Currently we supply over 100 community food projects, involving over 200 volunteers delivering fresh produce to 2,500 families per week. Community coops are a great way to keep costs low, meet new people and enjoy healthy food, find out if there is a community food coop in your area.

Food Chain NE purchases produce directly from local farmers and suppliers then distributes locally to a number of organisations, working with a range of community initiatives and groups. Our policy is to buy local produce where possible. By buying direct from local farmers we are able to ensure them a better price for their produce. Buying locally also means food does not travel as far, which means it is fresher and the environmental impacts of transportation are reduced.

 

Community coops tend to have a volunteer coordinator who will collate orders on behalf of their group and they will then place a weekly order by telephone, email or via our online ordering system. We offer a range of pre-packed vegetables; fruit, salad and Traidcraft items. Most groups supplied, manage their collective orders, usually taking payments in advance. Food Chain (NE) is generally paid on delivery. Some deliveries are pre-packed into individual bags, while some coops prefer to have produce dropped off in bulk and then sorted and packed by volunteers.

  

If you are involved in a group that meet regularly it could be at a community centre, church, village hall or school and you are interested in setting up a food coop please feel free to give us a call or email info@foodchain-ne.org. We will be more than happy to come out and meet you.

Heres a taster of what we offer:

Our standard fruit and vegetable selection will always contain a minimum of 5 varieties. Although contents will vary due to availability and seasonality the contents of a typical bag are:

Fruit

5 apples, 4 oranges, 4 bananas, 2 peaches and 3 pears. (Can include strawberries, blueberries, kiwi etc)

Veg

Cauliflower, 5 carrots, approximately 3lb of potatoes, 3 onions, 2-3 parsnips and approximately 1lb of sprouts. (Can include leeks, sweet potatoes, broccoli etc)

Family fruit or vegetable selection This box will always contain a minimum of 8 varieties, including staples in the fruit option such as apples, oranges and bananas, and in the vegetable selection potatoes, carrots, onions all complemented by a selection of seasonally available produce.

If you are interested in setting up a community based coop and would like to find out more, please email info@foodchain-ne.org or give us a call on 0191 482 6820. Or to find out if there is a community coop near you please take a look at what’s in your area.