Unwrapping our latest: some exciting updates

It’s been a busy week at Field & Flower and I have a few updates I’d like to share.

We have been working hard behind the scenes to improve three areas of our business this year. All three projects are close to completing so I wanted to share this with you. We recognise we had room to improve our packaging, website and Christmas range so here are a few more exciting details for you.

A Packaging Upgrade

Firstly, you’ll start to notice we have upgraded the packaging in which we deliver your orders. Jess, our Head of Operations set out to replace the silver liner with the goal of bringing you a new insulated liner that's recyclable, renewable and biodegradable. Jess has managed to achieve this with an insulated paper liner. Before deciding on these liners, we conducted various successful tests, firstly in temperature-controlled chambers to test delivery temperatures and then with a group of our regular customers. The feedback has been really positive so far. It's worth pointing out some condensation still forms on the ice packs and can leave the paper liner damp in places, but we think this is still a big improvement. The great news is that you can recycle these liners as both paper and glue are accepted in paper recycling streams (confirmed by the European Paper Recycling Council ERPC).

The other change we’re making is the design of our boxes. We took on board your feedback regarding the catch that secures your order as it was quite tricky to open. We've replaced this with a tear strip to allow you to open the box without needing to find a pair of scissors (why can you never find a pair when you need one?). We also had feedback that the greaseproof paper was unnecessary, so we've removed this. Importantly, we've reduced the amount of cardboard in our boxes, reducing our carbon footprint whilst redesigning to maintain the box's strength throughout transit to you.

We've tested lots of packaging over the last 12 months, but we’re really pleased with the outcome, and we hope you are too. A huge thanks to Jess for all her hard work.

New this Christmas

We’ve now launched Christmas on the website. Every year, we try and give our regular customers the opportunity to access our Christmas range first to give you access to the best delivery slots and range of limited-edition cuts, so if you haven’t yet found the Christmas range it’s here. Sam and Beth have spent the last five months planning with our turkey farmers and producers and our range just gets better each year. Our Ruby Red Devon beef was such a success last year (it sold out at the beginning of November) that we've created a Belted Galloway beef range.

Once again, this year we have five delivery days over the Christmas period to choose from and all our Christmas products will have a use-by until at least 26th December. A change this year is that some of our most popular Christmas cuts are available to order throughout December. Finally, we are working with John at Frenchbeer Farm and his free-range bronze turkeys are sure to sell out again.

A New Website

And finally, we have a new website launching in October! The website has been a source of frustration for some of you (and us!). It’s been difficult to use on mobile phones and the process of amending orders was an important issue we've been looking to fix. The new website will focus on making it easier to navigate and update orders particularly via mobile phone. Some of the features we’re excited to bring you include being able to save your favourite products, an app, better pricing and an improved loyalty scheme. We’ll be in touch over the coming weeks with more details on our website launch and on hand to help with any queries.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the improvements.