Whilst there are challenges, there are positives too. We are buoyed by the support you give us and our farmers. More people joined Field & Flower in January than October to December combined and we know the interest in free-range meat with provenance is becoming increasingly important. We have a great set of people behind the scenes at Field & Flower and we believe in what we’re doing which is to preserve the generations of farming that allowed us to found our business.

Thanks for sticking with us.

James