New BigBarn website shares income

The new, shared, BigBarn website launches this week with the same 17 year old mission; reconnect consumers with their local producers, direct, or through local retailers, and encourage local trade. Giving farmers a better deal and consumers fresher, cheaper, accountable food.

Let me explain: BigBarn started in 1999 when I saw the onions we grew, marked up from £110/tonne ex farm to £850/tonne at tesco.

This massive margin means that farmers can sell fresher, better food direct, and with enough customers, be cheaper than the supermarket and make a good profit.

Consumers can discover real seasonal food, and by chatting to the farmer, influence what is grown and be enthused to cook healthier, cheaper, meals. Local people can also set up food businesses to supply the growing demand.

Many communities are being built this way and some farm shops are linking with schools to enthuse kids about food and show that potatoes don’t grow on trees, and that milk actually comes from cows.

BigBarn catalyses this process with our constantly updating, and growing, digital local food map that becomes infinitely more powerful if it is used, updated, and shared, by all.

So far the map has 6,000+ suppliers shown as icons linking to webpages that each supplier can update with offers, video, and even an online shop. Around 3,500 people per day type in their post code to see their local map and 35,000 have registered to receive a post code specific monthly newsletter with local food news and offers.

To help more people buy locally the new BigBarn allows any website, from bloggers to the BBC, to have the map to look as though it is theirs, add to it, and share income.

Sharing income provides an incentive for more stakeholders to use the map and encouraging more trade. Sharing also matches BigBarn’s Community Interest Company CIC status where any profits have to be reinvested in the local food mission.

50 websites have already signed up to host and promote the map, with many more to follow.

So please join in. You can sign up as;
1. A consumer to find local food and register for the newsletter here
2. A producer/outlet to win customers here
3. If you have a website or know of a food related website, join as a partner to promote and add to the map and share income. here

And please tell your friends. Or call us on 01480 890 970 if you think you can help in any other way

Let’s help divert the £120 billion spent with UK supermarkets every year, to farmers and local shops with massive economic, and social, benefits for all.