The rise of goodwill

There’s no doubt that retailers and food businesses have been faced with utterly unprecedented challenges due to the coronavirus crisis. But as complicated and unexpected as the last few weeks have been for retailers, there are also plenty of heartening stories of businesses stepping up to support local communities, from offering home delivery services to ensuring key workers and NHS workers get access to essential supplies. Here Natasha Lovell-Smith picks seven innovative companies and individuals taking the initiative…

1. Crowd-fund to deliver free food to food banks and NHS workers
Josh Katz and Mattia Bianchi, founders of London’s Berber & Q Grill House and Berber & Q Shawarma Bar, are supporting hospital workers on the front line of the crisis by raising funds to deliver their food to NHS workers around London. Josh, Mattia and the team are fundraising through donations from a Go Fund Me page, asking those who can to help during this challenging time. At the time of publishing the page had already raised over 30K.

Josh said: “In London, within a week, our way of life has been turned upside down and whilst it’s natural to focus on our own individual problems, which can often feel overwhelming, in times of crisis, we have to pull together. We want to do something that offers tangible help to those on the front line, in the hope we can make a small difference so will be cooking our food and delivering it to NHS workers around London.” Crowd-funding this kind of initiative this is a good way of supporting the local community while ensuring your own takings aren’t stretched even further. If you’re unsure on precisely who to fundraise for, donating to your local food bank is a simple way to guarantee your money goes straight to those who need it.

2. Use social media to create a community and offer advice on cooking with cans and staple ingredients
Take inspiration from anti-poverty campaigner, author and TV cook Jack Monroe - aka The Bootstrap Cook - and offer recipe ideas to your customers via social media. If you’re not familiar with Jack, she’s best known for her blog and recipe books offering innovative ways to make the most out of tinned food and store cupboard staples. On Twitter every day from 5pm she answers streams of questions about what to cook with certain (often disparate) ingredients under the #JackMonroesLockdownLarder hashtag. It’s proving hugely popular and is something retailers could action on a smaller scale in their own communities, via social media, newsletters, email or even over the phone. Instagram or Facebook Live are both easy to use and a great way of engaging with your customers.

3. Tap into the home-baking boom and offer virtual cooking classes
Retailers and suppliers are reporting a huge upsurge in demand for flour (particularly bread flour) sparked by a revived interest in home bread-making during the coronavirus lockdown. As well as making these items easily available to shoppers via delivery boxes and hampers, a more innovative approach could be sharing the expertise of your staff by putting on virtual baking or cooking classes. They don’t have to be professional quality or particularly sophisticated - the personal touch goes a long way - just keep them simple, informative and engaging. Ruth Macintyre, founder of award-winning Surrey microbakery Ruth’s Little Kitchen, has just launched twice weekly baking classes via Instagram Live, held Monday and Thursday mornings at 10am. She said: “During this time I just want to be able to bring people together and for us to collectively grow as one community. I love cooking and baking and can only hope that this will spark a little bit of joy into the lives of those joining the sessions”.

4. Get involved in the #DonateADinner fundraiser
Chef and catering Jimmy Garcia has just launched a similar initiative to Berber & Q called #DonateADinner, whereby consumers donate £3+ to go towards a meal for families in heavily impacted areas. This includes those who rely heavily on free lunches while they are out of school and particularly vulnerable communities, such as the elderly people out of work due to business closures.

He’s currently working with Wandsworth Council but would like to see the initiative rolled out across the UK and get more retailers and businesses involved. Jimmy said: ““By donating just £3, which is around the same price as a coffee, you can help create a wholesome meal that will be lovingly made, with the view to being distributed to heavily impacted areas. It costs £3,350 to feed 150 homes with 7 meals a week; we want to raise awareness so that more councils get on board and we can spread this across London and further afield - ideally, we would want to feed all key workers in the UK and have lots of businesses getting involved.”

5. Collaborate with like-minded operators and offer consumers small luxuries
Fashionable London bakery Crosstown Doughnuts, known for its sourdough doughnuts, was very quick to act when the magnitude of the crisis became apparent, forming a collective with two like-minded local producers: The Estate Dairy and Millers Bakery. Together, the companies have collaborated to deliver boxes of fresh food and drinks across the capital, containing essentials like eggs, bread, milk and butter as well as luxury doughnuts.

JP Then, founder of Crosstown Doughnuts, said: “It might seem a little strange for a doughnut brand to be selling pantry essentials and fruit and vegetables, but it is a pivot we decided to make last week to protect as many jobs as possible within our business. By banding together, we are protecting hundreds of jobs.”

He continued: “Any sense of a normal approach to life has gone out the window. In this time of great need, for both individuals and businesses, we should focus on the fundamentals that we control. In our case, it’s the ability to continue delivering the best food to our customers and ensuring a huge amount of fresh produce does not go to waste, but through a newly set-up, safe and fast channel. We are also keen to hear from any other independent businesses who are interested in joining the collective and adding their own fresh produce to the food boxes.”

Chef Jimmy Garcia recommends thinking outside the box when it comes to theming your offering: “We’re working with our amazing suppliers to create delicious isolation hampers for the many nights-in we’ll all be having. Our fondue kit, for example, is perfect for anyone who has had to cancel a ski trip. We can bring the chalet experience to them!”

6. Take payments over the phone
It might seem like a small step, but for vulnerable shoppers who can’t leave the house and don’t feel confident reimbursing family or neighbours using online banking, this is a practical step that could make a lot of difference.  High end Northern supermarket chain Booths announced on social media that it will start taking payment for goods over the phone in order to support older and more vulnerable customers, saying: “This will allow those who are sending friends, neighbours or relatives to shop for them to pay for the shopping remotely.” Customers in store are asked to make their way to the clearly marked checkout in store, where an assistant will scan through the shopping then place a call for the shopping to be paid for over the telephone.

7. The power of clear communication and protecting staff
Of all the multiple retailers Waitrose seems to have been the quickest to act throughout the coronavirus crisis, recently implementing the following practical rules across its stores:
Limiting customer numbers in store so that social distancing can be properly observed
Introducing new stickers at the floors of checkouts and welcome desks to manage distance between customers
Introducing dedicated marshals per store to ensure the 2m rule is inspected when queueing inside and outside
Installing protective checkout screens and special visors to protect staff

The transparency of in-store policy and equal focus on protecting both customers and staff is something indies should emulate and communicate to shoppers via social media and on the shop floor.