Local food from Carmarthen is the premise of Carmarthen Food who update Welsh Country as to their progress.
Carmarthen Food started life as part of the Food Assembly Network on 31 March 2017 with under 100 products from seven local producers, this operated as a once weekly online farmer’s market with a single collection point for customers to collect their order. By the first anniversary this had risen to 24 producers and around 700 products to choose from demonstrating that there was a demand for local food from Carmarthen and surrounding areas in the format that it was offered.
The Food Assembly was a French based company and in June 2018 announced that they would be withdrawing from the UK in September 2018. As the Carmarthen Food Assembly had shown that it was viable and there was a demand for the service, the organisers and several of the producers joined forces to launch independently and thus Carmarthen Food was born on 13 September 2018 using the same format to keep the demand for local food from Carmarthen.
Over the next eighteen months we maintained the levels of trading as before and were discussing the possibility of a delivery service when our hand was forced with the first COVID-19 lockdown. Within a month of the lockdown orders had increased five-fold and we had to operate a delivery service as many customers were shielding, this was largely volunteer led.
One year on and we now have five collection points across Carmarthenshire and south Ceredigion, an employed delivery driver, offer over 1200 products from 58 producers and operate as a community interest company – AMATHAON CIC. We have collection points in Carmarthen, St Clears, Llandeilo, Cenarth and Cardigan and deliver across the whole of Carmarthenshire, south Ceredigion and the county border areas.
Carmarthen Food’s aim is, and always has been, the support of our small local producers and the local economy, indeed local food from Carmarthen and surrounding areas. Well over 80% (86% last year) of the product price is returned directly to the producer with a further 10% of local spending in the running of the company.
Website: carmarthenfood.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/carmarthenfood/
