As people stay at home for their health and safety, delivery has become the most convenient way people can shop for essential goods. For many farmers and food hubs, incorporating a home delivery service has been key to not just surviving the pandemic but thriving during these challenging times. Delivery orders through the LFM platform have exploded in 2020 – increasing 145% (and counting) over 2019.
As our customers scaled up their home delivery services to meet the demand of their customers, we evaluated several route optimization solutions to integrate with LFM solution. Our decision was easy – as Routific had been a trusted solution for nearly a dozen LFM customers already and we found the solution and their team ticked all the boxes – scalable, robust, and accurate.
To date, nearly 50 LFM customers, including Delivered Fresh have paired Routific with LFM to streamline their deliveries and customer communication. We interviewed David Nowacoski, co-founder of Delivered Fresh, to learn more.
Case Study: How Delivered Fresh Uses LFM & Routific
David and Marla Nowacoski have a small diversified farm in Pennsylvania and are the founders of Delivered Fresh, an online foodhub that aggregates products from 57 local farmers and delivers to hundreds of homes every week.
Delivered Fresh offers more than 500 products, ranging from milk, bread, eggs, meats, and vegetables. They’re also selling personal health products like soap, sanitizer, and masks.
“We had significant growth as soon as the pandemic began. We were up 500% literally overnight. We are closing in on a million dollars of revenue for local farms that might have otherwise been spent in big box grocery stores,” David said.
“Our customers needed a safe and convenient way to receive their groceries, and they wanted to invest in our local food system. It was incredibly motivating to help small farms distribute their products.”
Delivered Fresh carries out its home deliveries on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday every week. Tuesday is when David typically starts his route planning.
“I honestly do not think we could be in business without both platforms. They are literally the backbone of our shop,” David said.
“LFM provides me with an attractive storefront and back office reports that are absolutely critical for my business to perform,” he explained. Specifically, David said the ability to see sales by products and sales by each individual farm allows him to isolate how a particular vendor has impacted his business. “And then Routific makes sure that I’m able to get all my produce delivered to where it needs to go, on time and when a customer expects it to arrive.”
When it came to managing his delivery logistics, David said he tried a number of different route optimization systems before choosing Routific.
“The one thing that stood out when I tried Routific was just how intuitive it was. With the other platforms, I needed someone to help guide me to set it all up. With Routific, I started my free trial and literally in less than an hour, I had my routes,” he said.
“It’s not efficient for me to give my drivers a list and just say ‘go.’ We’re trying to get to 30 to 50 stops a day, in a rural area; they’re on the road for a full 8 hours a day. It has to be optimized. The drivers need to know where to go and the most efficient routes to get there.”
Together, LFM and Routific are helping thousands of farms and food hubs find new business opportunities with the use of technology. Operating an efficient home delivery service is critical for farmers and food hubs like Delivered Fresh now and into the foreseeable future.
Introducing Routific
Here at LFM, we’re experts at helping you plan, sell, and distribute local food. We understand managing the logistics of a home delivery service can be complex, so we partnered with Routific – a delivery management platform built especially for farmers, food hubs, and farmers markets.
The team at Routific believes passionately about helping small businesses reduce waste by shaving off as much as 40% on mileage and cutting down carbon emissions.
“In 2019 alone, our routing technology helped hundreds of local delivery businesses around the world offset more than 11,000 tonnes of carbon emissions– that’s the equivalent of planting more than 500,000 trees,” said Marc Kuo, founder and CEO of Routific.
“It’s incredibly important to us that our technology is making a positive impact, and that’s part of the reason why we love working with farmers and food hubs who are so aligned with our mission of sustainability and protecting our planet’s resources.”
Read more:
How delivery businesses are helping to save the environment
6 ways your delivery service can lower its carbon footprint
How Routific works
Routific makes managing local delivery routes effortless and profitable. The platform helps you perform three key stages when executing home deliveries:
- Plan and optimize delivery routes
- See a bird’s eye view of your day’s routes, and make last-minute changes with an intuitive, drag-n-drop interface.
- Dispatch delivery routes to drivers
- Drivers can access routes, turn-by-turn directions, and delivery notes on an easy-to-use mobile app. They can even take photos as proof of delivery, which is especially important in our contactless world.
- Communicate with customers
- Send automated text messages or emails to customers letting them know when they can expect their delivery.
Want to learn more about how Routific works with Local Food Marketplace? Register for a webinar or get in touch.👇
Contact Local Food Marketplace: info@localfoodmarketplace.com
Contact Routific: info@routific.com
