5 Questions with Honest to Goodness

You guys seem to have been with our markets for a lifetime!  When did you start and how difficult was it to settle in to market life

We (owners Matt & Karen Ward) started Honest to Goodness back in 2002 selling unpackaged nuts, dried fruits and seeds to various growers markets around Sydney.  

Our first stall was at Frenchs Forest Market and we started with a single small table, a tent with many parts that took us forever to set up and just 6 products.  The customers liked what we were doing and our range grew slowly over time to what it is today with over 700 products!

Since humble beginnings, Honest to Goodness has grown to a fully integrated supplier of organic & natural food products throughout Australia. We operate as a retailer through the markets, our store in Alexandria and our online store. We also distribute to more than 1000 customers nationwide through our wholesale operations.  

The farmers markets remain an integral part of our business today and our team loves being a part of the markets every weekend, rain hail or shine!

Back in 2002 the markets were much smaller and quieter, but fundamentally the same as it is today and we love that some of our very first customers that helped get us started still shop with us today! 

It wasn’t difficult to settle into the market way at all, it is actually a lot of fun and you meet some great people.

The queues for your stall are long, yet folk are always patient because they know that (literally) their wish is your command (in the best possible way mind!).  In terms of seasons (eg: cooler vs warmer months), which item/s would be your biggest seller?

We have a great bunch of loyal customers who come to our stall every week to grab their regular wholefood staples.  We also rotate some more seasonal products around.

During winter our Porridge Blend and Organic Soup Mix would be our most popular sellers.

Spring time is definitely salad ingredients like our Salad Topping Goodness blend, Organic Quinoa and French Green Lentils. 

In the lead up to Christmas, our various organic dried fruits including our Christmas Good Pud Fruit Mix sell out quickly while everyone is making their puddings! Our hand blended organic and sulphur free muesli’s are popular year round but especially during summertime.

We LOVE your branding.  What was the process behind not only the name but your tag "real food that loves you back".  What was the process behind and how long did it take to bring this "concept" to life

Our brand “Honest to Goodness” is representative of what we do, and this includes honesty and transparency about the food we sell and integrity in our dealings. 

“Goodness” is about the food itself, our food is of high quality and provides essential nutrition. 

The tag line “Real Food That Loves You Back” came about in 2008 when we redesigned our packaging.  This redesign took about 6 months and started with us appearing on the TV show “Kochies Business Builders”. We were fortunate to get some really good advice from this experience. 

Our tag line “real food that loves you back” was always envisioned as our kind of billboard message that would be changed over time but has kind of stuck with us because it is so catchy and so well received.

Like most markets you will have received some odd questions or requests.  Can you think of one that particularly stands out?

We actually get some of the most valuable feedback from our customers at the markets. 

We find those who shop at the markets are pretty engaged around where their food comes from, the health benefits it provides and environmental impacts. We see our customer questions and feedback as our own market research into what products we should range. 

Our customer engagement at our market stalls is an invaluable part of our business which we believe has also been a key to a lot of our success. So if anyone has any feedback, ideas or questions around our foods, always feel free to share it with our team!

I guess the most peculiar question that springs to mind is from a customer that asked “how will our products help his back?” …our slogan ‘Real Food That Loves You Back’ got a bit lost in translation!

In 5 words why should people shop at Organic Food Markets?

REAL FOOD THAT LOVES YOU BACK! (oopla that's 6)

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Want to know more?  Even better...want to TRY some of their amazing goodies?  Well you know the answer tis simple.  Get thy-selves to Frenchs Forest on a Sunday.