In the washup

Each week at Fair Food, Steph Farren, Fair Food’s customer service manager, updates the data in The Washups spreadsheet.

The Washups report the number of orders that were successfully delivered (almost all) as well as the number of orders where something wasn’t right (always a few). 

The Washups are shared around the various teams at the Fair Food warehouse and help us focus on the areas we need to work on. 

Also in The Washups is a tab called Positive Feedback which records the lovely customer emails and messages like the one on the cardboard box insert above.

I copied out a few that made me feel proud of our farmers and makers and the crew who come to work at Fair Food each week… 

Hi Steph, just wanted to say thanks again for the extra care in Mum’s delivery today. She really appreciated the distancing and reassurance from the driver, and says that the handwritten card is lovely and beautifully written too. 

“Hello, I had a Fair food delivery on Saturday and I was extremely grateful to have received the freshest and most generous bunch of Cavolo Nero  – it was like it had just been picked from the garden.  I just wanted to say thank you to all who made that happen.

“Hi team, We miss you guys SO much! We’ve moved 5 hours away, so this box I had delivered to my sister’s to bring up to me tomorrow as she is visiting.
I am beyond excited. Hope you’re all well!
PS. Maybe we can expand CERES to the Limestone Coast 😉 

I am very sad that this week I do not need an order. I so love getting your boxes. Currently I am in love with purple broccolini and Tuscan kale. They are so super fresh they arrive in the beautiful bunches. 

Hi Chris, I always love your emails. They make me stop and think and feel. Thank you! You didn’t mention two other special trees you might also pass on your ride. They’re on Leinster Grove near Ballantyne St and they’re under threat – Save Darebins Significant Trees! – Online petition. Walking past these trees grounds me.  

Thanks so much. You rock!!! (in response to minimum basket reduction)
“Awesome news!! 

“Opening our FF box is a highlight of my week, and I regularly make several dishes from the fantastically curated FF recipe collection. Also pass on to your drivers thanks, they are all so nice!  

I’m so excited to discover your service! Thank you for existing!

There are other emails and messages that come in everyday of course – part of packing and delivering people’s groceries is fixing the things that inevitably go wrong – crops don’t always arrive, produce isn’t always perfect, packers and drivers make mistakes. 

Working in an online grocery can be quite disconnected – but one of the few times we make actual human-to-human contact is when something goes wrong – which often turns into an opportunity to make things right and get to know each other a little bit.

So if you get your Fair Food order and something’s not quite right, email or call Steph or Aisha and meet some of the special humans behind your box. We’re part of a cycle, endlessly repeating yet endlessly changing and reassures us that there’s always another tomato season next year.

Citrus conundrum

Every Spring when our citrus trees begin dropping fruit I get busy leaving bags of lemons and limes on my neighbours’ front doorsteps. 

But even with their help I wake up the next morning to yet more fruit on the ground.

Citrus season is a blessing but also a conundrum – how do we honour this abundant lemony generosity and make sure it doesn’t rot on the ground or end up in landfill?

There is a way.

If you have too many lemons or limes for your neighbours, friends, family, workmates or local produce swap – drop them at the Fair Food warehouse (20 Water Rd, Preston) or CERES Grocery in Brunswick East and we’ll give them away to your fellow Fair Food customers.

Have a great week

Chris

If you’re coming bearing lemons email us info@ceresfairfood.org.au to let us know you’re coming and we’ll make sure we’re around 🙂