SPUD (Small Potatoes Urban Delivery)

Why Seattle can use another home delivery service

How much fun have you had with organics lately? Exactly, everyone takes this issue very seriously. But there’s a place for levity here as well and SPUD (www.spud.com) has found a nice balance. What exactly is SPUD? It’s an internet delivery service that allows you to order, in a very individual way, your organic and natural groceries. They are delivered directly to your home (or wherever you choose). The best part is that they manage to do this at no more cost than you would pay at a grocery store.

Melissa and Henri: levity at the warehouse

SPUD started in Vancouver, Canada in 1998. Founder and CEO David Van Seters was looking for a way to give farmers a fairer share of the food dollar and to make customers more aware of where their food really comes from. "I saw how much power in the food business is controlled at the distributor and retail levels and I wanted to change that," says Van Seters. "I also wanted to be involved in a business that benefits the environment and supports the local economy." He managed to not only stay in business but merged with other organic food delivery firms over the next few years to become the largest organic delivery firm in Canada, serving over 5,000 customers. Not only that, SPUD is profitable!

Although they have expanded to Vancouver Island, Calgary and now Seattle, they have not lost their local focus. Each area has its own warehouse and local products are used, so you won’t necessarily see the same products in each warehouse. September 13, 2005, saw the first deliveries in Seattle. Henri Parren, general manager in Seattle, has lived here for the past 13 years and worked for Kozmo Delivery and Home Grocer. He explains that the local philosophy applies to not only the food products, but also the office. "We’re not a Canadian extension. We’ve hired all local people for the Seattle operation."

Where does the fun come in? "We’re not preachy," explains Henri. "We enjoy what we do and think people should enjoy good, healthy food, but you won’t find us on a soapbox. Our newsletters are fun and not just there to make a point." They’re also adding fun food items like organic donuts from Mighty O in Ballard—organic isn’t just sprouts anymore! The site also includes recipes and products that are kosher, vegan and vegetarian.

For a number of reasons, the time seems ripe for spud.com. First, it’s a timesaver and who doesn’t need that? Second, it’s reasonably priced. Third, more and more people are focused on eating in a healthier manner as well as one that is more natural and friendlier to the earth. Fourth, there’s a lot more interest in eating locally. People like to know where their food comes from and it’s satisfying to know that your dollars are circulating in the local community and supporting local farmers.

Timesavings come in several forms. The obvious one is not having to go to the store. The average American spends 90 minutes shopping each week, while the average SPUD customer can order in about nine minutes. This is because ordering and delivery are based on a four-week cycle. You choose how you want to order:

• Simply order the weekly harvest box. The box can be customized for each customer based on their preferences. The system checks the customer’s produce list setting. The setting allows five choices for each fruit and vegetable ranging from "always" (when available) to "never."
• You can choose each item individually, order on value or variety.
• You can choose which week items should be delivered, i.e., coffee and milk on weeks one and three, eggs on week two and a weekly harvest box.
• There are weekly specials to choose from—they may be new items on the list, something in season or something from a vendor being spotlighted.

With over 600 items to choose from, you can have what you want when you want it. What if something changes—surprise guests next week! You’ll see a clock on your account that tells you your order cutoff time. Up until that time, you simply add to or change your order online. Once the cutoff time is reached, the order is processed and delivery set in motion.

Henri and the SPUD truck

Cost control, in part, comes from offering seasonal products and not trying to have every item available all year. As Henri explains, "There is a seasonality. In winter, it’s too expensive to offer strawberries. You have to go too far away to get them and they don’t have full flavor, so we don’t carry them. We want to offer an old-fashioned product—items grown naturally and not forced—with vitamins and flavor." In addition, the overhead on a warehouse is far less than numerous grocery stores with a large staff. They control fuel costs by delivering efficiently (in Canada, some deliveries are made by bicycle) and encouraging customers to order consistently and with thought (i.e., orders over $35 are delivered for free; under $35 there’s a $3.50 charge so people won’t order a single head of broccoli; and setting up a standard order gets a customer a five percent discount).

Because people are interested in where their products come from, the SPUD website shares lots of information. If you want to order apples, you will get a list of all the apple varieties available. You can click on an item and learn about the farm and farmer. Your invoice tells you how many miles each product traveled to reach you.

The professional staff of SPUD haggles over every item and won’t take anything but the freshest and best local produce. Buyers and packers often have a farming background. They know when something is at its peak or has peaked. They don’t want to deliver something to you that’s only going to last two days. As packer Melissa Baggett says, "You don’t have ideal storage in a home—the temperature and light are not perfect. If we give you something that only has two days left in an ideal situation, how long will it last in your home?"

Customer feedback says the produce is exceptional. Besides SPUD buyers taking only the best, the produce is handled minimally. It’s handled at the farm and when packed off to you. In a grocery situation, the produce is handled multiple times every day for presentation purposes, it’s under bright lights and left at room temperature. At SPUD, once produce is halfway though its life cycle, it’s pulled and given to charity. The charities vary—SPUD likes to rotate between a number of groups like Union Gospel Mission, Northwest Harvest, the House Rabbit Society, etc.

CEO David Van Seters and his Smart Car

SPUD is a for-profit business with the heart of a nonprofit. Not only are they earth-friendly food-wise, but also fuel efficient (David has a Smart Car that gets over 75 mpg). Their Seattle office is furnished with free furniture. Yes, it looks like it, but it means that their money goes where it’s most important—to the local producers and local nonprofits. They never put SPUD labels on the products they sell. They want the focus to be on the producer. In the future, they’ll be holding educational classes at their office about the benefits of farming and eating organically and other related issues.

And in the future? Van Seters is now looking at other cities for expansion. "The failure of the conventional grocery delivery firms has created an opportunity for us to expand to new areas and encourage consumers to associate home delivery with a much more healthy, local, environmentally-friendly way to shop," reports Van Seters. "Our goal is nothing less than to change the world, one grocery order at a time."

But SPUD has no immediate plans to launch in a new city. For now, current customers come first. You’ll probably see SPUD at events around town as they settle into the Seattle market. Their biggest challenge in any new city is creating awareness and getting people to get on the website and see how fun and easy it is to use. "There’s always a resistance to something new," explains Henri. "We just want people to try it once. They’ll see it is fun and different, better and fresher."

Connie Adams/February 2006

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