Social media platform connects farmers with local buyers

Sustaination aims to connect food producers with local buyers via a dedicated social network.

Earlier this year we featured Farmbook, an international agricultural marketplace based in Russia designed to help both individuals and companies around the world market their agricultural goods. Now in the UK, Sustaination aims to connect food producers with local buyers via a dedicated social network. According to Sustaination, because consumers want to see the area they live in thrive, they are willing to pay up to 20 percent more for locally produced food. Dubbed “the dating site for local food businesses”, Sustaination — which is currently still in beta — will facilitate the creation of local and regional food supply networks. Both buyers and farmers will be able to create a profile on the site and list the produce they are looking to buy or sell, as well as viewing other parties willing to do business in their local area. The resulting supply chains that are set up will mean buyers can offer their customers fresher food from local farmers, with a minimal carbon footprint, while farmers can reduce packaging, fuel and transportation costs. Sustaination will also help split local delivery costs with other local businesses, and there are plans to introduce a review and recommendation system for users to rate one another. Regular emails will be sent to members to keep them abreast of all the activity in their local area, and users will be able to easily update their profile with food offers or needs — just as one would enter a status update on a traditional social network. Users will also be able to upload photos and videos of their produce or business, and will be able to share, learn and compare with other companies to check and improve their performance. The video below explains Sustaination in more detail: Sustaination hopes to be out of beta by early 2012. It’s currently free to create a profile on the site, and it is free for both businesses and farmers to trade within a seven mile radius. Outside of that, pricing plans will be put in place for trading within 15 mile, 50 mile, and 50 mile plus areas. One for farmers, food producers, retailers and restaurateurs to get involved with early? Spotted by: Benj Street