Kingsbridge

A South Hams food firm that prides itself on its environmentally-friendly practices has moved premises.

The Local Food Company moved to its impressive new home in South Brent on Friday August 17.

The award-winning firm, which was formed by Dionne and Simon Rooney in August 2006, originated from Modbury, the first plastic-bag-free town in the UK.

The company was one of the first three businesses in the UK to specialise in bringing local suppliers together in one online retail outlet.

They provide a high quality, enjoyable online shopping experience to the discerning lover of local and organic food.

Their top sellers include Riverford organic milk, Burt's Potato Chips, Modbury sausages and Hawkridge Farmhouse Cheddar.

The company not only leads the way in the marketing of local food online but also incorporates a number of green and ethical business practices.

Simon Rooney, The Local Food Company: "We have had a great year. Everyone has worked really hard to make this work."

These include food miles labelling, the removal of all non-seasonal food and the banning of air freighted produce completely.

The firm, which has the motto "Big enough to know what we're doing and small enough to care", has been carbon off-set using reputable and Kyoto approved projects since the start of their business.

It goes without saying that the firm reduces, reuses and recycles everything possible. The Local Food Company is currently been judged for numerous environmental awards and was even invited to the recent Prince of Wales Climate Change Summit at Eden.

The company was named South West Internet Retailer of the Year in 2006 and was also shortlisted for this year’s coveted Best Local Food Retailer award.

The firm has had wide levels of success with local people, their corporate hampers and promoting local food to tourists and even using couriers to deliver across the South West and beyond.

And the future for Dionne and Simon is looking very bright. They aim to have 10 local food franchises in the next few years and also prove that their model can work for small local hubs of online local food companies.

As the first business of their kind to do what they are doing without thousands of pounds of public or venture capitalist investors' money, they are proud of their achievements to date and are looking forward to a successful future.

"We have had a great year. Everyone has worked really hard to make this work," said Simon.

Dionne added: "It was a very creative thing to do and of course tasting everything was great fun.

"We grateful for all the help we have received from friends, family, suppliers and our small staff team, Veronika and our web expert Michael."

For more information about the firm, call Dionne on 01548 831183 or 07984 442747.