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The regeneration of Australia’s food and farming systems
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The regeneration of Australia’s food and farming systems
19 March 2023
19 March 2023

Open Food Network

Open Food Network is unlocking a new generation of digital solutions.

Open Food Network is building a new, fairer, more connected food system. One part of this is their open-source software platform, which makes it simple for farmers, producers and food hubs to create online stores. Communities can even bring together local producers to create a virtual farmers’ market, helping to build a resilient local food economy.

The Sustainable Table Fund is supporting Open Food Network to further develop this platform to support the growth of regenerative food supply networks and increase their impact. They are pioneering the establishment of an open and easily interoperable ecosystem of regenerative food supply network solutions.

This will help regenerative farmers and food hubs to strengthen their businesses by:

  • Selling fresh, local produce online
  • Reducing their costs and administrative overheads
  • Reaching a wider customer base
  • Forming connections and sharing knowledge with other values-aligned businesses
  • Participating in short-supply chain food systems

The project’s key objectives are:

  • Enhancing the Open Food Network public infrastructure offering with API endpoints that make Customer and Product data available/connectable. Using the Open Food Network in Australia, these new endpoints can be used to prototype tools and solutions that provide immediate value to farmers, producers and food hubs. Examples of what is possible include:
    • Customer notifications and alerts (email and SMS) for events such as the store being open, orders being ready, delivery notifications, payment reminders and order cycles being about to close.
    • Bulk application/ removal of discount codes, making it possible to run targeted marketing campaigns.
    • Customer analytics to make it easier to see your regular customers and who have not purchased anything in a while.
  • Ensuring that our development roadmap is focused on the features and functionality that is important to farmers, producers and food hubs. The Open Food Network will be undertaking a pulse check to identify the features and functionality that will have the most value for farmers, producers and food hubs.
  • Develop and launch a new product offering for Open Food Network in which we use this new Open Food Network infrastructure (API endpoints) as the base for timely, flexible and affordable customised tech solutions for Australian farms and hubs.