Organic Islands - Small Potatoes Urban Delivery

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Our History

by David Van Seters - founder and CEO

In the beginning

I first conceived of SPUD in 1997. At the time I was working as a management consultant, advising business executives and senior government officials on how to use business management techniques to improve social and environmental performance. While it was rewarding work, I wanted to do more than consult to others on how to integrate economic, environmental and social values. I wanted to start a business that embodied these values in its every day activities. After completing a study on the economics of sustainable community food systems, I felt I had identified an ideal business - an organic food delivery company. Such a business would have numerous benefits. It could:

protect the environment by buying local, organic, minimally packaged, and eco-friendly products;
build community by creating more direct connections between food producers and consumers;
reduce traffic congestion and pollution by delivering groceries on a set route;
educate customers about important food issues through a weekly newsletter; and
donate leftover food to food outreach groups and disadvantaged families.

Finally, by operating from a low rent warehouse, the avoided cost of a commercial retail space could be put into delivery vehicles, thereby offering customers the convenience of home delivery for no extra cost than they would pay at their local grocery store.

We have lift off

In late 1997, I asked a very good friend, Debra Elliott, to help me launch SPUD. Debra had a strong retail background, great people skills and was a champion of corporate social responsibility. With her help, SPUD opened its doors in March 1998 from a small warehouse in the downtown eastside of Vancouver. To say that we had modest beginnings was a huge understatement. On our first day of operation we had only 3 staff and made just 9 deliveries (and we thought that day would never end). For environmental reasons, Debra and I wanted to make it possible for our customers to avoid shopping trips. As a result, we offered a full range of basic grocery items including organic produce, fresh breads, dairy products, bulk staples, and even household cleaning products. We also wanted to reduce paper consumption, so in June of 1998, we launched the first on-line grocery shopping site in British Columbia. Debra left shortly thereafter to complete a Master's degree and I continued on as President. The company grew rapidly and we added more items to our catalogue and improved our web-site. We also expanded our social mission by hiring special needs staff, minimizing waste, supporting dozens of local groups with food donations, and launching pollution-free bicycle deliveries in selected areas.

Growth and consolidation

In 2000, three small organic home delivery firms decided to discontinue operations and transferred their customers to SPUD. These included Cascadia Organics, Evergreen Organics, and Organic Heaven. With the addition of these customers, SPUD was now serving over 2000 customers. Even bigger growth came in 2001 when Organics to You, owned by Andrew Capeau, merged with SPUD. Because Organics to You was similar in size to SPUD, it was necessary for both firms to move to a larger warehouse. At that time, SPUD also launched a brand new website with many new features. In 2002 SPUD continued its rapid growth by merging with Urban Organics and Organic Planet. We also added more products, bringing our product selection to over 800 items. Following these mergers, SPUD grew to over 3500 customers and had become the largest organic food delivery company in Canada (although still very much small potatoes in comparison with mainstream grocery store chains). Happily, the company also became one of the very few profitable grocery delivery companies, proving that a strong social and environmental ethic is good for business.

Multiple locations

In January 2003, SPUD expanded its service area to Greater Victoria by mergi ng with Fresh Piks Organics, the leading organic grocery home delivery firm on Vancouver Island. While the merged firm is called SPUD, Victoria customers continue to be served by Fresh Piks staff operating from the Fresh Piks warehouse. Congruent with its "buy local" philosophy, SPUD buys products from many Vancouver Island wholesome food suppliers and organic farms. In April 2003, SPUD expanded its service area on Vancouver Island to include all areas between Sooke and Qualicum.

SPUD now serves over 5000 customers and we continue to improve the service.

We recently added more products, bringing our product total to 1300 and 650 in Vancouver and Victoria, respectively. We are also completing another major redesign of our website, which will be faster, easier to use, and have more features than ever before.

Having successfully operated two locations, SPUD has just expanded to its third city, Seattle. U.S. customers order from our US website, spud.com. Very soon we will also begin deliveries in Calgary.

While SPUD has been a very challenging business to run at times, I cannot think of any other work I would rather do. We have a great team of talented and dedicated staff who truly believe that we can change the world, one grocery order at a time. What more could one ask for?

David Van Seters,
President and CEO