Being a vendor during the pandemic: the home delivery service
Small and medium-sized businesses from the community of Really Local Harvest vendors had to show resilience to deal with the wave of challenges caused by COVID-19.
They had to create new services, adapt to new consumption habits and respect the health measures. What solution have the local businesses implemented in order to keep on serving you while at the same time ensuring their survival?
We will start this publication series with home delivery services, new for some of them since the beginning of the pandemic.
A home delivery service to adapt to customers who prefer to skip crowded places or can’t/or prefer not to move
Like many vendors, Nicole Leblanc, co-founder of Gâteries JR’s Treats, had to find solutions to continue to operate despite the pandemic.
Having just adopted contactless payment, thanks to a credit card machine, Nicole and her partner Donald are offering (since last march) a home delivery service in order to fill in the gap caused by the closure of the business and the traffic slowdown of Dieppe’s Market.
“We certainly appreciate greatly the support from the people.[...] Not everybody feels comfortable to go to the Market and for those who still try to come, it’s not always easy. Therefore we had to set up other means of distribution.”
The co-founder of Gâteries JR’s Treats continues: “This pandemic greatly affects the amount of people coming to the Market and we [the vendors] all suffer a little bit financially from it. The campaign set up during the holidays to promote local consumption was very helpful. People continue to respond positively to it and they seem to be very involved.”
A collective service: Vendors show solidarity and support with today’s challenges
Armadale Farm Dairy Products has joined forces with other local small businesses in the Sussex area to set up a collective home delivery service.
Ian Smyth, the owner explains: “Basically it brought in customers from the Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton area. And it kind of offset the loss we had from all the restaurants and bed & breakfast that we dealt with, but it still didn’t make up for that loss, it still didn’t even come close.”
Carefully prepared orders by the dairy farm were then made and delivered throughout the surrounding area by the owner himself. “We brought the bread, the lettuce, the meats [...], everything into our facility, then we’d pack the orders, inbox them, ship them and deliver them to the customers' front doors. And I wouldn’t say no to anybody, if somebody lived 15 kilometers away and couldn’t get out, I’d deliver to their door, I didn’t charge extra or anything, there just had to be a minimum 20$ dairy order.”
Ian and his wife had stayed up late more than one evening to get this service up and running. “We adjusted within two weeks, it was a steep learning curve of, you know, late nights, 1 or 2 in the morning trying to learn this new format, and once we figured it out, it was a lot easier as it went.”
An effort which however had a positive impact: “By doing that, we also realized there was a need, for people that were seniors, that didn’ t want to go out, or people that were in a wheelchair that couldn’t get out, people with different disabilities had reached out to us for us to deliver products to their door. We had a variety of products, we used all local products on our online format, and it did fairly well.”
“Market sales are generally down overall, with the market in Dieppe and the market in Fredericton, we have the online format here with the Virtual Market and the Friday market. My wife and I, we are doing three times the work with less money coming in. So hopefully that’ll change in the coming months, hopefully by fall it’s gonna come back to normal.”
Delivery service at the heart of local awareness
The meat from Marché Boudreau Meat Market can also be delivered to you. This service has allowed a significant growth in sales for the business.
According to Jocelyn Boudreau, general Manager of the family business, this growth is attributable to the feeling of uncertainty caused by the interruption of the supplier chain that happened last March.
“I think that this event was an eye-opener for the public. Many understood that we [local producers] will never be out of meat because we do not rely on big companies from Toronto or Montreal to supply us.”
Will this service remain?
For these three vendors, the delivery service could remain an option offered after the pandemic. One thing is certain, it all depends on the customers!
Ian Smyth, who continues to offer that service, explains that the orders have significantly dropped in comparison to the peak time of lockdown.
“It slowed down quite a bit. The demand went quite a lot in the grocery store when there was no trucking, there was no bread, no meats being delivered anywhere, so it filled the void for a bit, but since the grocery stores and what not have been restocked it’s not as bad, we’re not as busy.”
“So yeah, it’s still there for people in case they need it but we haven't noticed a sharp increase since we went to red. We had a few extra orders coming in but not like back in the spring.”
Jocelyn Boudreau goes in the same direction: “We are back in the red zone since recently and our sales have doubled because people are panicking. Nevertheless I think that this service is definitely something we will keep if the results are good.”
Finally, Gâteries JR’s Treat will also follow the demand: “Whether we like it or not, we don’t know for how long this pandemic will go on or what our daily life will look like when this is all done.”
“Are we really gonna go back to normal or will it be a “new normal”? It’s difficult to know or to predict… but we are ready to adapt to the needs of our customers and the Dieppe Market customers as well. One way or another, we will keep our delivery service as long as there is a demand for it.” concluded Nicole Leblanc.