Exciting (fresh) things ahead.

Image by mackius via FlickrIts been a hectic and exciting couple of weeks here at Go4Fresh; here's a quick update on whats been going on:

> We've passed the milestone (hence the picture, sorry!) in our FSE funding conditions, so are now set to complete the build of the first batch of machines
> The first two machines have successfully run a trial period with local staff near our offices in Shoreham
> We have the first locations for our machines agreed and will be installing soon!
> We've had a couple of great meetings with the NHS (see previous post) who seem to be behind our project, and we've been well received with the local hospitals so far
> There's been some very good interest from retailers and also a HUGE organisation that I will have to keep under wraps for the moment (itching to say, though!)

In fact, there's lots of other things going on, but as I write, I realise that I can't share any of that just yet - you'll have to take my word for it that its all good and moving us forward with the project (which in itself is growing in potential as we go!)

Fresh food initiative in NHS

Image via WikipediaI've just got back from a great meeting with a procurement innovator in the NHS. With the research we have from previous conversations, and trials a few years ago, we had already identified a huge potential opportunity for the 24 hour provision of healthy, short shelf-life snack foods within hospitals, both for patients as well as staff, and today confirmed that we are on the .

The very helpful contact we met today has given us further insight into how the current system of vending and catering operations fit within the NHS business model and I've returned to my desk to review our approach and set up some key meetings with potential brands who could take advantage of the opportunity our micro-retailing units provide. It certainly seems that there is intention to provide healthier options to patients and staff, as prescribed (no pun intended!) in this NHS food procurement initiative. I now have a clearer understanding of how an offering like ours may also be measured from a fiscal perspective as well as answering tangible moral and CSR aspects.

There was also keen interest in potentially using our technology to safely store, audit and "vend" drugs and samples only to specified staff - its another avenue I have been exploring for some time that our technology addresses very well - more on that at a later date.
All in all, a great meeting - thanks Dave!

I am interested in your views.

• Are you in the NHS?
• Do you think that the food provided currently(whether for staff or patients) is healthy?
• Is it fresh?
• Can you get something to eat that you want, at a time you want it?
• Do you think healthy food provision within the NHS is high enough on the agenda?
  

Please let me know!

First vends made!

Wow! - Today I witnessed the first few people actually buy product from our final proof-of-concept machine.

Ian Rowling, the brains behind the scenes has completed all the integration tasks that were required to upgrade our interface screen to full colour and touch-screen functionality, re-tested all the system components and got the demo systems up and running...

..so we have started a live trial. We are aiming to simulate the placement of a machine in an office environment with regualr customers using it.

And the initial feedback has been very encouraging.

The (almost) free lunches
Around 30 people from local businesses around our workshops in Shoreham are now visiting daily to buy product (as supplied by our partner company Nibbles) and try the machine out for themselves.

The trial will run for about a week, and enable us to identify and iron-out any final bugs or interface issues that the public find or feedback to us about. We are actively encouraging feedback through a feedback form and discussions with each user as follows:
> Each user has been shown the machine, then left to pay for and purchase the products each day themselves.
> Each purchaser is given a feedback form for each time they use the machine, which they have to complete and return as a receipt.
> Purchaser eats product.
> Purchaser completes form - we are seeking to capture any and all feedback about the machine, the interface, the experience itself and the products bought.
> At the end of the trial period, we repay the monies spent to each user as a thank you for taking part.

Then we will collate all the data about the trial from our remote interrogation of the machine and build a picture of the times that people used the machine (helpful for knowing when is best to refill it), the condition of each product (how long it was in the machine and time of vend), the temperature of the machine at all times and the money taken.

We can then map this against the data received via the feedback forms to ensure that we have accuracy and continuity.

We will also have a list of things that we may need to attend to before our first placements are made (scheduled for early next month).

If you are taking part in the trial, thank you! and please feel free to feedback below!

How was it for you?

Clarifying Telemetry in Vending

There is increasing movement in the vending industry toward adding intelligence to vending machines and this link to MEI (Thanks Duncan!) illustrates how a major component supplier to the industry have developed a means of reporting back what a vending machine is doing.

However, it is often a lot like adding ABS brakes to a horse and cart.

Vending machines traditionally are not designed to control how the stock is put in and therefore any reporting is only as good as the operator doing the filling. It is quite viable for instance that an operator may not completely fill a unit, but the machines are not clever enough to know this and can continue to vend fresh air when the stock runs out - however, a remote monitoring device will merely report that a vend was made..

Most vending units are designed to provide as cheap and effective means of vending a particular product, with little regard as to how the stock is managed.

Our machines offer telemetry, but, since they were also designed to control how stock is added into the machine, the chance of operator error is almost entirely removed. In addition to this, the remote control facilities we have built in mean that we can actually remotely reset and correct certain errors without sending an engineer.

I was delighted to hear about MEI's developments in this space however, as it is further evidence of interest in the future development of remote retailing as the vending industry gets closer to the retail sector. Of course, at Go4Fresh we can already remote retail - yes, its fresh food today, but we can retail just about anything you want, with full stock, inventory and distribution reporting (oh, and did I mention the remote access and control we offer, too?)

There's telemetry, and there's TELEMETRY!

(photo credit> found_drama)

We make the SEEDA news

The government backed South East Enterprise Hub recently interviewed us to publish a news article about our successful application for (and winning) of the commercialisation funding.

They have provided good ancilliary support in addition to the funding award and I am continuing to work with them on future articles and news releases.

First sites agreed!

We've done it!

Today we signed up the first confirmed site - a really high profile and relevant site, too - William Reed business media in Gatwick, publishers of The Grocer amongst other industry topics - and we are very chuffed!

It looks like we shall also have a second site confirmed very shortly, another really high profile name that will add further credibility to our offering.

And we've got another few who are very keen to take things further, so we shall be carring out site surveys and checks to see if they are suitable locations to make a success for us and the client.

In all, we now have locations for around 6 machines pretty much signed up, and increasing interest for other locations, but note, we were only looking to launch with 10-15 machines for our pilot phase to complete our final proof of concept testing!

At William Reed we met today with Chris to plan out an appropriate launch strategy with them and we will be doing something along thse lines:
> internal awareness raising
> survey to staff
> Menu distribution
> external PR
> taste test to all staff
> banner promoting "machine coming!"
> installation
> ongoing feedback

Its all going in the right direction - and we got a good mention in the South East Business publication today, too.

Look out for a Go4Fresh machine in a location near you soon!

Promoting Healthy Eating at Work

Here's a great downloadadable booklet on how to promote healthy eating in the workplace. Of course, you could request a Go4Fresh machine and sit back and watch as your staff enjoy the fruits (and other healthy snacks!) of your efforts!

This was found on the Health Promotion Agency website.

Snacking trends research

This research paper from the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association provides further compelling insight into consumer demand for fresh, healthy food. This research revealed which snacks are selected, when and where they are eaten, and how those choices are made by the consumer.

Key findings from this paper that point to our Go4Fresh healthy food retailing opportunity being an ideal platform to deliver what the consumer wants include:

A healthy demand: Healthier snacks are in high demand as consumers today are very interested in products lower in fat, trans fats, and calories.
(With our machines, the consumer can choose their snack on calorific, fat or ingredient content)

Snacks take on new meaning: Having broadened their view of snacks beyond such items as chips, cookies, and crackers, consumers today are more likely to consider any small portion of food as a potential snacking candidate. Retailers, however, have not caught up to this new consumer thinking (while only 20% of consumers today define snacks traditionally, 40% of retailers still do so). This perceptual gap separating retailers and their customers is alarming — an indication that, as a group, retailers do not fully recognize their competition within the snack market.

Convenience is king: Busier lifestyles have led to an increased demand for convenient snacks — those that are easy to access, easy to prepare, easy to eat, and easy to clean up.
(You cant get much easier than healthy food provided in your workplace, with biodegradable packaging, too)

Eating several small meals a day: One of the greatest opportunities for the snack market — and one that directly addresses the health concerns that have triggered a decline in consumption — is to position snacks as part of a healthy diet of eating several small meals a day.
(With our machine, the retailer can cost-effectively and safely vend healthy foods, anytime)

The Perfect Snack: Consumers define the ideal snack as one that is healthy, tastes sinful, and is convenient in all aspects. This "holy grail" definition of snacks, though perhaps difficult to produce against, is insightful because it is constructed directly from consumer testimony. In other words, consumers know what they want and are very clear in expressing it. The question is, which companies will be able to meet this demand most effectively?
(And how are they going to vend it without the Go4Fresh system?!)

Compelling stuff, eh!?

The Launch - June 2008

On friday last, after a hectic week putting finishing touches to our two demonstration units and the marketing material needed, and a last-minute stress in actually moving the units (lessons were learned in respect to how contractors measure their vans is all I shall say on that!), we were finally ready.

The "steps to sustainability" event in which we were featuring, was organised by the Gatwick Diamond and was the first stage in efforts to gather local businesses of all sizes and engage them with local government representatives, SEEDA and other business experts to help promote and develop innovative ways for companies to introduce and maintain sustainability in the workplace.

The attendance was excellent and from our perspective we were able to put our proposition in front of many interested parties including vending experts BoxLogix, the former owner of CoffeeNation, Martyn Dawes, Sony (who have a large local presence) and the University of Brighton. Councillor Bob Lanzer of Crawley Borough Council also expressed interest and that was an important aim of mine, to get local support and backing.

I am immensely grateful to our supply partners, Nibbles, who brought literally tons of fantastic tasty sandwiches, snacks and salads; yet again I had to look at their superb food all day, but when I did get to eat some, it delivered the taste and quality I have come to expect and that matches our core values so well. They did a superb job and it was also great to have many of those involved in the project to date, including Andy, Duncan and Colin together to witness the final unveiling of the first Go4Fresh units.

I am hopeful that we will have placement partner sites for the first handful of units shortly; there was certainly the right interest and some great points on what we address for sustainability and health for employees were aired and discussed during the workshop sessions. Indeed, not one person in the room could come up with a reason as to why they would not buy from one of our machines and the possibilities in how we can arrange different payment options, incorporate subsidies and provide full audit data ticked many corporte CSR boxes.

We learned lots during the day and now have leads to follow up, planning and production to do but, for once, we have a small breather; having finally acheived what we set out to do in producing working demonstration units ready for production.

My heartfelt thanks go out to all past, present and future stakeholders and to the Gatwick Diamond for running the event. (better pictures to follow!)

How was it for you?

Food Safety Week - starts June 9th!

Promoted and supported by the Food Standards Agency, next week is Food Safety Week.

How good of them to coincide it with our official launch this Friday!

Listen up, food brands!

As this News story from Brand Channel reveals, pressure from consumers demanding fresh and healthy food, rather than food packaged as simply "good for you" is on the increase, and the big food brands are starting to address the challenge; of resistance through purely delivering a branded product.

Consumers want more - they want assurance that the food they buy is genuinely, reliably healthy and good for them. No confusion, no hidden ingredients, just facts.

Not that Ian (Our founder and technical whizz) has been saying anything different since he started the Go4Fresh development project! That's why our machines are not only stocked with only top quality fresh food (obviously!) but they also display the nutritional content and even calorific values of every product on the selection screen - we know consumers have a choice and, more importantly, an increasing voice.

What's your take? Would you choose to buy fresh, healthy, BRANDED food over an unbranded offering, or has your trust in the major brands weakened?

(photo credit> bingbing)

Healthy eating initiative for local businesses

Last night I attended the "Crawley Business Debate"; an event organised by Crawley Borough Council and indeed it was a lively debate with a good deal of interraction between the range of business and council representatives present. Hosted by Jeremy Taylor of CADIA (the voice of businesses in the Gatwick Diamond), it certainly had the right ingredients.

What was very interesting and had me sitting on my hands for fear of leaping up to have my say, was the recurrent issues of feeding and servicing employees in Manor Royal (and other business areas), the abhorrance of reliance on a burger van visiting, and the key factors of traffic on the crowded roads in the area; over 31,000 people travel into the Crawley area each day to work and 86,000 work in total!

Indeed, Easit (who are also featured at the Polishing the Diamond event next week) got several namechecks regarding their lift-sharing system during the debate, and I feel that Go4Fresh should have equal prominence!

Of course, with Go4Fresh's proposition we can address many of the issues that arose:

• Our machines can be filled once a day, outside of normal traffic hours
• we deliver safe and healthy food at any time of day
• we remove the need for staff to drive into town (its too far to sensibly walk from say, Manor Royal)
• all the packaging (of Nibbles' products) is 100% biodegradeable and we can even collect it all

..so I waited until the end of the debate and took my opportunity to collar the Council members!

Many of the council members should now be attending the Polishing the Diamond Event next Friday, at which we obviously feature and will launch, so they should get a really good handle on what we are about, but what I am hoping for (and I told them this) is be some backing and support from the Council to promote the facility that we offer. This would help us (in the same way as it has Easit) get in front of the bigger businesses around the Crawley area, and perhaps more importantly, to promote to the 86,000 workers the fact that there is a means of having accessible, healthy, short shelf-life foods in their workplace - to create a buzz and build the demand from the consumer end.

Help please, Crawley Council!

Snatched from the jaws of the Dragon

This was it, the day we've been waiting for, the day on which all the work in seeking funding has led toward, all the sweat, tears and late nights was to be decided, by a panel of four, whether Go4Fresh was worth the commercialisation funding that we've been seeking to get our first machines into market.

After an early start to collect some sandwich samples from our excellent supply partner, Nibbles, we tootled off to Camberley to face the" dragons" at FSE's den to pitch our final presentation to the Finance South East (FSE) panel.

It wasnt my best presentation, that's for sure, nerves combined with a lack of clarity of how I should cram everything about our proposition into a 15 minute slot made for a somewhat confused pitch in my opinion. Also, the panel latched onto the previous involvement in our early development by Nestle foods as an issue that could recur and affect the direction of the company, which took valuable time to try and clarify, and I am still not sure that they were convinced that actually, ANY involvement by Nestle in the future would be a good thing, but that we cannot plan for it at this stage of our development.

We got the expected grilling over numbers, but they seemed easier to placate overall with that side of things, and, lets face it, they need to be confident fundamentally that they will at least get their (the tax payer's!) investment back!

I think they were more convinced of future applications and the deployment of our telemetry and inventory control than they were of the fresh, healthy eating proposition, but, with our allotted time up, we had to leave the room - to beat ourselves up about the pitch and await an outcome.

Whilst we de-briefed and commiserated with each other, the panel considered our application. They comprised members who would decide on our application, and four other attendees who have been involved in our application to date (which started last year!); Colin Hayhurst (Portfolio Manager from Gatwick Diamond Hub who's been an absolute stalwart in getting our application to this stage), Steve Wood (Gatwick Diamond Hub Director), Zoe Courtney and Martin Carruthers (Finance South East Fund Manager representatives) who we mwt with a few weeks ago at a pre-qualifying meeting.

The meeting disbanded and Zoe called us in to update us, and there's no doubt we were expecting the worst. But we got it!

I have to say it again, to be sure - We Got It. Sure, there are conditions, and we didnt get the absolute full amount, and its not been allocated quite how we wanted it, which has given us a new raft of work to try and juggle our plans around to ensure we can still get to the same goal, but the over-arching point is that they approved us. I can't begin to explain how long a journey this has felt, and I've only been a passenger on the final part of the ride, but it's a major tick in the approval box that can only help us to gain further recognition and credibility in other circles, as well as give us the capital to build some of our first batch of machines.

So, behind the apparently placid scenes of these scribbles, we are now re-working our costings and timescales to ensure we can meet the conditions placed on us, and our attention is now focussed on the next target - our launch event at the Gatwick Diamond sustainability event "Polishing the Diamond", next Friday (6th June). Lots to do; machines to finish, marketing material to complete and people to speak to!

Hope to see you there!

Food Makers turn to healthy food

At Go4Fresh we are obviously keen on healthy food initiatives, so it is interesting and encouraging to see this post in Reuters today. (thanks @MikeAshworth for the pointer!).

Although the aims of these major brands in this instance appears to be to bolster food prices in a pressured economic situation through delivering percieved extra value, the underlying stats make interesting reading and it all adds further weight to our findings for a demand for healthier food AND for a means of delivering it.

The bottom line from the report is that consumers will generally pay more for a better quality product when times are tough.

To quote the report - “The emergence of so-called health and wellness foods with lower fat, sugar and salt are aimed at keeping consumers buying premium brands even amid the escalating credit crisis, high fuel prices and housing meltdown.”

Some major brands are quoted in the Reuters report and indicate:

• Kraft Foods reported that its “better for you” foods are growing two to three times faster than its other food lines. According to Kraft North America President Rick Searer: “Health and wellness is a priority.”
• In the U.K. Unilever indicated that it has been “cutting out fats, sugars and salt from foods as a way to bolster its health and wellness lines”. Bauke Rower, Senior VP of Foods for the Americas says “The long-term trend towards better food and people looking after themselves is here to stay.”
• France’s Danone cited that the health benefits of its recent introductions of two probiotic products with live bacteria should mean “strong revenue growth.” Even with two price hikes since last August, Danone Chief Executive Juan Carlos Dalto: “We are very optimistic we will see nice double-digit growth in the years ahead in North America.” Even though these two products cost 10-30% more than other yogurts.

I welcome your feedback on this:
> Do you look at pricing first when considering a healthy option?
> Do you think this is just brands seeking to exploit a new opportunity, or are they fulfilling a need?
> What pressures are on you to choose the "healthy option"?
> What constitutes a healthy option to you and where does "freshness" come into consideration, if at all?

Update on funding and progress..

Having built my two initial businesses a long while ago from only a handful of coins and sweat, I had never fully appreciated how much effort and the challenges that are involved to get an innovative idea and turn it into a fully-funded start-up... but I am on a new and exciting learning curve!

When I got involved in Go4Fresh, we needed a small amount of working capital to build the first batch of machines, and had applied to a government funded body for this "friendly" investment. That may not be the correct terminology, but since start-up investment (made famous by TV's Dragons Den) often means parting company with a large chunk of the equity of the business, and this doesnt, then to me it's friendly! That funding has taken since at least last November to get close to realising and, since it is essential for us to buy the components to make the initial batch, our launch date has slowly slipped away.

And so it was that today, after a long, long journey, and an application form that's been back and forth across the internet between us so much that it has its own Airmiles account, we (and Colin, our superb supporter and mentor from the Gatwick Diamond Hub) found ourselves sat with Zoe and Martin from Finance South East for them to quiz us on final queries and details from our funding application.

And it seemed to go well. Very well in fact. The "concerns" pile didnt last long and we had no trouble backing up the information they had received, then we swiftly moved on to how we would be using the money and where the development may continue in the future, and had a good, healthy meeting culminating in the enjoying of some of our fresh food delivery partner company's excellent sandwiches - Thanks Nibbles!

In all, it was a really good meeting and at the end Zoe and Martin advised us that they are recommending us for the final consideration, at the panel on the 28th of May - Hurrah!

What many may not realise is that, in addition to completing the development work on the batch of production machines (by using an outside contractor we are "productionising" the units so that they can be made as cost-effectively as possible, redesigning to use standard components where possible), negotiating with sites, partners and suppliers, developing the branding, the marketing and new opportunities, we are also having multiple meetings, comversations and reviews to business plans to try and make everything as watertight as possible to attract that all-important external funding.

It's hectic!!

So, fingers crossed for us on the 28th, please!

That's incredibly close to our launch date of the 6th June, so we may have to work some wonders to get our production units actually made by soon after that date, but I have some ideas... and the sooner some machines hit the ground (well, offices, hospitals etc) , the sooner we start to earn some revenue!

Business Matters Startup Stars PR competition

A couple of weeks ago we got wind of a competition run by Business Matters (a local business publication run by Crawley Observer) called "Start-up Stars" - for a years free publicity to promote the winning start-up business.

We (Ian Rowling - MD, the inventor and developer of the technology and expertise behind Go4Fresh, and myself; Nick Broom - the external face for the company, responsible for strategy and brand) duly entered and were invited to a "Dragon's Den" style interview last week for the final 6 selected entrants.

Phew!! We had 5 minutes to present and describe the business, and then followed a full-on, hectic and unrelenting 15 minutes of questions and analysis of the business from a bank manger, accountant, solicitor and the representative from Business Matters. It was good fun though, and processes like this help to define the strategy better as holes or points are uncovered that you may not find in repeated checking of your own work. We came away hoping that we'd got enough across in such a short space of time to at least demonstrate how the concept was sound, the thinking and planning complete, the backing and support from Gatwick Diamond Hub and others was strong, and that interest was already growing in the fresh food industry itself.

We were pleased with our presentation and the questions were good, not causing us many surprises or discomfort (Ian has been in this situation many times and has covered almost all bases to a great depth).

Today I got a call from Lorraine at Business Matters to tell me that we...


..had not quite won it - we were "a very close second" to quote Lorraine.

Boo.

Disappointed? Of course, since I truly believe in the concept (as does everyone else involved in it), but also as I felt it would genuinely make a great local story for the paper. Now that several offices and business centres have agreed to take the machines, they will be able to gain great respect and loyalty from their customers (staff) for delivering them fresh, healthy food options, something that they can really shout about!

We must have made a fair impression however, since we are to be featured in an article anyway, and Business Matters want to come back in 6 months and write an update on us then. I shall be providing them with regular updates along the way, so watch this space (as well as that of Business Matters!).

Go4Fresh launch countdown

Take one dedicated inventor, one open-minded accountant, several experienced vending and fresh food specialists, a fair smattering of support and guidance from a business development team, blend and brew for several years, then add one entrepreneur and you pretty much have the ingredients to Go4Fresh.

A very fresh approach to the often stale and fusty world of vending.

What do you think of when confronted with the term "vending machine"? A large, characterless, metal box that takes your money (if someone's little treasure hasnt jammed it up or kicked it in), then may, or may not, allow one of its guarded "treasures" to drop mercilessly into a perspex-flapped tray at your feet?

You can buy all sorts of chocolate bars, fizzy drinks and overpriced water from these machines, but rarely can you buy anything actually healthy, can you?

Healthy, as in "made with fresh ingredients within the past 48 hours"?

Healthy, as in "no added nasties or preservatives"?

Healthy, as in "stored, delivered and monitored at a constant temperature"?

And that's because its complicated.

Complicated generally means expensive, and in the past that was good enough reason not to sell it to us poor public. However, now consumers have found a voice and the demand for healthy food is increasing rapidly.

However, at Go4Fresh we've developed a clever, yet simple to use and maintain machine that can be accessed and interrogated remotely. It's fully temperature controlled, knows exactly what sandwich, pasta salad, sushi, fruit salad or whatever other healthy item is in each and every chilled compartment, how long it has been there and what the exact contents (physically and calorific) of each one are.

Giving you, the consumer, great food, in great condition 24 hours a day.

Medium to large firms, hospitals, colleges and the like will be able to provide a source of monitored and healthy fresh foodstuffs to their employees at no risk or cost.

Now, the team at Go4Fresh are putting the finishing touches to the first production machines ready for a major launch in Crawley in June and we've started this blog to share the experience.

If you have a view on healthy food, you want it in your office, or want to find out more, please
comment on here and we will feedback to you. There'll be a website shortly, but since this is where we'll talk about the development of the company, you'll find out about it here first!

Cheers! - from all at Go4Fresh.