How does Oxford Bread Group work?
I grow the wheat and Geoff Coleman makes the bread twice a week at the Cornfield Bakery, which is only a couple of miles from where the wheat is grown. We have a subscription scheme, and our customers pay for each month’s order in advance. The bread is then delivered to local ‘hubs’, from which people collect their loaves. The subscription scheme overcomes the cash flow problem that many small businesses face and also eliminates food waste, as we only bake what has been ordered. Q) What are your aims? A) To shorten the grain chain and give the people of Oxford bread made from organic grain that is grown, milled and baked locally. As we get more subscribers, we hope to enlist more farmers to grow the grain and more bakers to bake the bread. Q) What are the main obstacles you have faced? A) Finding local farmers who will grow small quantities (eg. 10 acres) of grain on contract for a reasonable price; securing minimal funding to cover basic expenses to run the project; setting up the ‘lo
