Our latest news, blogs, ideas, tips and opinion pieces
How to build amazing customer relationships
What’s one advantage you are likely to have that supermarkets and big retailers don’t? The opportunity to build great relationships with your customers on an individual basis. And if you make the most of this advantage to develop an ongoing relationship with your...
All card payments through Stripe will require Strong Card Authorisation (SCA) as of 31st December.
To help make card payments more secure the UK Government is rolling out new legislation. In this blog Louise explains how to make sure you are prepared. What is SCA? SCA- Strong Card Authorisation- is an additional security measure, which protects...
How community food enterprises work towards food equality
Community food enterprises are part of a movement to address systemic issues in the food system in a way that is dignified and redistributive. In this blog, Joe McCrohon explores practical steps some food hubs are taking to address food affordability. The Open Food...
Simple ways to design and schedule social media posts for free
If you find you are spending too much time on social media without seeing the results you would like for your food enterprise, then this is for you. In this resource you will find proven tactics for creating attractive posts your customers will love and learn how...
How to survive and thrive through lockdown
The UK is now in a second full national lockdown to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. The PM said lockdown will expire on the 2nd December, however, there is the potential it could be extended if the infection rate doesn’t decrease enough by this date. ...
How to make the most of Christmas trade for your food enterprise
We don’t need research to prove shopper activity is affected by Christmas, just a quick look at your local high street in December will do! Most customers care about Christmas and your relevant, seasonal efforts show your customers you care about them. In return,...
The Battle Against Chlorinated Chicken: Why food sovereignty and farmers’ rights matters in the UK
Battles over chlorinated chicken, hormone-treated beef, and genetically modified produce have been raging since the Brexit referendum. With the Agriculture Bill in parliamentary ping pong debating the enshrinement of UK standards into law Cobi Akinrele and Lynne...
How Food Producers can inspire the next generation
There is a famous quote that goes something like this: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” And sadly what we are giving our children are food systems that rely largely on long, complicated supply chains, globalised...
Can Community Food Enterprises change the world?
In this blog Joe McCrohon and Lynne Davis investigate the world of community food enterprises and food hubs to find out the lay of the land from an academic perspective. The Open Food Network supports a vibrant network of food enterprises that are deeply embedded...
How to prepare your food enterprise for a second national lockdown
With a series of national and local lockdown restrictions reintroduced in response to an increase in Covid cases, it's likely we are heading for another full national lockdown this winter. Some supermarkets are already putting limits on loo roll, flour and pasta in...
Celebrating nature and following its rhythms
Can you hear the birds chirping outside your window? This is the sound of Spring! The days are getting longer - finally! We will soon be leaving the dark half of the year and embracing the early spring rays of the Sun! Soon, it will be time to celebrate the Spring...
How to evade the Hungry Gap: an ethical guide for eaters and sellers
The hungry gap is a time when seeds that you’ve sown aren’t ready and whatever you stored in the winter isn’t good to eat anymore. In this blog post, we’ll look at what the hungry gap is in more detail. We’ll explore the gap’s origins, why we should embrace it and...
Open Food Network wins the award for digital innovation in the European Social Economy Awards
There were more than 500 nominations for this award from all over Europe. Open Food Network Europe gets the prize in the section about social economy initiatives operating in the digital economy or with an important focus on technological innovation and/or working...
Hybiau Caffael Bwyd Cynaliadwy yng Nghymru
Dros y flwyddyn ddiwethaf, mae'r Open Food Network UK wedi bod yn gweithio ar gynllun peilot arloesol i ddangos dichonoldeb cyflenwi bwyd lleol ar blât cyhoeddus Cymru. Gan weithio gyda phartneriaid o Ffermydd a Gerddi Cymdeithasol, Cultivate, Cymdeithas...
Sustainable Food Procurement Hubs in Wales
Over the past year, the Open Food Network (OFN) has been working on a groundbreaking pilot to demonstrate the feasibility of supplying local food onto the Welsh public plate. Working with partners from Social Farms & Gardens, Cultivate, Development Trusts...
In response to the Food Research Collaboration’s discussion paper
Natalie Neumann and Rosalind Sharpe from the Food Research Collaboration have created a Food Research Collaboration Discussion Paper titled “Sustainable food hubs and food system resilience: Plugging gaps or forging the way ahead?”This is the last report in the...
Open source tech: why you should care and how you can contribute
Open source is an integral part of who we are at the Open Food Network: our platform, the way we work and much more. It’s even in our name! So, let’s talk about it. In today’s society, open source software exists as an antithesis to the systems we have grown...
Women in Food and Farming
From farmers and food hub coordinations to home cooks and food tech developers, women are central to our food systems world wide. But other systems, like the patriarchy, undermine their contribution. At the Open Food Network, we try to counteract the impact of...
Starting the year at the Oxford Real Farming Conference
It was a great opportunity for us to share with our community some of the great work we have been doing and connect with like-minded people in an environment like the ORFC. And, we left Oxford full of hope and energy after meeting, hearing, and witnessing amazing speakers from all over the world.
The Open Food Network team goes to Hereford
Let’s try to picture the mycelium, billions of intricate connections building nature’s very own communication network. This, for us, is what we see the Open Food Network becoming. A network that connects people to each other to help build inter-connected communities.
As a fully remote team, connecting online can be easy with all the technology at our disposal. But connecting on a deeper level is harder, the same way it is harder for each of us individually to relate to each other and ourselves when we spend a lot of our time behind a screen.