The genesis for our on-farm organic supermarket came from a lifelong love of growing and enjoying great food with friends and family. Our desire to share the real story about food has always been the driving force that underpins our business ethics. We believe that people deserve to know the granular story about the food that they eat and our goal is to make that story available by immersing people in a food experience of growing, eating and learning.
Over many years of growing food, the ability to cultivate a larger canvas with the Synchronicity Farm market gardens, led us to develop a surplus of beautiful food we had grown.
Looking for channels to market, we spent almost three years selling our food at the Harbourside Markets which was a fantastic opportunity to develop connections with customers in a public environment. The stall we ran was one of the largest and most successful fresh food enterprises in the market because of the quality, taste, freshness and service that Synchronicity Farm consistently provided.
Our early customers will remember the days where we challenged the Price-Value equation and simply displayed signs like ‘You Set The Price’ and ‘Our Destiny In Your Hands’ where we let our customers decide what they should pay for the food they selected. The results were fascinating and we learned a lot about what customers truly value when it comes to fresh food.
Following our market trials, we also opened a pop up fruit and vegetable enterprise outside the Local General Store in Nana Glen on Saturdays. This too proved to be very successful and for 12 months we consistently offered the local community a channel to buy and sell local produce. The range we provided was comprehensive and with a large portable cool room, we kept produce in perfect condition and insisted on only selling first class food.
In running these market stalls off the farm, one of the things we found was that it was challenging to direct the workers on our farm, manage time with a young family and develop other on-farm projects it we were effectively away from the farm every weekend. Something had to change.
It was in 2014 that Synchronicity Farm decided to focus on the development of our own Farm Gate – Organic Raw Foods Supermarket. Our confidence to evolve this idea further was bolstered by the number of customers coming and seeking us out, visiting the farm and wanting to source wholesome organic food direct from the farmers.
As part of the early development, Synchronicity Farm ran a crowdfunding campaign which saw 54 local supporters pledge $7,000 to help fund the initial slab and electrical work for the development.
The reason those early adopters supported us was because they share our vision to build a food hub where genuine connections between growers and customers can be formed.
Our supermarket will only stock the very best organic fresh food grown at Synchronicity Farm and from local growers selected for their exceptional produce, use of organic and biodynamic farming practices and for their own desire to ensure that their produce is sold to locals rather than going outside their own community. We will also sell a diverse range of value added products that will be produced in our commercial kitchens and wood fired oven including breads, fermented foods, cakes and sweets, dried foods, teas, seasoned oils and complete gourmet take home meals. Our herb and plant nursery will also offer strong seedlings and plants.
We are now working with our Architect to evolve and update our designs, layout and applications for this enterprise, incorporating the best ideas for functional rustic design.
We are also actively developing our contact network of farmers who can consistently supply produce for sale under various arrangements structured to suit the farmer relationship.