Ethical online grocer Farmdrop closed its doors a week before Christmas, leaving hundreds of customers who had ordered turkeys, geese and other holiday foods scrambling to find alternatives.
The company confirmed that it had entered administration and was “permanently closed”, so it would not be delivering any orders as of Friday. Those who have paid should approach their bank or card company to ask how to get their money back. Thursday was the last day of deliveries.
Anxious customers who had been waiting for a delivery for the next few days asked on social media what would happen now and if they should try to get items from elsewhere.
Moira doyle tweeted: “My delivery today is canceled. Payment made yesterday for Christmas order. Refund ?? “She added that it would be” back to Tesco “for her.
Another tweeted: “Well @farmdrop has been ruined, and with that, my Christmas food delivery … does anyone have info on places that still sell goose?”
Jane Tidey was one of those tweeting He had just received an email saying that his Christmas Eve order was canceled. Meanwhile, Rhiannon Litterick the company tweeted say that their order had not arrived and that the phone line was closed. “Please help! We are isolating ourselves, so we rely on this order,” he added.
The London-based company was created by former city runner Ben Pugh in 2012 after he became frustrated by what he saw as a lack of decent local food available in London, and saw an opportunity to connect farmers with consumers through the Internet. Farmdrop specialized in organic, homegrown, and responsibly sourced products from independent producers, selling hundreds of different items, from organic pigs in blankets to recycled toilet paper.
According to trade magazine The Grocer, Farmdrop had 10,000 customers in early 2020, though it expanded rapidly during the pandemic, enjoying “unprecedented growth” in orders as large numbers of blocked homes switched to online deliveries.
But earlier this year he warned that “growth in orders and sales has not translated into profitability.” Its latest accounts filed in July showed that the company reported a pre-tax loss of £ 10 million compared to £ 11 million the previous year.
Farmdrop’s disappearance is a serious blow to its more than 450 producers, some of whom said on social media that they owed them money.
John Malseed, director of Frenchbeer Farm in Newton Abbot, Devon, one of Farmdrop’s main turkey suppliers, said the news was “a bit funny.”
He said there were hundreds of his turkeys in a warehouse in London and “we are trying to get our stock back”. Malseed said she was hopeful she could ship them to customers who had asked for them, but it was too early to say for sure what would happen.
His farm had more than doubled the number of birds it produced this year, Malseed said, adding: “We will try to fulfill as many of your orders as possible.”
Farmdrop started by delivering produce from local farmers to libraries, community centers, and pubs, but then upgraded to a fleet of electric vans so it could offer next-day deliveries right to people’s homes.
In June 2018, the company said it had raised £ 10 million from investors, including Skype founder Niklass Zennström, to bring its home delivery service to the north of England.
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In the accounts presented in July, the company’s auditor discussed the financial challenges facing the business, saying: “These conditions indicate the existence of material uncertainty that may cast significant doubts on the company’s ability to continue as a company. working”.
In an email to clients, Farmdrop said it had been working to secure the support and capital it needed to continue, but “it has become apparent that we have exhausted all possible options … We will no longer be able to serve our dear clients “.
In another email, it read: “If you have paid for an order with us, we recommend that you contact your bank or card provider to initiate a chargeback, as refunds now go to administrators. If you have booked a delivery but have not yet been charged, you will not be charged. “