Are you looking for a London wholesale supplier of fresh, organic, locally sourced fruit and vegetables?
Are you a fruit and veg grower with organic or demeter (biodynamic) certification who wants to increase sales?
Contact the Better Food Shed.
How can the Better Food Shed help with your procurement?
GC's non-profit wholesale arm, the Better Food Shed, supplies local produce grown on organic farms to food shops, schools and education services, holiday activities and food programmes, social care services, community kitchens, NHS services and more. Every week, from our hub in Bow, we distribute up to 20 tonnes of fresh organic produce, sourced directly from 23 small and medium organic UK farms, many of which are within 70 miles of east London. We supply ethically sourced fruit and vegetables to food businesses and council services. As part of Growing Communities, we operate according to the same buying policy and key values.
Read about the eight different ways the Better Food Shed benefits communities Better Food Shed explainer.
What do customers say about the Better Food Shed?
“It’s been one of my dreams to be able to use affordable, locally farmed organic produce in my primary schools and thanks to Better Food Shed and Growing Communities, it’s finally happening. I’ve been working on transforming the school kitchens I oversee from kitchens that serve mostly frozen ingredients, unhealthy menus and nutrient-poor food to kitchens that serve fresh, healthy, diverse, tasty, colourful food made with great ingredients.”
James Taylor, Hackney school chef
How can the Better Food Shed help you sell your produce?
For farmers, we reduce the cost, carbon and hassle of distributing local organic produce in London, providing a hub where you can deliver all your London orders. We help smaller local box schemes and food businesses compete with larger businesses by pooling their orders, thus giving everyone greater buying power.
As a not-for-profit, the Better Food Shed is committed to putting farmers and growers first. We support small businesses to run in an ecologically sound way and to help build a more sustainable food system.
What our farmers are saying
"Thanks Better Food Shed and thanks to all your customers for making my business more sustainable. I hope to grow organic veg for many more years. Every acre farmed organic is a step away from destructive farming practices that are all about quantity and profit for some. Our way of farming and trading is about quality and profit for all!
"The ethos of the Better Food Shed guarantees me and my employees an honest price for our produce. Their wages have gone up and my income has gone up as well. Trading with the Better Food Shed has given me the opportunity to scale some crops up and specialise more on a few crops like whole head lettuce, fennel and celeriac."
Metske van der Laan, who has supplied the Better Food Shed since 2020.
How can you eat food supplied by the Shed?
These London veg schemes sell food from the Better Food Shed:
Growing Communities - Hackney, Haringey, Tower Hamlets
Growing Communities South - Herne Hill, Brixton, Camberwell, Peckham, Crystal Palace
Organiclea - Walthamstow, Wanstead, Chingford
Kentish Town Vegbox- Camden, Angel, Holloway
Granville Community Kitchen Good Food Box - Kilburn, Queen's Park, Kensal Green
Enfield Veg Co - Edmonton, Barnet, Waltham Cross
Sutton Community Farm - deliveries across south London and Surrey covering Kingston, Caterham, Bromley
Some farms that supply the Shed also buy from us to supplement their own box schemes: Ripple Farm Organics in Canterbury, Kent; Sarah Green Organics in Tillingham, Essex; Sitopia Farm in Shooters Hill
Not in the South-East? Check out the 200+ other Better Food Traders across the UK.