Kentish trade group sets up online hub for ‘good news stories’

Help Kent Buy Local lists all the independent businesses and farmers who are offering home-delivery. It also promotes positive news stories about businesses that have diversified into online and home delivery, or collaborated with other producers as a result of the current situation.

The membership organisation is deliberately reaching out to all businesses in the food and drink sector, members as well as non-members of the trade support organisation Produced in Kent.

“In these extraordinary times it is so important that we support each other and work together,” says Floortje Hoette, chief executive of Produced in Kent. “We have created this new site to connect the businesses with the consumers, as well as other businesses. Every single business across Kent needs some sort of support right now and we are here to help all these businesses to stay afloat, by facilitating customers’ access to good local food.

Mindful of the Government’s restrictions on movement, Produced in Kent has joined hands with Digitalbeans, a leading digital agency based in Canterbury, who have launched a free website solution called YourLocal.Delivery. It will help local businesses in Kent launch their own online store, making it easy for customers to buy local and stay safe.

Hoette adds: “Produced in Kent will use its website, social media and its weekly #HelpkentBuyLocal e- newsletter to share ‘positive news’ stories about all the amazing initiatives that are being undertaken by the many hard-working businesses. Kent is showingits true community spirit, through free home deliveries to self-isolators, veggie boxes for key workers and an army of volunteers, helping out where they can.”

Kentish retailers utilising the new service include The Cheese Room in Rochester, which is delivering a Cheese, Meat & Wine Rescue pack to the locals in Medway. West Malling-based farm shop and garden centre Spadework - which is also a registered charity providing support and opportunities to adults with learning disabilities - is using the website to keep customers updated on ‘good news stories’ from the store.

Kris Healey, CEO of Spadework, says: “The farm shop is still operating, thankfully, and is offering safe call and collect services without the need for customers to leave their car or come into contact with any staff. Last week we received a heartbreaking phone call from the Heart of Kent Hospice. Due to the long hours and late finishing times the amazing staff are working to help support their wonderful service users, staff were unable to get any fresh fruit or veg from the supermarket as every time they went to the shops the shelves were empty….so now Spadework is delivering fresh fruit and veg boxes every week to the staff of the hospice.”

Floortje Hoette adds: “If anything good was to come out of this very challenging period, it is a higher public awareness of the fantastic food supplied by your local butcher, the farm shops, the bakers and the village shops, not forgetting the doorstep deliveries made by the local dairy farms. We must all make an effort to buy local, not just now, but also when Covid19 is no longer dominating our daily lives.”