OPEN FOOD NETWORK U.K. COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY

What OPEN FOOD NETWORK U.K. COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY does

Open Food Network U.K. Community Interest Company operates an open-source e-commerce platform purpose-built for short food supply chains, enabling farmers, growers, food hubs, farmers markets, food co-operatives, and ethical wholesalers to sell directly to consumers and to each other. The platform is differentiated by food-native product management — handling variable weights, fractional units (dozens, bunches, single whole items), and food-specific stock levels that generic e-commerce platforms do not natively support — along with an order-cycle system that lets producers gauge demand in advance and minimise waste. Notable technical components include an integration layer spanning Stripe (payments, PCI-compliant, SCA-ready), Xero and QuickBooks (accounting automation), Mailchimp (marketing), Google Sheets and Airtable (scheduled data export), and Circuit for Teams (delivery route planning), supported by 2048-bit RSA SSL encryption.

The business model is structured as a platform cooperative and Community Interest Company — a UK legal form for asset-locked, mission-driven organisations — with no external equity investors. Revenue mechanics combine near-zero-cost entry (free producer profiles, free groups) with low-friction paid tiers for shops and hubs starting at £1 per month, voluntary 1-3% sales contributions once a shop exceeds approximately $500/month in turnover, and a monetised add-on layer for Basic Integrations (£100 + VAT one-off plus £5/month server/maintenance) and Custom Integrations (from £150). Complementary services such as One-to-One Support and Crowdfunding Advisory (in partnership with Crowdfunder) generate additional fee revenue. Go-to-market is community-led, relying on peer referrals, webinars, case studies, and an international OFN community forum spanning the UK, Australia, France, Germany, the USA and other countries, with feature development collectively budgeted across the global OFN network.

Name

OPEN FOOD NETWORK U.K. COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY

Legal name

Open Food Network U.K. Community Interest Company

Website

https://openfoodnetwork.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Open Food Network UK is a non-profit, open-source e-commerce platform enabling UK farmers, food hubs, farmers markets, and co-operatives to sell produce online, with food-native features such as variable-weight ordering, order cycles, and accounting/payment integrations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Food E-commerce Software Platform

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210), Other Specialty Food Retailers (44529), Special Food Services (7223)

SIC

Retail-Grocery Stores (5411), Retail-Food Stores (5400)

akta.pro primary industry

Grocery, Food & Essentials Commerce Platforms (BPAMAGAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Grocery & Specialty Food Marketplaces (CRAFABAE)

Keywords

• Food ecommerce platform
• Farm-to-consumer software
• Food hub management
• Local food marketplace
• Open source ecommerce

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Platform fees from shops and hubs: Listing a profile on OFN UK is free. Plans for shops and hubs start from as little as £1 per month. Shops can operate free up to $500/month in sales, then contribute 1-3% of their sales voluntarily as the business grows
2. Platform cooperative contributions: As a platform cooperative, users pay to help cover running costs in line with value received and ability to pay. This creates a sustainable model where growing enterprises contribute more

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Open Food Network UK is an open-source e-commerce and distribution platform built specifically for food sales, enabling farmers, food hubs, farmers' markets, food co-ops and community groups to set up online shops and sell directly to consumers. The software handles food-specific requirements such as variable weights, fractional quantities and food-specific stock levels, and supports order cycles, multi-producer shops, group directories, and integrations with accounting, marketing, payments and delivery tools.

Product overview

Open Food Network is an open-source software-as-a-service platform designed specifically for food supply chains. The core platform enables farmers, farmers markets, food co-ops, and food hubs to sell produce online, handling food-specific requirements like variable weights and non-standard units. The product portfolio includes: the core Open Food Network Platform with shopfronts for food enterprises; Producer Profiles (free) for showcasing businesses; Food Hub/Shop Accounts (from £1/month) for managing multi-producer shops and order cycles; Group Directory for regional or thematic collectives; Basic Integrations (£100 + £5/month) for pre-built workflow automation including SMS, email reports, stock alerts, Google Sheets, Mailchimp, Quickbooks, and Xero; Custom Integrations for bespoke requirements starting at £150; One-to-One Support and User Guide for onboarding; and Crowdfunding Advisory in partnership with Crowdfunder.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Open Food Network Platform Open-source e-commerce platform enabling farmers, food hubs, farmers' markets and food co-ops to sell produce online, with built-in support for food-specific measures, variable weights, fractional quantities and food-specific stock levels.
• Producer Profile Free profile listing for food producers to showcase their business on the OFN platform, with the option to upgrade to a paid online shop to sell products directly to customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 328,786 food orders completed on the platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CrowdfundercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Crowdfunder, a UK-based crowdfunding platform for community-spirited projects. OFN curates crowdfunding advice and tips for food enterprises, and Crowdfunder offers resources, workbooks, and interactive courses. Two founding members of Crowdfunder initially worked on the River Cottage program and share OFN's values around local food movement.
• XerocoreTechnology or IntegrationXero is an accounting software integration available to OFN users. Automatically create invoices for sales in Xero through OFN integration. OFN users like Cambridge Food Hub and Sole of Discretion use this integration for accounting.
• QuickBookscoreTechnology or IntegrationQuickBooks Online integration allows OFN users to automate invoice creation. Tamar Valley Food Hub uses QuickBooks for accounting while manually reconciling with OFN sales records at year end.
• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationStripe is the primary payment processor for OFN, handling card payments. Uses 2048 bit RSA SSL encryption. All card payments through Stripe require Strong Card Authorisation (SCA) as per UK Government legislation.
• Cooperatives UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperatives UK is a working partner of OFN UK, supporting the cooperative model of the platform.
• Slow Food UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSlow Food Supporter 2020 designation. Sole of Discretion works with Slow Food Belgium for wild salmon sourcing.
• Landworkers AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as working partner. Landworkers Alliance is a union of farmers and growers working for sustainable food systems.
• Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as working partner supporting community-supported agriculture initiatives.
• Biodynamic AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as working partner supporting biodynamic and organic food production.
• Sustain: The Food & Farming CampaignminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as working partner advocating for better food and farming policies.
• Social Farms and GardensminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as working partner supporting community food growing initiatives.
• Development Trusts AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as working partner supporting community-led development trusts.
• South West Good Food NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup of food hubs across Devon and Cornwall sharing suppliers to offer better product range and build hub turnover. TVFH is an active member.
• South West Grain NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork connecting millers and farmers supplying grain to Longstraw Bakery and other bakers in the South West, helping transition away from commodity grain.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Strengths4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/openfoodfoundation/openfoodnetwork
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/OpenFoodNetwork/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/openfoodnetworkuk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/openfoodnetworkuk
• Instagraminstagram.com/theopenfoodnetworkuk

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OPEN FOOD NETWORK U.K. COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY