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tahir

Livestock CO-OP values/aspirations

I think we need to establish WHY a punter should buy your meat in preference to others, so could any/all of you make a case for your product? We can distil this into a policy template and the overall brand values.
Jonnyboy

From a consumers perspective I think it's fairly simple. I want to pay a fair price for well treated meat that has been raised in as sustainable a fashion as is practicable. I'd like it to be local and that the farmer/supplier has a similar local ethos.

Badging/certification is of lesser importance to me, and probably for most downsizers who have well developed knowledge of livestock issues and regulstions. However I can see that it would be a bog advantage in supplying consumers aho are less 'into' this subject.
Mary-Jane

Ethical.
Local.
Sustainable.
Tasty.
Fair price.
tahir

Mary-Jane wrote:
Local.


NeatChris delivers nationwide
Mary-Jane

tahir wrote:
Mary-Jane wrote:
Local.


NeatChris delivers nationwide


UK based then...
bagpuss

If you are going to do this someway to ensure you get what you want from the closest producer who can provide it when you want it would make some sense
lassemista

None of them over here tho' Sad
Andrea
tahir

lassemista wrote:
None of them over here tho' Sad
Andrea


We'll find em, we just need to get this thing started.
bernie-woman

Welfare of the animals is a huge issue to me as a consumer Very Happy
Nick

lassemista wrote:
None of them over here tho' Sad
Andrea


Local? Compared to New Zealand lamb?

Or lamb shipped from Wales to Scotland for slaughter, to Birmingham for packing to Leicester for distribution to your store for sale?

Minimise food miles, but be realistic. Smile
lassemista

Never knowingly bought New Zealand lamb. Not bought supermarket meat for years. I have a freezer full of goat at the moment - don't get more local than that Smile . But I would like to buy from downsizers, but should I when I can get local meat from the organic farm in the village.
I will probably carry on doing a mixture - totally inconsistent.
Andrea.
Nick

That's good to hear. I think one of the points raised was that the Downsizers and them that think along these lines are doing like you. Buying from here, or locally, or whatever the best they can manage for now is. There's an further 99.9% of the population who buy in Tescos without a thought. That's the target market for this project. It's not instead of you, me and the others, it's as well as.
dpack

quality comes with good animal welfare and folk will pay a fair price for quality
what is the objective to be ?
RichardW

Dont we still need to work out who & what we are?

Are we a co op or a combined marketing force?

Are we only allowing products / produce made raised or grown by members or is buying in allowed?

Will members have quota's as some members are much bigger producers than others?

Will we trade under a single banner?

Will the web site have a simple advert or a page for each supplier so the customer can choose if they want local over say breed or would rather the order traveled a bit so they can have a reginal product from a region other than thier own.

Who will decided on issues of conflict between members?

Whats the cost (they will be one trust me)?

Should we start simple & work up?

I think we need to go back to the start & decided the important stuff first.

1, what are we
2, what do we want
3, how will we achive this
4, how will we be organised

Then we can move on to bigger things



Justme
lassemista

Quote:
99.9% of the population who buy in Tescos

Well I used to use Tesco Embarassed Then I read things like "Not on the label", which put me off supermarkets, especially for anything fresh. I was already getting meat from the farm, but it is actually more difficult with fruit and veg. In general I use Waitrose for the things OH doesn't grow, and who "seem" a little more ethical. I'm not worried about washing powder - I think lever brothers et al can look after themselves!!
Andrea.
Rob R

I am getting very very confused by what is being proposed here. What started out as a simple movement to get people out of buying Tesco rubbish for more money & into Downsizers pockets seems to have been some sort of marketing co-operative one-stop shop idea. Confused

Are we concentrating on getting people out of Tesco & into local produce, or are we setting up a new Tesco? I'm all for the former, but not at all sure about the latter.
Cathryn

dpack wrote:
what is the objective to be ?


changing buying habits for the better and selling this here lots meat...
tahir

Rob R wrote:
Are we concentrating on getting people out of Tesco & into local produce


Yes, but the main objective is to get producers and consumers a better deal. How that happens is the issue.
Lionheart

Well, someone or a small group of producers will have to take the lead and form a 'management group' to run it from inception and through operation. You can't get anything like this off the ground without people to manage the entity (whatever people decide upon calling it in the end) and the logistics/marketing/pricing moving forward.
Lionheart

Reeves Rare Breeds wrote:
Well, someone or a small group of producers will have to take the lead and form a 'management group' to run it from inception and through operation. You can't get anything like this off the ground without people to manage the entity (whatever people decide upon calling it in the end) and the logistics/marketing/pricing moving forward.


Each role and responsibility would have to be allocated out to someone who is willing to shoulder the responsibility and who is passionate enough about it to do so.

That's the sticky subject that we've all been avoiding these past few days...........i.e. exactly who is going to get this off the ground and who is going to guide it.

Cris
VSS

This discussion seems to swing between extremes. Yes, local is best, but with producers of low volume / high quality stuff so widely dispersed, you can't group together for marketing, and still call it local.
We used to sell free range pork to a local butcher for a premium price. We took pigs to the abbatoir, and paid for the killing. The abbatoir delivered to the butcher. 2 days later we'd call into the butcher's shop and he'd pay us cash from the till. A lovely arrangement. Trouble was, he wanted 2 pigs/week, same weights, all year. We couldn't be that consistent. In conjunction with other small scale producers we could have managed a regular supply. It wouldn't all have been local, but the ethos would remain the same - trad. breeds, high welfare, free range, etc.
Any kind of co-ordinated marketing between small scale producers could mean that we keep these specialist outlets, but as individuals we can't compete with larger scale farmers.
Lionheart

Hands up all those of you out there who want to get involved directly and who realise that it will mean time and effort (wouldn't worry too much about money...each producer should be charged a nominal membership fee per quarter to cover postage/admin/leaflets etc etc)
tahir

VSS wrote:
This discussion seems to swing between extremes. Yes, local is best, but with producers of low volume / high quality stuff so widely dispersed, you can't group together for marketing, and still call it local.


You getting your beasts killed and butchered local to you and then shipping to wherever is a LOT better than carting them 100s of miles away to be killed and processed, more 100s of miles to get in store.....

We (you) have to set the terms for this to work, all members have to "buy in" to whatever is agreed.
Mary-Jane

Reeves Rare Breeds wrote:
Hands up all those of you out there who want to get involved directly and who realise that it will mean time and effort (wouldn't worry too much about money...each producer should be charged a nominal membership fee per quarter to cover postage/admin/leaflets etc etc)


Hand in air...
Lionheart

OK, you're on the committee.......I'll get physically involved too....then that's two of us......NEXT.....who else?!!
Cathryn

Me


and I think we are getting towards some consensus Smile
Mary-Jane

ruby wrote:
Me

and I think we are getting towards some consensus Smile


When do you think we should start driving sheep through the university grounds Ruby? Wink
Cathryn

Busy Monday, Tuesday do you?

This is impressive though...(have you met Kel?)
Mary-Jane

ruby wrote:
Busy Monday, Tuesday do you?

This is impressive though...(have you met Kel?)


Wow...amazing! No, I don't think so - not yet.
Cathryn

He's the Aussie chef and possibly the buyer for the University (and married to my sister's oldest friends Rolling Eyes ) and do not get any ideas I would not want to cross the butcher Shocked
Mary-Jane

ruby wrote:
...and do not get any ideas I would not want to cross the butcher Shocked


Shocked Laughing Noooooooooooo...
crofter

I am a member of a co-op in Shetland, although not currently supplying any meat through them. Shetland Livestock Marketing Group have recently established a similar(?) sales outlet to what is being discussed here, and this link may be of interest; although it is specific to Shetland produce it echoes the downsizer "brand values" - small scale producers, local food chains etc.

http://www.cf.ac.uk/cplan/resources/Making%20Provenance%20Pay.pdf
gil

Interesting report. Resonates with the situation in Dumfries and Galloway (rural, oddly remote, though not an island), and no doubt other parts of Scotland. Thanks for the link.
crofter

These bullets summarise the SLMG

● SLMG works for and on behalf of its producer members and not in
the interests of company investors.
● In an island like Shetland, co-operation provides the only real
solution to the challenges that affect everybody.
● SLMG brings together a unique range of services for the producer
under a single Shetland marketing banner.
● Only through co-operation can such area based branding and
marketing be fully exploited.
● Each member has an equal say in how the business is run and
developed.
● SLMG is committed to the future of Shetland agriculture.

At 70 pounds per kilo Shocked they are managing to shift a couple of thousand lambs each year.

http://www.shetlandlamb.com/shetland-seaweed-lamb-connoiseur-box.php
NeathChris

Just got back late last night, met ome fantastic people last 2 days and have some great ideas and plans.
If i can help in any way let me know.
Cathryn

Chris for goodness sakes, help in anyway, you are it... get in here! Smile
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