Singleton couple and self-proclaimed foodies Chantelle and Ben Fell were sick of mediocre, over-priced produce from the big supermarkets.
They loved driving out to places like Pinjarra on the look-out for roadside fruit vendors and local eggs or honey, but on Mr Fell’s stints away from home this wasn’t always a viable option.
“I think we were talking on the phone one night and I was away for work,” Mr Fell said.
“I was asking about the supermarkets and how the food shopping was going… we were always just sick of buying rubbish produce in the supermarkets for ridiculous prices.
“After that phone cal… I started thinking, we should do something about it.”
That was in January this year.
Now, in September, the Fell’s idea has evolved into a full-blown website called ‘Food Forage’, which the couple and Mr Fell’s twin brother in Queensland developed on their own.
The website works similarly to Gumtree, where sellers can create a free profile, and then upload photos and a description of products they want to either sell or give away.
Buyers can then search listings by area and item description, to find produce that is local to them.
“People are welcome to put free stuff or swap food, whatever they want to do, it’s up to them,” Ms Fell said.
So far the listings have been a pretty even spread of fresh produce (fruit, vegetables, meat, herbs etc.) and ready-made baked goods, as well as trendy health products such as kombucha, raw food, and more.
Though the website is Australia-wide, Ms Fell said the website particularly suited Mandurah people, who often have the land and farming connections.
“I think there’s lots of people in Mandurah that have great produce,” Ms Fell said.
“One of our first people that signed up is an egg lady in Mandurah who’s got like, 150 chickens in her yard that she does with her kids, it’s like a hobby… and she just sells eggs to cafes and to the public.”
The couple have employed Facebook to reign in new users, to great success.
“It’s really taken off, so we’ve got from… about 300 likes on Facebook at the beginning of the week, and now we’re up to over 2200 likes… just in a few days,” Ms Fell said.
“And we’ve gone from not even 100 users, to over 900 in just a few days… And that’s just from posting on 10 or so ‘Buy and Sell’ pages.”
She said that technology can really bring people together sometimes, and that is the ultimate vision the couple have for Food Forage.
“You’re meeting the lady who raises the chickens for the eggs, or the person who makes the cake, it’s really community-building,” Ms Fell said.
Mr Fell said the long-term vision is to create a new way that Australians buy and sell food.
“Imagine if... instead of going to the supermarket, you could go buy a loaf of bread from down the road, and go pick up some veggies, and a dozen eggs as well,” Mr Fell said.
“So you’re buying from all the people around you, and that way you’re putting money directly back into the community, and you’re getting this great local produce.”
Of course, food trading comes with some complications.
At present Food Forage does not permit the sale of alcohol on the website, and the Fells monitor the site “if there’s anything that pops up that we do thing looks dodgy.”
“We’re pretty much just the medium to connect local food producers with local buyers, so it definitely is up to the people selling the produce to find out [about food safety] for themselves,” Ms Fell said.
“But we want to support people in doing that… and work with local councils to try and bridge that gap… we’ll be working on that as we grow.”
For now, the Fells are just working on growing their user base, and discovering what produce people have been hoarding in our neighborhoods.
Visit Food Forage at foodforage.com.au
