COMMUNITY initiative, the Gordon Farmgate recently added its regional produce and offerings online.<\/p>\n
Due to the pandemic, Gordon Farmgate president Susanna McPherson said the project was put on hold temporarily and had to adapt to move forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were fortunate enough to get a grant through the Ballan community bank to support us in purchasing some point of sale equipment and fridges, which was fantastic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we still didn\u2019t have the money to buy stock in advance and fill up the shop as much as we would like to so it was easier for us to chat to the volunteers online and get the website up and running.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way it works now is that we have asked producers if we can pre-sell their products on our online store.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms McPherson said paying in advance through the online store provides volunteers with the resources to compensate the producers and pack all the orders beforehand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a cut off on Tuesday 5pm for customers to get their orders in,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives our producers between Wednesday through to Saturday to get their products to us and then we make them available for our customers on Saturday mornings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t do delivery yet, maybe down the track we will get enough money for a van, but we do pack all the orders ready for the customers to come in and pick up and browse through the limited stock we have in store.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having only recently opened the project up to the public, Ms McPherson said after last year\u2019s lockdown, people are eager to support local now more than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone wants to chat, they want to learn about the project and get involved, as well as learning about the producers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pandemic highlighted the importance of supporting local, and that\u2019s what we do, we source all of our products from within 60 kilometres from Gordon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re also about supporting the local business within Gordon and making it more of a destination, and once we\u2019re established, the profits that we will make will go back to community projects too so when people buy online from us, they\u2019re supporting their own community.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a growing list of regional producers and suppliers of offer throughout the physical and online store, there\u2019s an opportunity to<\/p>\n support local growers and makers while having access to quality, home grown products.<\/p>\n To explore Gordon Farmgate online and order your own package of local produce, visit gordonfarmgate.org.au<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s just some of what Ms MsPherson has to say about a few of the products sold through Gordon Farmgate\u2019s online store.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/goldenplains\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2021\/04\/Gordon-Produts-300x229.jpg\")