How does the Longwood Loop work?

Here's what happens if you are selling products on the Longwood Loop.

Getting set up

• Producers set up a Profile on the Open Food Network with all of their products, including prices and photos

• Producers send a blurb about themselves - who they are, what they produce, their reasons for producing and selling locally - and a photo to be added to the Longwood Loop Producers page

Before the order cycle

• A member of the Longwood Loop team emails and/or texts producers to let them know about an upcoming order cycle (usually weekly on a Sunday evening), and the deadline for updating their inventory

During the order cycle

• The Longwood Loop opens the order cycle on the Open Food Network and promotes it via e-mail and Facebook to buyers

• Buyers place orders for any items they want as a single purchase/payment to the Longwood Loop

After the order cycle

• Longwood Loop sends a breakdown to each producer within 24 hours of the order cycle closing to tell them how much of each item they need to pack, and for which trading post(s), as well as information about coordinating pickup from their own local trading post

• Producers package items based on the trading post they are going to (e.g. 4 lettuce to Tuatapere, 3 lettuce to Ohai, 1 lettuce to Riverton) and deliver the packages to their local trading post for pickup

• The Longwood Loop van picks up packages and delivers them to the relevant trading posts for final packaging/delivery to buyers

• The Longwood Loop Admin team reconciles buyer orders with payments received

• The Longwood Loop Admin team sends payments to producers, usually within 1 week