`I suppose the project started with me as a grower," says Dick Wellwood, one of the masterminds behind the Horizon Natural Products scheme. "I had a surplus of foods, which I was trying to sell, and I was also buying in other stuff from people, so I was acting as a sort of mini-wholesaler. Then I talked to Quentin Gargan, of Wholefoods Wholesale, the two of us sat down, and that's how the plan for nation-wide distribution came about."
Since then, Horizon has steadily and speedily accelerated its operations as it aims to bring organic vegetables, fruits and other products to people throughout the country. "We have two trucks on the road and we deliver our foods three days a week," says Wellwood, "while Quentin delivers his things two days a week. And I have recently bought another truck to bring down the foods we import from the continent." Distribution of organic foods has traditionally been bedevilled by a number of factors.
The first was the logistics of distribution itself, and the ability of growers to get their foods much beyond a few miles from their own farms. The second was providing a year-round supply of vegetables to customers, a problem which continues: "Our biggest problem now is actually getting the stuff we need," says Wellwood. "There has recently been a major frost in Europe, down to 15 below, and a lot of the European crop has gone under, so this sort of thing can cause problems." But importing organic foods has allowed Horizon to supplement local supplies, and to at least deliver a box of vegetables or fruits to their customers consistently. Customers must buy by the box, and regularly. As well as delivering the foods, Horizon has also produced a nifty recipe booklet, packed with basic details of many vegetables and with lots of cooking tips and recipes. A loose-leaf folder, it is designed to be supplemented by new recipe ideas as time goes by. Subscribers to the vegetable box scheme can buy it for £5, and it is also available from Wholefoods Wholesale.
Dick Wellwood is now looking for agents to help further in the distribution of Horizon's products. "A mark-up is built in to the cost of each box, so if a local play-school or Montessori or a school wanted to make some money on a regular basis, then they can make that money by acting as a distributor. We can deliver to them if they organise for a local group to collect the boxes from them." With every local play-school and Montessori always on the hunt for funds, this sounds like one way to help cash flow.
"We deliver to Letterkenny, and now to Kenmare, we go to Castlebar and Sligo, to Wexford and Galway, and of course to Dublin, and we do all the bits in between," says Wellwood. "We're getting there. The interest in organics is huge."
Horizon Natural Foods, Upper Clonking, Abbeyleix, Co Laois tel: (0502) 33392.