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Farmbound delivers fresh, local produce and organic items around BC.
In the spring of 2015, Mireille Gourlay and Jaye Coward of Lumby took the permaculture course through Element Eco Design (elementecodesign.com). They were told to “take their business model on a date” and see what happens. They started with $100 each and set out to see if their for-profit business would work.
In June of 2015 their company, Farmbound, became a reality. “We started out by delivering fresh, local produce and organic items in the North Okanagan area,” explained Jaye Coward. “My sister lives up in Fort St. John and she said they really needed something like that up there.”
The pair thought about it and in July decided to spend $25 on a Facebook ad to see if anyone was interested. “We had 150 clients sign up within a week!” exclaimed Coward.
Farmbound did home delivery in Vernon for June and part of July, but once they started delivering up north they found they didn’t have time for local deliveries. “For the first four or five drop offs we emptied the van each time. People were upset if we sold out of some items,” said Coward.
From Fort St. John the company branched out to Tumbler Ridge, Chetwynd, Prince George, Quesnel, Dawson Creek and Grande Prairie. “Each delivery box has a $50 order minimum and they can make substitutions and add on as they like. We offer fresh fruits and vegetables in season or those that can be stored. In the winter we sometimes get organic shipped up from California and we also offer local Okanagan organic meats and cheeses. Shipments go out every week and residents go to a pick up site,” said Coward.
It’s not just Farmbound that reaps the profits either. In each town they’ve set up a mini-business for people to receive the produce and distribute it. They also encourage them to get new sign ups for the produce, and are rewarded with a per box fee.
Farmbound are back to delivering in the North Okanagan. “We deliver to homes in Vernon and have drop off locations too. We also do drop off in Lumby and will be opening up a location in Armstrong soon,” said Coward.
Now that they’ve been able to balance out the Okanagan and northern BC schedules, Gourlay and Coward have their sights on a few new locations up north. “The biggest barrier is trucking the food up there,” Coward said. “We went from using a van to sending up pallet loads on trucks once a week.”