2006.06.09: June 9, 2006: Headlines: COS - Comoros: Organic Food: Harvard Post: Comoros RPCV Jeff Barry founded Boston Organics
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2006.06.09: June 9, 2006: Headlines: COS - Comoros: Organic Food: Harvard Post: Comoros RPCV Jeff Barry founded Boston Organics
Comoros RPCV Jeff Barry founded Boston Organics
Customers can choose between a $25 box and a $35 box; Barry makes up 10 standard boxes per week based on what’s available from suppliers. The boxes contain roughly half fruit and half veggies, or all of one thing. Right now, he says, customers will notice their boxes are a little light. Prices are high during the winter, when he has to rely on suppliers in Florida, Georgia and California. During the summer, his major sources are in Massachusetts, Vermont and upstate New York. Tropical fruit comes organic farms in Central and South America.
Comoros RPCV Jeff Barry founded Boston Organics
Giving new meaning to ’green grocer’
By Gillian R. Swart/ newburyport@cnc.com
Friday, June 9, 2006 - Updated: 09:31 AM EST
"Boston Organics kind of fit in with my moral compass," Jeff Barry says about the company he founded in 2002. Boston Organics delivers USDA certified organic fruit and vegetables to 1,700 customers in and around Boston (including the Port).
The Newburyport resident got the idea while living in San Francisco, where he and his wife enjoyed home delivery of organic fruits and vegetables. He says he had a window of opportunity to start a similar business here, and he took it. He posted fliers in the Boston area and snagged 13 customers.
His wife, who Barry says had a "real job," took one day off a week to help him make those initial deliveries.
"It took eight to 10 hours to do 13 deliveries," he says. His company now makes 12 to 15 deliveries per hour. Although Barry has tweaked the company’s delivery area, it has not really expanded, he says - the customer base has grown primarily through word of mouth.
With the cost of gasoline on the rise, Barry says he feels the deliveries need to be as concentrated as possible. He doesn’t charge a delivery fee, and he doesn’t want to start now. It’s what keeps his prices competitive.
Customers can choose between a $25 box and a $35 box; Barry makes up 10 standard boxes per week based on what’s available from suppliers. The boxes contain roughly half fruit and half veggies, or all of one thing. Right now, he says, customers will notice their boxes are a little light. Prices are high during the winter, when he has to rely on suppliers in Florida, Georgia and California. During the summer, his major sources are in Massachusetts, Vermont and upstate New York. Tropical fruit comes organic farms in Central and South America.
"We source from where the stuff is growing," he says, and as summer approaches, that source area cycles slowly northward. He tries to get as much as he can locally; unfortunately, harsh conditions in New England make it difficult to grow organic fruit here. He is talking with local organic farmers to coordinate their growing schedule to fit his company’s needs.
"We’re going to be have a more proactive relationship with them going forward," he says. "Local and organic - that’s the best of both worlds." Because, of course, transporting organic foods across the country burns fuel, which some people claim negates any benefits.
Barry has to do a lot of juggling and coordinating. If it’s a rainy season in California, produce is highly susceptible to mold and fungus. And back it goes, rejected. He might get lettuce full of ladybugs (which kill aphids). Again, the delivery has to be rejected - and Barry has to scramble for an alternative to put in the boxes. He tries to do a fruit for a fruit or a vegetable for a vegetable when making substitutions.
Early influences
The 38-year-old was born in Boston and grew up in Providence. His father had a beauty supply business there, so there was a lot of talk around the dinner table about small business. After graduating from Skidmore College in upstate New York, he did a two-year stint in the Peace Corps. He says that experience has had a huge influence on his life decisions. His undergraduate degree was in philosophy - after returning from the Camorras Islands (off the east coast of Africa), he came back and earned a graduate degree combining environmental economics and business at Tufts.
It takes about 10 minutes to sign up for home delivery at Bostonorganics.com. Although customers cannot choose what will be in their box, they can indicate things they don’t ever want. Staff keeps track of customer nixes and cross-references all orders by hand. The company also offers organic eggs, peanut butter, cocoa mix, tea and coffee, and fresh-baked breads. Barry is considering adding grass-fed milk from Amish country.
Boston Organics delivers from a warehouse in Charlestown. Barry is in the office there by 5 a.m. so he can be back in Newburyport for 2 p.m., when he picks up his 2-year-old son from preschool. Also, he says, 5 a.m. is when produce is coming into the warehouse.
"We’re beginning to see tomatoes from Georgia and zucchini from Florida," he says. Each box also includes a newsletter with information on proper storage techniques and the organic food movement.
"It provides a better connection to know why they’re getting what they are," Barry explains.
One of Boston Organics’ four vans delivers to Newburyport every Thursday (Plum Island residents are out of luck, though). They deliver to houses, apartments and businesses. Their drivers are bonded to accept keys and key cards.
"For me it’s been very cool," he says. It’s a lot cooler now than it was at first - he didn’t take a salary for the first year-and-a-half. This month, he is adding a fifth van to his fleet, and he enjoying the company of his second son.
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Story Source: Harvard Post
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Comoros; Organic Food
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