Taste Swansea Food & Drink Magazine - Issue 14 - May/June 2020

How One Small Business Is Coping During Lock-down.

I first came across Carwyn and Alex of Olives & Oils when I was doing a photoshoot for a restaurant opposite their home. The chef/restaurateur at the time had made copious amounts of food and needed willing foodies to help eat it after the photos had been taken. As a result of that encounter Carwyn commissioned me to shoot their fresh olives and oils for their first ever publicity. That was in 2004. We've been friends ever since. I've watched their business grow from literally zero to the fabulously brilliant delicatessen and specialist Welsh and French cheese shop it is today, housed in the tiny premises in Newton Road, Mumbles.

Today, despite the lock-down the business is keeping its head above the water line but it could have been so very different. As with many businesses, faced with an overnight government instruction to close restaurants, cafes, pubs and other eateries, and for Joe Public to remain indoors Olives & Oils was faced with a dilemma many food businesses share. “What's my contingency? What business model do I now have to adopt to stay afloat and do I have the resources to change quickly? Enter a local home delivery and collection service. But how do you establish from a standing start a delivery and collection service? Do I need to man the telephone?

Someone to collect email or social media orders? That's very costly, time consuming and requires man-power, accuracy and precise organisational skills. I really need something technological. An e-commerce site takes time to establish, is very costly and needs to be marketed hard...besides it doesn't handle delivery and collection." Faced with lock-down Carwyn and Alex sought advice and direction from a local food and drink consultant.

“What's my contingency? What business model do I now have to adopt to stay afloat and do I have the resources to change quickly?"

Having installed online takeaway ordering systems for restaurants in the past, the consultant suggested adapting such a service for the delivery of goods rather than merely takeaway foods. But of course the likes of Deliveroo, Just Eat and UberEats platforms have that market sown up. Or do they? Between Carwyn, Alex and the consultant they had a fully functioning online delivery/collection service in situ within two to three days. Said Carwyn recently “It’s working so well, the thought of every customer phoning orders through for random amounts to random addresses with no payment record sends a shudder through me...this system is the way forward for sure...” And what's more, is that not only does this allow Carwyn and Alex's customers to order anytime, day or night, even when they aren't there to man the phones, the

service allows Carwyn to manage his week and it is, incredibly, entirely free! Sure there are little improvements that can be made for the local shop, but bear in mind that this was built for takeaway outlets and restaurants...so there has to be a little give and take on both sides. But it works.

"It’s working so well, the thought of every customer phoning orders through for random amounts to random addresses with no payment record sends a shudder through me..."

www.olivesandoils.co.uk