Guy Singh-Watson

Last updated

Guy Singh-Watson (born Guy Watson, [1] [2] 1960) [3] is a British farmer and founder and creator of Riverford, an organic farm and UK-wide organic vegetable box delivery company. [4] [5]

Contents

Biography

Singh-Watson was born in Totnes. He was brought up on Riverford Farm, in Buckfastleigh, Devon, which was taken over by his family in the 1950s. After studying Agricultural and Forestry Science at the University of Oxford he became a management consultant, but left after working in New York City for a while. [3] [6] [7]

In 1986 Singh-Watson returned to the farm, deciding to convert it to farming organically. [6] In the 1990s, to find an effective way of distributing his produce, he developed the weekly vegetable box scheme, which is delivered direct to customers' doors with locally grown produce. In 2015 the Riverford business was valued at £45 million. [7] In June 2018 it was announced that Riverford would transition to employee ownership, with 74% of the business being held in a trust overseen by a board. [4] [5] [8] [9]

Singh-Watson lectures on ethical business [10] and is a judge for the Observer Ethical Awards [11] and his leadership has seen five previous Observer awards including Best Ethical Business [12] and Best Ethical Restaurant in 2009. [13]

Singh-Watson married Geetie Singh in 2014. [1] He is a keen surfboarder. [7] In July 2018 he was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme. [14]

In 2018 Singh-Watson sold 76% of Riverford Organic Farmers to the trustee of an employee ownership trust. [15]

Publications

Related Research Articles

Tim Smit

Sir Timothy Bartel Smit KBE is a Dutch-born British businessman, famous for his work on the Lost Gardens of Heligan, the Eden Project, and the Charlestown Shipwreck & Treasure Centre, all in Cornwall, England.

Meera Syal English writer and actress

Meera Syal FRSL is a British comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created Goodness Gracious Me and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No. 42. She became one of the UK's best-known Asian personalities.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Hugh Christopher Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall is an English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer, and campaigner on food and environmental issues.

Riverford

Riverford is an organic farm and UK-wide organic vegetable box delivery company founded by Guy Singh-Watson in Buckfastleigh, Devon, England, but with sister farms in three locations around the country.

Divine Chocolate British-Ghanaian chocolate company

Divine Chocolate Limited is a British purveyor of Fairtrade chocolate. It was originally established in the UK in 1998 as a company limited by shares co-owned by the Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers' co-operative in Ghana, Twin Trading and The Body Shop, with support from Christian Aid and Comic Relief. The Body Shop subsequently handed their shares over to Kuapa Kokoo which increased Kuapa's share of Divine Chocolate Ltd from 33% to 45%

The Phone Co-op UK based co-operative telecoms supplier

The Phone Co-op is a consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, which provides landline, mobile telephone and Internet services, including web hosting and broadband. Now part of the Midcounties Co-operative, the largest independent co-operative in the UK, it is owned by its customer-members who democratically control the business and who share in its profits. This makes The Phone Co-op the only telephone co-operative in the UK.

Nigel Slater is an English food writer, journalist and broadcaster. He has written a column for The Observer Magazine for over a decade and is the principal writer for the Observer Food Monthly supplement. Prior to this, Slater was food writer for Marie Claire for five years.

Triodos Bank

Triodos Bank N.V. is an ethical bank based in the Netherlands with branches in Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom and Spain. It was founded in 1980. Triodos Bank finances companies which it believes add cultural value and benefit to both people and the environment. That includes companies in the fields of solar energy, organic farming or culture.
As of 2020, Triodos Bank has 728,000 customers worldwide.

Innocent Drinks British beverage company

Innocent Drinks is a company that produces smoothies and juice sold in supermarkets, coffee shops and various other outlets. The company sells more than two million smoothies per week. Innocent is over 90% owned by The Coca-Cola Company.

Yeo Valley is the UK's largest organic brand established in 1994. The Yeo Valley Organic range includes organic yogurt, cream, milk, butter, cheese, ice cream and compote. Yeo Valley is a real place in the heart of Somerset. The Yeo Valley company is owned by the Mead Family. The Mead family can trace their farming roots back to the 15th century and farm 2,000 acres of land across the Mendip Hills, Somersetwhich includes their own herd of British Friesian cows, two organic farms and the 6.5 acre Yeo Valley Organic Garden which is open to the public. Yeo Valley Organic is the 48th biggest grocery brand in the UK, according to The Grocer and the third largest yogurt brand in the UK.

Vegetable box scheme Type of community-oriented food distribution system

A vegetable box scheme is an operation that delivers fresh fruit and vegetables, often locally grown and organic, either directly to the customer or to a local collection point. Typically the produce is sold as an ongoing weekly subscription and the offering may vary week to week depending on what is in season.

Neals Yard Remedies A UK-based multi-level marketing company

Neal's Yard Remedies is a UK-based retail and multi-level marketing company selling cosmetics, skin care products, and essential oils. The direct selling arm is branded NYR Organics. The company was founded in 1981.

Andy Cato Musical artist

Andrew Derek Cocup Sr., known professionally as Andy Cato, is an English musician, record producer and DJ who is currently one half of the electronic music band Groove Armada, the other half being Tom Findlay. He was also involved with Rachel Foster in Weekend Players, another electronic dance group, between 2001 and 2004. His stage name of Cato derives from Cato Road in Clapham, South London, where he lived.

Safia Minney MBE FRSA, is a British social entrepreneur and author. She was the founder of Global Village which she set up in 1991, and the founder and former Global CEO of 24 years of People Tree, a pioneering sustainable and Fair Trade fashion label. She is also a spokesperson and campaigner on Fair Trade and ethical fashion. She initiated World Fair Trade Day in 1999 which is endorsed by the World Fair Trade Organization and their members and celebrated on the second Saturday of May each year. Additionally, she wrote the books Naked Fashion:the New Sustainable Fashion Revolution, Slow Fashion, Aesthetics Meets Ethics and Slave to Fashion.

Fordhall Farm Organic farm in Shropshire, England

Fordhall Farm is an organic farm of 128 acres, in Market Drayton in north Shropshire, England. It is owned by an industrial and provident society, the Fordhall Community Land Initiative (FCLI), whose aim is to use the farm for community benefit. The farm became a cause célèbre in 2005, when a campaign to raise funds for FCLI to purchase the land gained national press attention.

Unicorn Grocery Workers co-operative grocery in Manchester, England

Unicorn Grocery is a co-operative grocery store located in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England. As a workers co-op, it is controlled democratically by its member/owners, who run the business with a flat management structure and with an equal rate of pay. Ethics form the foundations of the business, and Unicorn's Principles of Purpose are the framework within which the business operates.

King Edward VI Community College (KEVICC) is a state comprehensive school in Totnes, Devon, England. It is located in the Dart Valley on the A385 Ashburton Road and serves Totnes and the surrounding area. It has a large campus with around 900 students, 200 of whom are at the Kennicott Sixth Form centre adjoining the main site.

Equal Exchange Trading is a UK-based alternative trading organization. Equal Exchange is a workers co-operative distributing food and beverage products in the independent natural food sector. The organization's origins stretch back to 1979 "when three voluntary workers returned to Edinburgh after working on aid projects in various parts of Africa."

Cuisine of Devon

The cuisine of Devon in England has influenced, and been influenced, by other British cuisine.

Farmdrop was an online grocer with a focus on food sourced from local farmers, fishermen and other producers. The company provided farm-to-table foods for consumers in Greater London and surrounding counties, along with ethically-sourced baby & kids, household, pets and deli products. They informed customers on 17 December 2021 that they had collapsed following a failure to secure additional funding.

References

  1. 1 2 "WG Watson and SE Singh (Baddaford Farm)". www.triodos.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Guy Watson and Geetie Singh". tastebudsmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Profile: The Organic Farmer". Startup Donut. Archived from the original on 5 January 2012.
  4. 1 2 Fox-Leonard, Boudicca (10 June 2018). "Guy Singh-Watson: Why I've handed over ownership of Riverford Organic to its staff". The Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 10 July 2018– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. 1 2 Butler, Sarah (7 April 2018). "Staff ownership ensures organic veg firm Riverford doesn't forget its roots". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  6. 1 2 Onita, Laura (2 October 2016). "Now I know my onions, middle England can feast on organic". The Sunday Times. ISSN   0956-1382 . Retrieved 10 July 2018– via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  7. 1 2 3 Lambert, Victoria (21 March 2015). "Guy Watson interview: Veg nerd who thinks outside the box". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Triodos Bank provide financial support for Riverford employee ownership scheme". www.triodos.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "Riverford owner Guy Singh-Watson places his veg box company into employee ownership". Devon Life. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  10. ↑ "Guy Watson". Schumacher College. Archived from the original on 6 May 2012.
  11. ↑ "Observer Ethical Awards 2011: judge Guy Watson". Theguardian.com. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  12. ↑ Siegle, Lucy; Vaughan, Adam (3 June 2009). "Sir David Attenborough honoured in Observer ethical awards". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  13. ↑ "Food awards 2009: best ethical restaurant, Riverford Field Kitchen". Theguardian.com. 22 March 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  14. ↑ Booth, Richard (3 July 2018). "Riverford's Guy Singh-Watson on Desert Island Discs: What we learnt". DevonLive. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  15. ↑ Butler, Sarah (7 April 2018). "Staff ownership ensures organic veg firm Riverford doesn't forget its roots". The Observer. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  16. ↑ "Resurgence • Article - From Farm to Feast". Resurgence.org. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.