{"id":38837,"date":"2023-10-20T14:59:15","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/country-boy-takes-on-supermarkets-with-new-startup-weve-modelled-the-business-on-airbnb-and-uber-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:59:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:59:15","slug":"country-boy-takes-on-supermarkets-with-new-startup-weve-modelled-the-business-on-airbnb-and-uber-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/country-boy-takes-on-supermarkets-with-new-startup-weve-modelled-the-business-on-airbnb-and-uber-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Country boy takes on supermarkets with new startup: “We\u2019ve modelled the business on AirBnB and Uber” – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new Aussie startup is hoping to cut out the middleman and deliver fresh produce straight from the farm to shoppers\u2019 doors.<\/p>\n

Aussie Food To You has been launched by entrepreneur and business consultant Peter Askew as a response to growing demand, nationally and internationally, for fresh Australian produce.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy current business is involved in a lot of projects in Asia, and we saw a major attraction to Australian produce, so we\u2019re highlighting this opportunity,\u201d Askew told SmartCompany.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aussie Food To You allows Australian shoppers to purchase premium fresh meat directly from farmers, which is then shipped to their doors.<\/p>\n

The business is hoping to promote \u201csocially responsible grocery shopping\u201d.<\/p>\n

Askew runs business consultancy Beyond Business Connections, which is funding the new startup.<\/p>\n

He has worked at the helm of Beyond Business Connections for 25 years and is hoping to switch up the Australian produce market with the launch of Aussie Food To You.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no supply chain in the Australian market that has the ability to generate the profit and aggregation that needs to happen,\u201d Askew says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is too much of a bias towards large retailers, and the large players aren\u2019t geared towards profits for rural markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re known for taking on very ambitious projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

An opportunity to help<\/h3>\n

Askew is a self-confessed country boy, growing up in the north-east Victorian town of Benalla.<\/p>\n

He left to begin a computer networking and telecommunications business in Wagga Wagga, which was later sold to a large multinational.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I learnt about living in the country is when you have the opportunity to help out the rural community, you do,\u201d Askew says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI now have the time and then energy to help, so that\u2019s been the main motivator for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crowdfunding for interest<\/h3>\n

The project launched last Wednesday, along with a crowdfunding campaign.<\/p>\n

Unlike most startups, Askew isn\u2019t using crowdfunding to help fund the project, but as a way to gauge interest and guarantee purchases after the launch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re essentially using the campaign to test the business model and gauge enthusiasm. Everyone is telling us how much they want to support Aussie farmers, so this is their way to show us they mean to do that,\u201d Askew says.<\/p>\n

Along with the campaign\u2019s launch, the startup hosted a barbeque lunch on the grounds of Parliament House in Canberra, attracting the likes of Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, and One Nation senator Pauline Hanson.<\/p>\n

Askew has gotten a few different farmers signed up to the program but is being careful with seeking further partners, wanting to ensure the demand exists before the supply.<\/p>\n

First they come, and then you build it<\/h3>\n

Askew says he is determined to avoid a \u201cbuild it and they will come\u201d model often employed in modern day startups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be more innovative than that. Too many companies spend a lot of time and effort on what they have being the next best thing, only to find people won\u2019t buy it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to start with the demand first, so we can prove to farmers that people will support it. We already have a few farmer partners to fulfil the pledges on the crowdfunding campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the moment, Aussie Food To You will offer meat products but Askew aims to grow the business into other produce.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment we\u2019re staying just as a premium meat provider, I think there are more significant opportunities selling meat internationally,\u201d Askew says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe desire to buy meat out of China, Korea, and Japan is high, we know there is a lot of demand in those markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s delicatessen<\/h3>\n

Aussie Food To You has aims to be the delicatessen for Australian and Asian markets, veering away from the \u201clow-quality high volume\u201d markets.<\/p>\n

As such, Askew only wants the higher-grade meat from his suppliers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re telling our farmers to keep sending their basic cuts of meat to supermarkets, but we want them to save their premium cuts for us,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve modelled the business on AirBnB and Uber, companies who have successfully changed entire industries.<\/p>\n

“Our goal is to make sure our farmers get a very significant amount of value from the produce they produce.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately a large number of farmers have no choice but to supply major retailers, so our goal is to give them an alternative market for premium product. We\u2019re going to change the whole supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on Smart Company<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new Aussie startup is hoping to cut out the middleman and deliver fresh produce straight from the farm to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38837"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}