Resources
As a Better Food Trader member, you now have access to our fantastic Online Library full of resources tailored to independent food retailers. Whether you’re a shop, food hub, market stall or veg box scheme, you will find information that is relevant to your organisation.
The Online Library is a combination of the best guidelines, toolkits and materials that we’ve cherry-picked from external organisations, plus resources and examples kindly shared by Better Food Trader members. Much of this has been collected from the network’s Slack Workspace, downloaded and saved from members’ discussions. Most recent download: August 2022.
A special thank you to Growing Communities for sharing their collection of documents, photos and films created for the GC Veg Box Start-Up Programme.
Any member of the BFT network can access and add documents.
Note: it is the responsibility of individuals accessing these files to check that they are appropriate/relevant for use in their own organisations. See disclaimer.
Unicorn Grocery - Grown your own grocery handbook
Box Scheme Toolkit - from Growing Communities’ Start-Up Programme
Hatch Enterprise - Power of the pivot: how to adapt your business model in time of crisis
Urban Farming Toolkit; How to Set up a Food Buying Cooperative; Growing Enterprise Guide all available at https://www.capitalgrowth.org/toolkits_and_guides/
The Better Food Traders mega Marketing, Sales and Customer Retention library
Eventbrite – how to host an online event or webinar that live attendees will love
A Healthy Profit pdf from https://www.capitalgrowth.org/toolkits_and_guides/
Finance and Insurance: Guidance from Members
Shopify - cutting costs in retail
Crowdfunding advice and materials from Fundsurfer, including notes on Community Share Offers, reward ideas, and how to prep for pitching to investors.
Good Finance - Fund map: list of social investors and advisers
School for Social Entrepreneurs – How to run a successful crowdfunding campaign
Edge Fund - List of funding sources for charities or social enterprises
LEAP - Grants and mentoring for established sustainable food and farming businesses
The Better Food Traders HR, Health & Safety and Volunteers library
Acas - Example letters, forms, policies and HR documents to download and adapt for your own workplace.
Cranfield - pro bono services for charities including mentoring and business advice
Wellbeing and Self Development: Member Examples
The Better Food Traders mega Logistics, Packing and Collection Point library
IT and Software: Guidance from Members
Organic Certification: Guidance from Members
Solutions for minimising food waste:
Theory of Change: Member Examples
Impact Reports: Member Examples
Anti Racism and Food Justice: Member Examples
Want delicious, seasonal recipes to share with your customers every month of the year? Look no further than the BFT Recipe Bank.
Or free-to-use photos from our Photo Library - please read and observe the Usage Guidelines contained in the same folder.
As a BFT member, you may download and use these two films to support your marketing and comms:
Commit to a better food system and Not on our patch.
Useful Statistics and Facts about the food system, and why Better Food Traders are BETTER.
Deeper Research and Reports about local food, supermarket supply chains and the organic market.
Growing Communities has developed a detailed vision of what a sustainable, resilient food system might look like in the future, based around a system called the Food Zones. You might find this useful as a framework for your own organisation.
https://betterfoodtraders.org/why-it-matters/the-food-zones/
Resources and information on Food Justice
Contact
For all enquiries, please contact our Network Manager Nicki East.
General Advice Disclaimer
The information provided by members and organisations on the Better Food Traders workspace and in training events organised by or paid for by the Better Food Traders team is for general guidance only and is not a substitute for professional legal or accounting advice.
Better Food Traders will not accept liability for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising as a consequence of any use of or the inability to use any information from these sources.
To find a chartered accountant: https://www.icas.com/find-a-ca
To find a solicitor or other legal adviser in your area, you can use the Civil Legal Advice (CLA) Legal Adviser Directory. Go to the Ministry of Justice website at www.gov.uk.