“Whilst consulting for a major grocery retail and wholesale group in South East Asia, I spent time travelling throughout Thailand and Vietnam, sourcing passion fruit and avocado suppliers.

I met some incredibly passionate farmers.  Their orchards were pristine, however it was really difficult to find those that could offer assurance around chemical use and good practice.  It’s not that they didn’t want to.  It was just that they didn’t know how to go about it.

This was really holding them back as, despite their passion for growing great produce, it restricted access to the higher end of the market, which had a direct knock on effect on their income, with many living in poverty, despite global prices being very high.  It’s where the idea for In Bloom Fresh came from.

Clearly, with the right help, there could be an abundance of quality assured produce.  There were already some great consultancies, providing assurance schemes and training, but access was always limited by sponsorship and funding.  I decided that, in order to have a sustainable supply chain, we first need to help fund more farmers through assurance programmes like Local and Global G.A.P.

Investments of this nature have a multi-benefit result: 

• Improved methods of farming increase yields and create higher quality produce;
• Higher quality produces gains a better better price, especially when qualifying for G.A.P. assured export market;
• This improves livelihoods at the most basic level; whilst
• Being better for the environment; and
• Creating a sustainable supply chain for our worldwide sourcing partners”