37k order success sees Yorkshire food supplier make permanent switch to online

Yorkshire speciality food supplier, Delifresh, has announced it’s keeping their virtual doors open indefinitely following the launch of their emergency online grocery store, after achieving 37,000 orders from across the region, with customers demanding they continue supply and many swearing they won’t be returning to the supermarkets again.

Delifresh, who usually supply their produce to top chefs and restaurants in the region, opened their high quality inventory to the public in late March and have since seen record success following support from the Yorkshire community. What was meant to be a temporary solution has been so well received that the company have announced not only will they remain open to the public, but they’re also expanding into Widness, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sunderland and Durham with immediate effect, delivering from their local depots in those areas.

The Yorkshire business also recently announced that all delivery charges will go to Bradford children’s charity, Transforming Lives for Good, having already donated £10K, which will help towards the charity’s aim of reaching over 10,000 children and their families in need over the upcoming months. Delifresh have also joined in the national campaign, Feed The Front Line, which provides free fresh fruit and vegetables to those battling COVID-19, with weekly deliveries to Leeds Teaching Hospitals and NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire & the Humber.

Delifresh’s head of innovation development, Robert Ramsden, explained: “We’ve been blown away by the response, what started as a temporary online store to provide our produce to those who couldn’t get access to the food they needed has grown into a 15,000 strong customer base. We’ve been inundated with 100s of comments and emails asking us to remain open after lockdown ends as people want to continue using us. The biggest reason for our success is the quality of what we’re delivering, it’s locally sourced where possible, field to fork produce that’s usually reserved for the restaurants – flavours and products not usually seen by the public.

Everything from Yorkshire artisan cheeses, fruit & veg, to fresh meat and fish and even high-quality store cupboard goods all available delivered to your door. We’ve had people place orders from all over the world for their family members based in Yorkshire - as far as Dubai!”

The business is adding over 20 new products a week after growing public demand, and is currently operating at a 48-hour delivery service with plans to add further product lines in the coming months.