We started with the simple ambition to make it easier to buy great, local produce regularly. We put sustainable choices at the heart of the business from the start and on our first birthday, I want to share some numbers that will hopefully help you to see that shopping with Local Box does make a difference to the local economy and the sourcing practices in food supply.
Local spending: £50k +
This is how much revenue we have generated for the local economy, principally the food we buy from suppliers to stock the shop but we also buy from local businesses for sourcing other items needed for Local Box (uniforms, packaging, printing). When we started, most of our suppliers were suddenly faced with less demand due to the closure of hospitality so we were able to offer a new market for their products at a much needed time. Spending locally really does add up and make a big impact. We work directly with producers, so you know the food has travelled the least miles and the pricing is fair.
Unsold food: 25kg
This is the total weight of food that didn’t sell through the shop. This sometimes goes to the food bank, more often the quantity is small enough to be eaten, which is why I’ve not called it food waste. We did have to waste some shiitake mushrooms when a courier didn’t deliver and they spoiled, I haven’t included that weight here. We would like to work towards a next day delivery system but we need to be conscious of managing stock and shelf life at the same time so as we aren’t generating waste.
Mileage: 6000 miles
This is our total mileage for the business, including all deliveries. We don’t drive much outside of deliveries, but we do sometimes pick up products or meet suppliers, run messages etc. Our mileage is increasing as we cover a wider delivery area now, however we are still committed to keeping our delivery area and days condensed to limit our overall mileage.
Boxes delivered: 1600
We’ve reached a huge amount of homes in our first year and we’re ambitious about growing this number as we go into year two. Every single order and delivery means so much to us as well as to our food producers and suppliers. Your orders and feedback continue to shape Local Box’s development and we’ve so enjoyed our doorstep chats with you all!
Number of reusable boxes in circulation: 130
It’s taken just 130 of our reusable boxes for us to carry out 1600 deliveries. That’s a huge saving on single use packaging. We’ve only needed the full stock of boxes at Christmas when we were extremely busy. And our 130 boxes are still going strong as they enter their second year of use!
Crisp packets recycled: 527 (36%)
36% of the crisps packets we sell have come back to us to be recycled. We wait to collect a hundred or so and then take them to the East Belfast Terracycle drop-off where they then get boxed up and sent to Terracycle in England. Terracycle has the facilities to recycle crisp packets into recycled plastic. Local council schemes don’t have these facilities and so crisp packets usually end up in landfill. As our delivery boxes are made of recycled plastic, we like to imagine the crisp packets get turned in to plastic pellets which then get used to make the boxes.
Granola bags saved: 114
We have been doing return & refill for our granola since we started stocking Morning Glory. We get the granola loose in huge buckets from Nina; each week we weigh out the granola in to the refill boxes and then our customers return these to us to be washed and reused. This has 114 single use granola bags! We’d still like to use this with other products but we need a little more space to make it feasible with the storage and packing.
Number of food producers: 53
We have worked with 53 food producers over the last year. Getting to know them and their products has been a true highlight of starting Local Box. The support, collaboration and encouragement has been humbling and the passion and energy for food and Northern Ireland amongst our local producers is inspiring.
We started Local Box because we wanted to stop buying food from the supermarket. In the last year, I have felt a stronger connection to place & community, knowing what food is being produced where and then delivering it to people’s homes. I have more choice in the food that I eat and that I buy and a stronger connection & understanding of the story of the food on my plate. We hope that these feelings are shared by our customers and we welcome you to continue on our journey as we head in to year two!
Thank you!
