Webinars
We regularly run webinars to help community food enterprises to thrive.
Topics covered include Marketing and Sales, Business Skills, Food Systems, Food Justice, Funding and Grants.
You can also view all previous webinars on our YouTube page.
Webinar topics
Click on the links below to navigate directly to the following webinar topics.
Marketing and Sales Webinars
These webinars are designed specifically for community food enterprises and will help you to understand and master modern marketing techniques.
Clicking on the links below will take you directly to the relevant webinar.
Social Media Marketing
Scheduling your Facebook and Instagram Posts
A simple guide to improving social media marketing in your food business
Instagram Masterclass for Community Food Enterprises
The 4:2:1 posting strategy for Facebook
Email Marketing
Email Marketing masterclass for Community Food Enterprises
Design
Top tips to instantly improve your marketing
Presenter: Kay Reed
In this webinar, Kay shares the ‘low hanging fruit’ when it comes to marketing a Community Food Enterprise.
This includes
- Optimising your Open Food Network shopfront
- Email marketing for food enterprises
- Social media management for farmers and producers
- Ways to get the most out of the time you spend marketing
This webinar was produced by the Open Food Network UK team.
Creating content for food enterprises
Presenter: Kay Reed
Kay from the Open Food Network UK covers how to feed the hungry content monster that is social media.
In this webinar, she covers:
- How to post consistently
- Why you might not be getting the results that you want
- What you can do to improve your results
- Prompts, tips and queues to help you stay inspired
Effective seasonal marketing tips
Presenter: Kay Reed
Are you making the most of seasonal marketing opportunities?
In this webinar you’ll learn how to:
- Identify appropriate seasonal opportunities and make the most of them
- Targeted marketing to seasonal events throughout the year
- Connect with your customers throughout the seasonal events
- Improve your seasonal performance by managing peaks and addressing dips in sales
This webinar was produced by the Open Food Network UK team.
Scheduling your Facebook and Instagram posts
Presenter: Kay Reed
Scheduling posts on social media will help you to save time, be consistent and improve audience engagement on social media.
In this session we cover how to schedule your Facebook and Instagram posts, as well as lots of time saving posting tips.
We also share some proven tactics for creating posts your customers will love to improve the results you are getting with your social media marketing efforts.
Instagram masterclass for food enterprises (part 1)
Presenter: Kay Reed
Do you struggle to get results for your food enterprise on Instagram?
Or do you love Instagram and simply want some tips to improve?
Then watch this Instagram Masterclass!
Kay from the Open Food Network UK team covers:
- Common mistakes you may be making and how to fix them
- How to get more attention for your food enterprise on Instagram
- Simple fixes to help you use Instagram with confidence!
Instagram masterclass for food enterprises (part 2)
Presenter: Kate from Kent Food Hubs Folkestone
In the second part of this webinar series, Kay is joined by Kate from Kent Food Hubs Folkestone, who have had great success at using Instagram to market their business.
This is such a great opportunity to learn from your peers about what actually works – specifically for food enterprises.
Sort your Facebook posting – the 4:2:1 strategy
Presenter: Kay Reed
Do you struggle with maintaining consistency posting on Facebook?
And are you often disappointed with the results you get with what you do post?
Then this session is for you 🙂 Join Kay as she shares her tried-and-tested modular 4:2:1 posting strategy. You’ll learn:
How to post consistently, in a way which is time-efficient, manageable and sustainable for you to maintain in the long term
Why you may not be getting the results you want with Facebook – and how to fix it!
Ways to increase customer basket size
Presenter: Kay Reed
Speakers: James Millar from Stroudco, Sara Rock and Rachel Forster from Tamar Valley Food Hubs, Louise from the Open Food Network UK team.
Bigger basket sizes mean extra income with no additional overheads (such as delivery). In this webinar, we hear from Sara and Rachel from Tamar Valley Food Hubs, and James from Stroudco about how they have managed to increase their customer’s basket sizes.
Email marketing masterclass
Presenter: Kay Reed
Email marketing is five times more likely to be seen than a Facebook post, and has a 66% higher conversion rate than social media.
In this marketing masterclass, Kay from the Open Food Network UK team covers:
- What you need to know about GDPR compliance
- How to get started with email marketing
- Tips, tactics and strategies to improve your email marketing
Re-engage and retain customers
Presenter: Renata Cumming
Speakers: Robert (Rob) Peking from Food Connect and Jessimin Horder, Marketing and PR Consultant for Elephant Pigeon Communication.
Many community food enterprises experienced a sharp spike in demand during the COVID pandemic.
This webinar covers how to keep these customers engaged, and how to reconnect with lapsed customers.
This webinar was part of the ‘Like Peeling an Onion’ series of webinars put on by the Open Food Network Australia team.
Image editing for beginners
Presenter: Kay Reed
Having visual content is an essential element of any digital marketing strategy, so what can you do when you don’t have the budget for a designer?
In this marketing masterclass, Kay from the Open Food Network UK team covers:
- Canva – the free graphic design tool that everyone should be using
- How to create eye-catching designs for social media
- General design tips and tricks
Presenter: Kay Reed
A well planned social media strategy can be a life saver for any food enterprise.
It’s an easy, efficient and inexpensive way to grow your sales and generate a stronger relationship with your customers.
In this webinar, Kay covers:
- How to define your goals and strategy
- How to get on the right side of the social media algorithms
- How to create a posting schedule and commit to it
- How to create great social content your audience will love
- How to build and support your digital community
- How to take action for growth and visibility
- How to measure your results and improve what you are doing
Business Skills
These webinars focus on the many layers involved in running a community food organisation, and the skills needed to run them.
Topics include:
Get your food moving
Presenter: Renata Cumming
Speakers: Jono Leschinski and Jessie Lopez from Edigrocer, Lloyd Harrington from Baw Baw Food hub and Amelia Bright from the Open Food Network.
This webinar covers logistics for community food enterprises.
This webinar was part of the ‘Like Peeling an Onion’ series of webinars.
Making Informed Decisions
Presenter: Renata Cumming
Speakers: Amelia Bright from Prom Coast Food Collective and Miranda Sharp from Melbourne Farmers Markets
This webinar covers how decision making methodologies for community food enterprises.
This webinar was part of the ‘Like Peeling an Onion’ series of webinars.
Let’s talk about price
Presenter: Reanta Cumming
Speakers: Jen Rae from Fawkner Commons, Lydia Mofakhami from Open Food Network
This webinar is all about Price.
Topics covered include understanding your true costs, transparency and tiered pricing models so that everyone can access food with dignity.
Selling your whole harvest
Presenters: Prue Rothwell and Jen Sheridan
When farms can’t sell all of their produce, farmers lose money, and the resulting food waste contributes to climate change. This webinar contains ways that farmers can sell more of what they produce, both to reduce food waste on farm and increase their return.
More information about our work in this space can be found here.
Managing Stripe and Payment Methods
Presenter: Louise and Kay
Do you have difficulties managing Stripe and understanding the interface?
Then join us for this practical session, where we will go over everything you need to know and make sure you leave feeling confident managing all payment methods for your food enterprise.
Accounting and profitability for food enterprises
Presenters: Kay Reed
Speakers: Oliver Muller – Open Food Network UK Treasurer
Join Open Food Network UK Treasurer Oliver Reed as he covers accounting best practices, guidance and tips for food hubs.
Topics covered include:
Food Systems
Building a better food movement
Local Food Ecosystems – How Food Hubs can help create a more sustainable food system
Farmers and Foodies working together – Collaborating to build strong local food economies
Farmers and Foodies adapting – How the food system adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic
Building a better food movement
A Better Food Trader is a food business trading for social purpose, not to maximise profit.”
In many countries around the world, the majority of food is sold through major supermarket chains. In this webinar from the Open Food Network UK team, you’ll hear from Natasha Soares, project leader at Better Food Traders about the work that they have been doing to build a network that supports and amplifies the voices of community food enterprises.
You’ll also hear from two Open Food Network members who are part of the Better Food Traders network:
- Alastair Cameron from Helston Local Food Hub
- Duncan Catchpole from Cambridge Organic
Local Food Ecosystems
It’s great to be part of such a vibrant network of food enterprises that share the vision of a better food system and a mission to create it locally – but what does ‘a better food system’ look like? And how are we going to make it happen?
Duncan Catchpole, MD of Cambridge Organic and Cambridge Food Hub, joined us for a special seminar to explore these questions and share some insight from his new book: “Local Food Ecosystems; How Food Hubs Can Help Create a More Sustainable Food System”
Farmers and foodies working together
Presenters: Jen Sheridan and Renata Cumming
We were engaged by Hepburn Shire Council to host this webinar about how communities are working together to build strong regional food distribution.
The webinar included:
- critical success factors and case studies of collaborative food distribution
- Renata shared her insights from starting and running the Strathbogie Local food hub
- starting something where you are
- resources to help you take the next steps
- discussion with webinar participants
Watch the webinar below and view the slides here.
Farmers and foodies adapting
Presenter: Jen Sheridan
Responding to COVID19: How farmers and food enterprises are adapting their businesses to find new markets.
In this webinar you will explore the different models being adopted locally and internationally by farmers and food enterprises as they adapt to COVID-19. From selling online, to building new short supply chains and distribution systems that supply your customers and communities. Giving you the skills to build a resilient farm business, during the pandemic and beyond.
Food Justice
How food enterprises are working towards food equality (Video 1)
Presenters: Kay Reed and Joe McCrohon from the Open Food Network UK
Speakers: Ruth Redgate (Mercia Food Hub), Kate Clements (Kent Food Hubs Folkstone), Dan Jones (Peninsula Producers, Farms for City Children)
Food poverty is a serious and growing concern. Research shows us that nearly five times as many people are eligible for a food bank compared with those who actually use food banks.
Many more people who are not eligible for food banks struggle to obtain nutrient-dense food, and sometimes go without meals, which has long-term effects on their health and well-being – particularly in children.
The Open Food Network UK team spoke to three food enterprises about how they are addressing food poverty and food inequality.
How food enterprises are working towards food equality (Video 2)
Presenters: Kay Reed and Joe McCrohon from the Open Food Network UK
Speakers: Rachel Forster (Tamar Grow Local), Alice Guilaume (Cambridge Food Hub), Kate Smith (Slow Food Birmingham), Tom Curtis (Cultivate Oxford), Joe McChron and Nick Weir ( (Peninsula Producers, Farms for City Children)
In this session we learned how food enterprises are working towards food equality within their communities – and how we can ensure that those with less money can still gain access to nutrient dense food.
We were joined by Rachael Forster from Tamar Grow Local, Alice Guillaume from Cambridge Food Hub, Kate Smith from Slow Food Birmingham, Tom from Cultivate Oxford, Joe McCrohon and Nick Weir from the OFN UK admin team, who shared some of the ways in which they are approaching this issue and we also more broadly discuss how individuals and organisations can improve food accessibility in their communities.
Find a written version of this webinar here.
Funding and Grants
These webinars were put together in response to funding and grant opportunities for farmers, producers and food hubs. Much of the information contained in them is relevant for anyone looking for funding or ways to scale up their community food enterprise.
How to grow a food hub
RGS Food Hubs Q&A
Crowdfunding with confidence
Crowdfunding stories
How to grow a food hub
Presenter: Jen Sheridan
This presentation by Open Food Network Australia’s Jen Sheridan contains information, frameworks and resources can be used when planning to start a new Food Hub or expand the operations of an existing one. Topics covered include:
- What you need to know before deciding to start a Food Hub.
- Preparing your Food Hub for Launch.
- How to Successfully Launch and market your Food Hub.
- Scaling up a Food Hub.
- Pricing, digital tools, packing tips and much more.
RGS Food hubs Q&A
A Q&A drop-in session for organisations or groups applying for the Resilient Green Spaces food hubs package of support.
This session was hosted by the Open Food Network UK Team.
Crowdfunding with confidence
Presenters: Kay Reed and Louise Wright from the Open Food Network UK
Guest: Anna Gordon – Crowdfunder.co.uk
In this webinar you’ll find out tips and tactics that will help you crowdfund with confidence.
We were joined by expert guest speaker Anna Gordon, from Crowdfunder.co.uk – who shared her top tips for crowdfunding success.
In addition, Kayleigh Reed and Louise Wright from the Open Food Network team shared the best ways to market your crowdfunding campaign as well as food enterprise-specific advice and best practice.
Crowdfunding Stories
Presenter: Kay Reed
Guests: Doro (Locavore), Iona (The Sidwell Street Bakehouse), Cathy (Y Pantri Glas)
This session was hosted by the Open Food Network UK Team.
We were joined by Doro from Locavore, Iona from The Sidwell Street Bakehouse and Cathy from Y Pantri Glas – who shared their experiences with crowdfunding for their food enterprises.
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