Business on natural products. Eco-business in Russian: how to earn millions from the desire to eat right. Video about creating a farm products store

When you eat fresh vegetables , not to mention imported ones, available all year round, you think that something is wrong with them, something is missing. Older people remember the “real” taste of vegetables and fruits, that was the TASTE, not like it is now...

Believe me, the vast majority thinks so. Well, now the most important thing: how to make money from all this?

Stand upside down in the garden, and then sell the grown products at the market? No, this is not a business! You say.

In general, a business can be developed in several directions; we will consider two of them.

First way.

Organize the supply of vegetables and fruits directly from the village; naturally, the village should be located not far from the City, so that it would be possible to bring fresh products every day.

To open your own business you need trade area. Because we create completely new business, modern, then we will sell not in the market but in a modern supermarket, equipped with the latest technology. Well, of course you can be more modest... it all depends on initial capital.

That is, the first type of business is a specialized fruit and vegetable store, the main difference from others is fresh and natural products every day.

How much can you earn? The earnings will be decent and the business will pay off in a couple of months to a year.

You need to understand that there is no need to chase the number of sales, thinking at the same time: the more I sell, the more profit I will make...

You will supply food from nearby villages, and there is a village there, not a vegetable warehouse!

You can grow ten times more vegetables than they currently grow there (in the village), you just need a couple of tons of biological additives and other chemicals, but then your store will be no different from thousands of others, and this is already a failure of business.

Therefore, less is better, but better quality. It is better to increase the price of products than to sell stuffed products. Another option is to supply food from different villages. And remember the motto of your company - Product quality is above all. Although it sounds banal, but still :)

Second way.

We looked at one option for a healthy food business, but the business doesn’t end there. I like the second version of the idea better, since it requires lower costs and has little competition, which is very attractive these days.

The principle is the same as in the first case: an agreement is concluded with farms or individuals living in villages to grow organic vegetables and fruits. But then there’s something interesting: we’re not opening a store, but we’re opening... an office, and yes, an office. Which office can you tell us?

And here everything is tricky...

The essence of the business is the exclusive supply of fresh products to individuals, that is, rich Pinocchio :)

There are quite a lot of rich people and people with average incomes in our country. Most of them care about their health and the health of their loved ones, buy filtered water, all kinds of air purifiers and other nonsense, forgetting about what they eat.

Well, actually, I think the idea is clear: we open a company, conclude contracts, rent a warehouse, hire staff, including couriers (and did you think the products will be delivered directly to your home), advertise, etc.

To summarize, I can say that both types of business can be very popular and profitable if approached wisely. So those who don’t know what to do, go ahead, there is little competition - the business is profitable, at relatively low costs.

Regarding point 2, I can say that this exists only in a few large cities in Russia. In the West, this business has been thriving for several years.

The fashion for everything natural appeared relatively recently - in the last 7-8 years. In the wake of popularity, dozens of stores with eco-products opened. The site's observer reviewed several examples of doing eco-business in Russia.

Season market

In April 2013, Sergey Melnik and his partner opened an online store farm products Season Market. The businessman invested 3 million rubles in launching the project, and already in the first year the revenue amounted to 8 million. The main idea was to become an intermediary between Russian farmers and consumers in Moscow and the Moscow region.

“A year ago we planned to increase sales by three to four times by the fall of 2015, but in fact we increased it by six to seven. By the end of this year, we predict revenue of 60-70 million rubles,” Melnik said in September 2015.

The service for the delivery of farm products existed before the Season Market, so in order to stand out, the creators added an additional service to the project - all goods received from farmers are sorted, cut, packed, packaged distribution center. Thus, the client receives not only a natural product, but also a processed one.

In 2013, the average bill was less than 3,000 rubles; two years later it reached 4,000 rubles. According to Melnyk, farmers regularly approach them with offers of cooperation. If the decision is positive, the products of potential suppliers are sent for examination to Rospotrebnadzor. After which a decision is made to sign the contract.

In 2014, the Season Market company won the joint competition between Kommersant and VTB24 “Niche for a Billion” - the startup received a special prize from the bank for the best business model. In December 2015, the Season Market brand went offline and opened its first store in Moscow.

"Dairy culture"

In 2006, businessman Andrei Ionov acquired dairy farming V Leningrad region. It took the entrepreneur eight years to start producing milk, kefir, yogurt and fermented baked milk. In 2011, about 700 million rubles were invested in the construction of the plant. At the same time, technologists began developing the recipe, and the invited agency Depot WPF began developing the brand concept and packaging design.

In 2014, half-liter cups with a spout appeared on store shelves. “This shape reinforced the idea that these are products for demanding, but busy with business townspeople,” said Andrei Ionov, outlining target audience product. In addition, on the lids of the cups you can find various information about the product: production time, the name of the foreman, or, for example, the weather during milking. In the same year, “Dairy Culture” appeared in 14 Russian cities.

At first, the brand was promoted only through social media. In 2015, advertising for “Dairy Culture” appeared in the publications of famous bloggers Ilya Varlamov and Anton Nosik. Interviews with businessman Andrei Ionov were published in Forbes and Snob magazines (the entrepreneur was interviewed by Ksenia Sobchak).

In 2015, the company’s revenue amounted to 250 million rubles, and Dairy Culture was included in the ranking of the most successful Russian brands Forbes - new consumer products.

Ecofarm "Konovalovo"

In the fall of 2009, entrepreneur and former business partner of Vladimir Dovgan, Alexander Konovalov, invested 32 million rubles in a family business - opening an eco-farm (the project paid off after five and a half years). For the first six months, the new business required additional investments, then it reached self-sufficiency. In 2011, Konovalovo’s revenue amounted to one million rubles per month.

According to the entrepreneur, interest in the product appeared immediately, but the businessman makes money not only on goods from the farm. Konovalov receives about 30% of his profit from ecotourism. On the territory of the farm there is a small hotel, where guests can interact with animals, go fishing, take a steam bath, and experience village life.

The first clients of the eco-farm were residents of cottage villages between New Riga and Rublevskoye Shosse. From the very beginning, Konovalov relied on the family business; he involved his daughters in the business, who began to work on the website and processing orders on the Internet, and his sons-in-law, who delivered groceries. Despite the growing demand, the entrepreneur did not expand the farm.

In 2011, he created the Ecocluster association of organic food producers.

Under one brand, Konovalov gathered partners producing goods according to uniform standards. It included both small Russian farms and producers of olive oil from Greece or household chemicals from Belgium. Partners pay monthly fees. In 2014, Ecocluster’s turnover amounted to 60 million rubles.

By 2014, the businessman opened three retail fresh markets, in which he presented the products of all Ecocluster partners. The amount of investment in the stores amounted to nine million rubles - three million for each outlet.

In 2015, the average bill in the store was 2,500 rubles. Konovalov describes his target audience as follows: “These are people from 25 to 55 years old who live in prestigious places in Moscow or suburban cottage villages, have children, are quite active and healthy image life and who care about protection environment. That is, a person is ready to spend 24-28 thousand rubles per month.”

"Izbenka" and "VkusVill"

In 2009, businessman Andrei Krivenko starting capital with one million rubles, he opened the first Izbenka outlet in Moscow at the Trinity Market. The main idea of the entrepreneur was to promote environmentally friendly dairy products with minimal shelf life.

Having concluded an agreement with the supplier, the businessman opened the first store, which cost 50 thousand rubles, the assortment consisted of six items. Over the course of a year, the Izbenka network grew to fifteen points. Now there are about three hundred of them and the entrepreneur remains faithful to the principle of not buying premises, but renting them.

In 2011, Izbenka’s turnover amounted to about $20 million. Krivenko continued to open natural food stores, only now under the VkusVill brand. “We saw that there is a stable, growing demand for products without additives and preservatives,” he said. “Therefore, we decided to expand the range by adding chilled meat, sausage, eggs, vegetables and fruits.”

In contrast to the “Izbenki” points, the area of the premises is 10−15 square meters, VkusVill stores are premises with an area of 100-120 square meters. According to the businessman, 150-200 thousand rubles are spent on opening one Izbenka outlet, and about 4 million rubles on opening one VkusVill store. On average, a customer visits a chain store three times a week, and his receipt is about 500 rubles.

Krivenko explains his success by the unoccupied niche - “for the target audience, which, according to various estimates, is about 10% of the population, in Moscow there are several Internet projects, such as LavkaLavka and Ecofood, with fairly high prices.” In 2015, the revenue of Krivenko networks exceeded 12 billion rubles.

LavkaLavka

If Izbenka and VkusVill position themselves as natural food stores with average prices, then LavkaLavka is a store premium segment eco-products.

In 2009, journalist Boris Akimov, together with his partners, launched an online resource for village food, LavkaLavka, which was the first to offer residents of megacities to purchase farm products first-hand.

Any farmer could register on the site, but before his goods appeared on the site, project participants carried out a thorough inspection and certification of the farm. The main idea was to bring together honest farmers and consumers willing to pay for healthy food. The buyer received all the information not only about the product, but also about the supplier, right down to photographs of the farm where the product was grown.

In the first year, the project’s turnover amounted to 900 thousand rubles. In 2013, the brand brought Akimov and his partners 10 million rubles a month. Akimov described his target audience this way: “It definitely includes restaurant visitors. The main audience (more than 80%) are mothers with children. Another part of the buyers are those who want to eat quality food or “like in childhood.” Among them are grandmothers. They buy from us and famous people“But we don’t advertise their names.”

In 2011, signature Russian cuisine restaurants LavkaLavka, using natural products, opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

In 2014, the LavkaLavka brand brought revenue to its owners in the amount of 250 million rubles.

A special feature of the LavkaLavka project was the refusal of the brand owners to take loans for business development. When entrepreneurs realized that they were ready to go offline, they began to raise money to open a store among farmers and buyers. Crowdinvesting is a method of raising funds, in which, in the case of LavkaLavka, an LLC is created, the controlling stake belongs to Lavka, 49% belongs to private individuals - investors of the project.

Boris Akimov announced a collection of 5 million rubles for the opening of a store on Chayanov Street. Farmers invested 2 million, and buyers gave another 2.5 million rubles. Farmers supplied food on credit, and buyers deposited money in a special account and made purchases with a 20% discount.

In 2015, the LavkaLavka brand had about 5 thousand regular customers every month. Average check was 5 thousand rubles in an online store, 1.5 thousand in a regular store, and 1.8 thousand in a restaurant.

Interest in environmentally friendly products is growing year by year, and although their prices are by no means low, more and more people want to buy healthy food. Interest in such products can be observed at specialized exhibitions and food fairs, where they are sold out in a matter of hours.

Profits from selling organic food can be high if your clients include many wealthy buyers. For a business to flourish, an extensive network of manufacturers and suppliers of such products should be created. The investment costs for opening a store will not be particularly large.

Setting up and promoting a health food store is not easy. The company must have a stable network of manufacturers, and establishing it takes some time. Profit depends on the location of the store, so try to open it in an attractive location, for example, in the central part of the city.

Healthy foods (without additives or preservatives), such as meat, bread, vegetables, honey, cereals, vegetable oil, dairy products typically cost 50 and even 100 percent more than mass-produced food products.

Selling organic food is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. Your main suppliers will be local farmers who are ready to supply their products for sale in your store.

Further increase in the popularity of the new business depends on public awareness of the importance of good and healthy nutrition and can be a very powerful impetus for the development of organic production, which will result in the expansion of the network of stores selling natural products. People are becoming increasingly aware of how harmful the chemicals contained in food are to their health. food products produced in large factories.

Investment costs

A health food store needs to have the right ambiance and ambiance and the product properly packaged to stimulate as much interest as possible among customers. At the initial stage, to open a store you will need 600 - 800 thousand rubles. However, if you open a grocery store from scratch, as is usually the case, these costs will be much higher. For the normal functioning of the store, you will need at least 60 square meters of total area. The reconstruction and improvement will cost about 800 - 1,000 thousand rubles. If you are going to work in rented premises, then in addition to the rent you will have to pay for electricity, gas and water supply, which will be approximately 20 thousand rubles.

In this business, it is very important that your store fully meets the ever-growing sanitary requirements and fire safety.

To open an organic food store, like any other, you must buy cash machine, the cost of which ranges from 70 to 100 thousand rubles.

Then you need to find a trusted supplier of furniture and equipment for grocery stores and purchase everything necessary for normal operation:

Shelving
Industrial refrigerators
Refrigerated counters

The cost of equipment ranges from 200 to 800 thousand rubles.

Also, to work in a store, you will have to hire at least two employees with a salary of 30 - 40 thousand rubles (40 x 2 = 80 thousand rubles for two employees).

How to make money from an eco-shop?

Although organic products are expensive, the demand for them is constantly growing, especially in large cities with a population of more than 100 thousand inhabitants. At first, there may not be much profit, but gradually the income will grow. This is a promising business.

You can earn from 100 to 600 thousand rubles per month. Creation of a store selling organic products - a good option for people who count on a solid, although not very high, income. The store is created based on regular customers who care about their health and want to buy good, environmentally friendly products.

An entrepreneur who plans to sell such products may also consider selling online. In this case, you can count on quite impressive profits, sometimes even more than from traditional sales.

If you decide to expand your business electronic sales, you, first of all, need to create your website, regularly promote it, be constantly in touch with interested customers, and enter into an agreement with a reliable courier service that will deliver products to customers. Mailing many food products is simply not feasible.

What to sell?

An organic and healthy food store can offer:

Meat products without added preservatives and stabilizers
Organic bread with added wheat germ
Gluten-free products
Jams and preserves without sugar or sweeteners
Fruit and herbal tea
Cereals
Dairy product
Pasta
Vegetable and olive oil
Dried fruits
Muesli
Bran
Dairy
Soy products
Juices, syrups, drinks
Vegetarian products
Cereals
Seeds
Herbs
Natural cosmetic
Natural detergents

It is worth remembering that all products must be free of any chemical additives. The eco-products market, like any other, has its own tastes, fashion and changing popularity of certain products. It is worth keeping this in mind, monitoring the market and responding to its volatility accordingly.

In such stores you can organize stands with various environmentally friendly products, for example, herbs or juices.

Investment costs:

Repair and arrangement of premises - from 800 to 1,000 thousand rubles
Cash register and scales - from 70 to 100 thousand rubles
Purchase of equipment - from 200 to 800 thousand rubles
Employee salary - 80 thousand rubles
Utility bills (monthly) - 20 thousand rubles

Expected earnings:

Income before tax is approximately from 100 to 600 thousand rubles. With optimistic forecasts, the business will pay off within a year and a half.

HACKED BY SudoX – HACK A NICE DAY.

Farm products are usually understood as those products that have natural origin and were obtained in natural conditions: meat, milk, vegetables, berries. The cost of such goods is higher than in regular stores, since products from the village are considered environmentally friendly and healthy.

Is it profitable to open a store with food delivery from the farm to your home?

Demand for farm products is usually concentrated in large cities. Not every resident can afford to spend time searching natural products. Time in megacities is the most valuable resource.

Moreover, many residents are concerned environmental problems and they constantly have to deal with information about the benefits of healthy food. Adding fuel to the fire of demand is the lack of trust in a number of manufacturers and periodic mentions in the media about sanitary inspections.

Against the backdrop of all this negative image, farm products are perceived as the light at the end of the consumer tunnel.

Let's outline the psychological portrait of the target buyer:

Woman over 30 years old
Housewife
Mother of one or more children
Family income is above average
Monitors family health

Let's take note of this description, but let's not elevate it to an absolute. Now it’s worth paying attention to the business that is associated with farm products.

Online store of farm products

The formulation of the idea is simple: “ you deliver farm products to your home" Let's say you have already organized everything and are ready to enter the market.

Have you already calculated how many orders you need to serve in order for your business to generate a certain profit?

According to several owners of such companies, the main share of income is concluded in regular customers, but not for one-time orders.

The more regular customers, the better. Their number should be proportional to the initial investment. The average is 50 people.

You can not just sell natural farm products with home delivery, but create a service with a subscription to this service. For example, fresh milk at home every Monday or a set of vegetables on Wednesdays. Use your imagination and, of course, ask your clients what they want.

Due to the fact that the cost of farm products is higher than the average retail market price similar products, then your customers will be people with above-average income. A regular customers- rich people. Thus, it is necessary to think through the main advertising platforms to ensure high conversion.

Selection of goods and suppliers

Decide on a specific product niche. It all depends on the amount of initial capital. It is extremely unprofitable to trade all groups at first if the initial investment is not too large.

Suppliers can be found in two ways:

Conclude agreements with farms
Enter into partnership agreements with private suppliers

The first method is relevant if you have regular customers, and the second when starting work commercial organization. Why? Yes, because such a model will minimize the risk of being left penniless.

In the partnership agreement for farms you specify the commission that the supplier will receive when selling the product, the volume of products, and the wholesale price per unit.

Private suppliers do not require such serious legal nuances. It is more important for them to find a point of sale, since for many of them this is a chance to make good money with their usual business. You simply set a price for, for example, one liter of cow's milk and start collaborating.

Delivery organization

Wholesale orders for farm products are extremely rare, as your client is a private individual. Therefore, at the initial stage there is no point in spending financial resources on large vehicles.

you can use courier service- ideal for budding entrepreneurs. A partnership agreement is concluded with a transportation company. And when you have an order, you, with the help of the company’s couriers, deliver the goods to customers.

Another option is to organize your delivery service. While the number of orders is small, you can even deliver the goods yourself. Or immediately hire couriers and drivers. Depending on the initial investment, drivers can drive their own cars or yours.

For any business related to home delivery, couriers are the face of the company, so the issue of delivery must be approached responsibly.

Just remember that some farm products, such as eggs, meat or milk, must be transported in the refrigerator. Therefore, you may need refrigerated vans.

Freshness of products

You have already selected a specific product and suppliers. Now you need to familiarize yourself with how to keep food fresh.

Let's not go into technical features, but you just need warehouse space with refrigeration equipment. It is also necessary to make it a rule mark the packaging with the date of manufacture.

An alternative option to avoid storing goods is to deliver products directly from farmers to customers, if you manage to think through the logistics. In addition, the shelf life of farm products is low, since no preservatives are used.

Internet site and advertising

Based on the portrait of the target consumer, it is better to advertise in healthy food restaurants and expensive supermarkets. In addition, no one forbids you to hire several promoters for a day, give them your flyers and send them to a wealthy area of the city.

Depending on the quantity of goods and general organization business processes, you can get by with a simple website or create an entire online store environmentally clean products. Use contextual advertising to find clients.

Video about creating a farm products store

Such a business must be constantly developed, supported and promoted. You shouldn’t immediately chase profit; it’s better to work for quality and regular customers, and then for quantity.

The founder of the “Eat Rustic” company, Ilya Elpanov, failed to become a successful farmer, but raised about 19 million rubles. investments and created a community of rural residents from whom Muscovites buy food worth 8 million rubles monthly.

Following Elon Musk’s Tesla, a weather balloon with a set of village products went into space to “feed the driver of the electric car.” This marketing campaign was invented by the team of Ilya Elpanov, founder of the Eat Village company. “So we showed that among us, rural residents, there are our own Elon Musks, there are many of them,” says the entrepreneur with a serious face.

Residents of Moscow and neighboring villages are not separated by space, but it is not easy to find products from small rural producers in capital markets and stores. Farmers are rarely able to provide the volumes and prices that are required of them retail chains and wholesale centers. 26-year-old Elpanov decided to fix this by creating an online marketplace for farm products.

How it works

Eat Country is not a traditional online store. Prices here are set by suppliers, and the platform adds its own commission of 25-35%. On the page of each product there is a story about the farmer who grows and supplies it, as well as customer reviews. Farmers control demand: in personal account The website indicates how many units of product can be prepared this week. They help promote the product: they take photos and videos for social networks. According to Elpanov, the company sells not only products, but also the story of each farmer. Suppliers are responsible for labeling and delivering products to the company’s distribution center in Dubna, from where Elpanov’s drivers deliver packages throughout Moscow and the region twice a week - on Thursdays and Sundays. When ordering up to 3.5 thousand rubles. delivery costs 249 rubles, from 5 thousand rubles. - for free.

Foxes and schoolchildren

In the summer of 2013, after the third year of the Faculty of Economics of the Moscow Agricultural Academy. Timiryazeva, Ilya Elpanov and classmates went to the Kaluga region. The organizers of the Nikola-Lenivets art park then highlighted land six wishing to engage in agriculture and about 1 million rubles for the purchase of animals and feed. But things didn’t go as smoothly as the enthusiasts expected: Elpanov’s geese were eaten by foxes, and the pigs of his friends and partners ran away into the forest. After waiting for several months and fixing 500 thousand rubles. losses, the students abandoned the idea. Elpanov decided that you need to be born a farmer or spend 10-15 years to become a professional in this field.

Elpanov was a member of the Russian Economic Foundation community, where his mentor was serial entrepreneur Oscar Hartmann. After the first failure, my mentor advised me to try my hand at IT. Together with a friend, Elpanov began to develop an application for preparing schoolchildren for the Unified State Exam in the form of a game, Smart Fox. In 2014, the startup received about $25 thousand in investments from the Internet Initiatives Development Fund, but quickly went bankrupt. Monetization was built on the freemium concept, when the main service is provided for free, and for additional features you need to pay - 1.5 thousand rubles. It turned out that schoolchildren actively use the free functionality, but are not going to pay. When the startups realized this, the money ran out, and the exam preparation season was over.

Then Elpanov decided to work for hire - he got a job at the company Elementaree, which delivers food products by subscription. Over time, he took the position of head of the logistics department. It was here that he realized how to combine agriculture and IT.

Village community

Elpanov came across an idea for a new business in Slovakia, where farmers were selling products through an online store. In April 2015, he moved to the Tver region, to the city of Kimry, began collecting sets of village products from the local market and selling them to family and friends in the capital.

The entrepreneur had 50 thousand rubles to start the business. This money was used to purchase a website template in the Joomla builder, a refrigerator and two thermal boxes for transporting products. At the start he was joined by Dmitry Zavyalov, the husband of Elpanov’s sister. The rest of my friends were perplexed: how can you quit? Good work in the capital and move to the provinces for the sake of an incomprehensible idea?

It quickly became clear that you couldn’t earn much by reselling goods from the market, and the partners began to look for suppliers among farmers - they managed to find several producers of dairy products, poultry, vegetables and herbs. The assortment was limited, so at first “Eat Rustic” sold food sets for 2 thousand and 3 thousand rubles. The partners spent 10 thousand rubles. for advertising on social networks and received eight orders. Their day began at 4 a.m., when they collected packages and personally delivered them to customers. Elpanov decided that the goods should be delivered from the farmer to the buyer’s home within 24 hours, which means that stocks cannot be created and delivery times must be limited - products were delivered once a week, on Sunday.

The first parcels were collected in the kitchen of Elpanov’s mother’s apartment. Over six months, the number of orders increased to 40 per week, and the entrepreneur rented a distribution center closer to the capital - in Dubna (they pay 75 thousand rubles per month for 140 sq. m). Among the main buyers were women 25-35 years old with small children, people who follow proper nutrition, and those to whom village parcels remind of childhood. “The taste of the products is significantly different from what we buy in stores,” one of the customers, Dinara Mikhailova, told RBC.

It soon became clear that the business model with standard parcels was failing. Some customers don't eat certain foods and want to order something else. Therefore, in the spring of 2017, the entrepreneur decided to open a marketplace with a wide range of products (it now brings in 60% of revenue).

It was more difficult to work in this format. One day, one of the dairy suppliers did not make the already ordered strawberry-flavored yogurt. Only 20 bottles were needed, but the farmer did not have time. Elpanov somehow begged him to finish the batch, and then personally came to him at 4 in the morning, spending 2.5 hours on the road. “The cost of these cans was enormous. But still, reputation is at stake,” explains the entrepreneur. Then Elpanov got into a truck and went to deliver parcels around Moscow.

There were difficulties connecting suppliers from the Krasnodar region. For example, an entrepreneur sent a Gazelle to pick up Chinese cabbage, but due to heavy rains they were unable to collect it. The car returned empty, Elpanov lost about 40 thousand rubles. Another time, on the way back, the engine broke down and the refrigerator stopped working—we had to throw away half the batch. Therefore, now the majority of “Eat Rustic” suppliers are from the Tver, Moscow and Kaluga regions.

In his distribution center, the entrepreneur created a quality control system, which specialists from the ABC of Taste helped set up; they were recommended to Elpanov by Vladimir Sadovin, an acquaintance of the entrepreneur and the general director of the ABC of Taste. Now unscrupulous suppliers are fined in the amount of 1 thousand rubles. up to 50% of the batch cost. But because large quantities Despite various suppliers, errors still happen: on average, in 15 orders out of 400. Company representatives personally visit farms: ask for receipts to find out where and when the food was purchased, conduct laboratory tests and tasting commissions.

New farmers

For two and a half years, Elpanov visited 300 farms. The founder of Eat the Village divides suppliers into three types: people who were born in the village and have been involved in agriculture since childhood; entrepreneurs who were tired of the city and decided to make money from farming; and hobbyists who have turned their summer cottage hobby into an additional source of income. According to the “Eat Country” statistics, it is the city dwellers who decide to become farmers who are more successful than others.

Dmitry Slavyansky is one of the first suppliers of “Eat Rustic”. Agriculture he started in 2014. Before that I tried myself in restaurant business, went from cook to manager. But Slavyansky was drawn to the earth: “It was always interesting to poke around in the garden. It's probably genes."

I started in 2014 with growing mushrooms. But he didn’t calculate the expenses; the cost of products turned out to be higher than the market price. Then I decided to get my teeth into greenery: I installed my first greenhouse. Six months later, he was growing 12 tons of onions per month and employed 28 people. But by 2016, the onion market became overstocked and the entrepreneur suffered 1.5 million losses. “So much effort and money were invested, it would not be in my rules to say “that’s it, I couldn’t cope,” recalls Slavyansky. The farmer rented 12 hectares 20 km from Tver and switched to growing lettuce, zucchini, radishes and seasonal greens. Sold to local restaurants. This business turned out to be profitable.

“We ourselves had thoughts about delivering farm products to Moscow, but we just couldn’t implement it,” says Slavyansky. At first, “Eat Rustic” received five to eight orders a week, but now the number is in the dozens. The company pays invoices once a week, while others wholesale customers Payments are usually delayed by a month. The farmer likes that he knows customers by sight: every week he looks at the page with reviews of his products. Slavyansky’s revenue for 2017 amounted to about 10 million rubles. He does not disclose profits.

Another supplier, Vadim Roshka, received higher spiritual education, in the 1990s he worked as a lawyer and then as a traffic police inspector. All this time I was leading subsidiary farm. Gradually, his income began to exceed his salary. In 2007, he quit his job and switched to farming in the Tver region - raising cattle (he has 150 cows) and producing dairy products. According to Roshka, it is not easy for a modern farmer. Electricity bills are rising, fuel prices are rising, but milk prices are not changing. “So much has been done that there is no turning back. We survive on enthusiasm,” says the farmer.

To stay afloat, he is developing his online store, selling products through groups on social networks and looking for new sales channels. “We have become the main supplier of dairy products for “Eat Rustic” - production volumes increased tenfold last year. We grow together,” explains the farmer. Revenue for 2017 amounted to more than 10 million rubles. He reinvests all profits into business development.

Along with the products, Eat the Country customers receive a letter about how things are going in the village. Ilya Elpanov also plans to install cameras with online broadcasts on farms so that buyers can check the origin of products.

5 billion for farmers

In Moscow, there are both delivery services for farm products and offline stores where such food can be purchased. The main competitors of “Eat Rustic” are LavkaLavka, Seasonmarket, MoscowFresh, “Fresh”, “Two Sisters”, etc. According to expert estimates, largest player— LavkaLavka cooperative with a chain of stores and online delivery. According to LavkaLavka, the network occupies about 10% of the capital's market for farmers' products, the annual turnover of which is 5 billion rubles. However, according to Elpanov, the more retail players there are in the market, the more farmers will be able to supply their products to the metropolis and the cheaper their products will be.

Money on the table

The founder of “Eat Rustic” raised the first investments in the summer of 2016 - 1 million rubles. in exchange for 8% of the company from business angels Grigory Rudanov and Vladimir Batishchev. According to Rudanov, Ilya impressed investors with his passion and determination. “The market has great potential because more and more people want to eat healthy. We see that farm products are in great demand. Ilya provided a very humane service,” explains Rudanov.

In 2017, the company received another $300 thousand for about 20% from the founder of LiveTex Vladimir Bakuteev and the Some Random VC fund. This money helped the company grow rapidly. The assortment has expanded significantly: there were 150 types of products, now there are 800. The number of suppliers has increased almost fourfold - to 150. If at the beginning of 2016 the project’s revenue was about 400 thousand rubles. per month, then by the beginning of 2017 - 1.8 million rubles, now - about 8 million rubles. According to Elpanov, the company has achieved operational payback, but he spends all profits on the development of the project.

In 2018, “Eat Rural” acquired a new sales channel: the company now supplies products to hotels, restaurants and offices. “The guys promote values similar to ours. They take the product seriously and are working on mistakes,” explains Anastasia Efimova, co-owner of the Brick Design Hotel, in choosing the supplier.

According to Elpanov, 4.5 million residents of the capital prefer farm products, but in reality no more than 1% make online purchases. potential buyers. “Currently, farm products are quite expensive, but with the right business approaches and automation of work with suppliers, they will become affordable,” Elpanov is sure.

View from the outside

“The phrase “farm product” no longer evokes rabid enthusiasm”

Alexander Goncharov, founder of the Mark and Lev farmer cooperative

“There is nothing revolutionary in the idea of delivery, but supporting the villagers is the right thing to do. True, I see Eat Country has a random selection of suppliers. We need to develop the territory where farmers live, as, for example, our Tula agricultural hub does. The phrase “farm product” no longer evokes unbridled enthusiasm among consumers, a stratification is taking place - some are looking for something similar to a farm product, but cheaper, others are interested in the origin of the product, environmental friendliness needs proof.”

“The main problem now is the heterogeneity of raw materials”

Pavel Paskar, CEO of food delivery service Grow Food

“I think the idea of home delivery of groceries is very promising. Now the market has divided into a number of models: delivery of chopped ingredients, in which a person cooks himself according to a recipe, for example, “Shefmarket”, cooking in the retail itself, like “Azbuka Vkusa”, subscription models, when food arrives ready-made, for example, Grow Food. This market is changing in better side and growing. Leaders show good results, and competitors follow them. Technologies come into our lives; in large cities, where people do not have enough time, they outsource more and more processes. The market will continue to grow for another three to five years.

The main problem now is the heterogeneity of raw materials. Large companies forced to cook not the best best products. This affects the quality of food. If we can create as few layers as possible between consumers and farmers, the better it will be from an economic point of view: both the product will become cheaper and the companies will become more profitable. Delivery of farm products is an interesting idea.”