The Earth & Ocean Food Company®

What The Earth & Ocean Food Company® does

The Earth & Ocean Food Company® is a UK-based online marketplace, founded in 2020 by documentary cameraman Ash Meneely, that connects independent British artisan food and drink producers with consumers through a single, unified checkout. The platform hosts roughly 12 producer storefronts — including Atlantic Edge Oysters, Blackdown Ridge Vineyard, Calders Kitchen, Catch IOW, Duchess Farm, and EPRONTO — offering approximately 208 products across categories such as fresh seafood, pasta, vinegars, sauces, kombucha, condiments, edible servingware, nut butters, and curated hampers. Producers maintain their own branded shopfronts, list products, set shipping, and connect Stripe for payments, with Earth & Ocean taking a 6% commission on each completed sale and no upfront listing fee.

The underlying technology is a multi-vendor e-commerce marketplace built on WordPress/WooCommerce with the Dokan plugin for vendor management and Stripe for payment processing — a commodity open-source stack rather than proprietary infrastructure. The platform's differentiation is content-led: a 'Foodie Zone' editorial hub featuring producer profiles, chef stories, recipes, and foodie articles drives organic discovery, complemented by social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, an email newsletter, earned media coverage in Robb Report UK and Speciality Food Magazine, and a parallel founder-led media/filming service ('E&O Media'). The business is bootstrapped, founder-owned, UK-only, and operates with 1-10 employees; the site currently displays a temporary maintenance banner ('We are making some changes, please check back soon') suggesting an ongoing re-platforming or strategic pivot.

Name

The Earth & Ocean Food Company®

Legal name

Earth & Ocean Ltd.

Website

https://earthoceanfood.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Earth & Ocean Food Company® is a UK-based online marketplace founded in 2020 that connects roughly 12 independent British artisan food and drink producers with consumers through a single-checkout, multi-vendor storefront on WordPress/WooCommerce, earning a 6% commission on each sale.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Marketplace

NAICS

Fish and Seafood Retailers (44525)

akta.pro primary industry

Seafood Markets & Fishmongers (CRAHAHAC)

Keywords

• Artisan food marketplace
• Online food retailers
• Multi-vendor marketplace
• Independent producer store
• Artisan food distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Godalming

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Marketplace Commission: Earth & Ocean takes 6% commission on each sale made through the platform. Producers receive payment via Stripe integration. This is the primary revenue stream with zero upfront cost to sellers - they only pay when a sale is completed.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Earth & Ocean Food Company® operates an online multi-vendor marketplace that connects UK-based independent artisan food and drink producers with consumers. Producers create branded storefronts, list products, and ship directly to buyers, while the platform aggregates these into a single checkout experience. Earth & Ocean takes a 6% commission on each sale with no upfront listing fees for sellers.

Product overview

The Earth & Ocean Food Company® is a UK artisan food and drink marketplace operating as a multi-vendor e-commerce platform. The core product is the Earth & Ocean Marketplace, which connects independent British food and drink producers with consumers through individual branded Producer Shopfronts. Customers can discover and purchase products from multiple producers in a single transaction. The platform features 12 producer storefronts and over 200 products across diverse categories including fresh seafood (Oyster Products from Atlantic Edge Oysters), specialty pasta (Dried Goods & Pasta including einkorn and spelt varieties), wine vinegars (from Blackdown Ridge Vineyard), Italian-style sauces (Ragu Products from EPRONTO), fermented beverages (Kombucha), condiments (Chutneys & Condiments from Calders Kitchen), edible servingware (Edible Plates & Cutlery), nut butters, and curated gift hampers. The Foodie Zone content section provides editorial discovery through producer profiles and food articles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Earth & Ocean Marketplace An online multi-vendor marketplace connecting UK artisan food and drink producers directly with consumers, enabling discovery and purchase of products from independent producers through a single checkout experience. The platform operates exclusively in the UK domestic market.
• Producer Shopfronts (Vendor Storefronts) Self-serve branded shopfronts for independent UK artisan food and drink producers to list and sell their products on the Earth & Ocean platform. Producers manage their own inventory, branding, shipping, and connect Stripe for payment processing. Zero upfront cost to list; producers pay 6% commission per sale.
• E&O Media (Filming Services) Food content production and filming services for brands, channels, and broadcast TV shows, operated by founder Ash Meneely. Connects media enquiries to the same business identity.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Queen Margaret UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPRONTO developed the Seitan Vegan Ragu product in collaboration with Queen Margaret University's research team based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The university provided expertise in creating a plant-based meat alternative with traditional Venetian flavors.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• BigCommerce: Ecommerce platform provider with native multi-vendor marketplace capabilities enabling brands to launch their own curated marketplaces. An enabling competitor that lets producers build their own marketplace destinations rather than list on Earth & Ocean.
• Shopify: Leading ecommerce platform adopted by many artisan food producers for direct-to-consumer sales. Functions as an alternative channel producers can use instead of (or alongside) Earth & Ocean, and offers its own multi-vendor marketplace apps.

Direct peers

• Not On The High Street: UK online marketplace for independent makers and small businesses, with a substantial artisan food and drink category alongside gifts. Comparable in curating independent British producers, taking a commission per sale, and emphasizing provenance and storytelling.
• Farmdrop: Was a UK online marketplace delivering local and ethical food directly from independent producers to consumers in London and Bristol. Highly comparable model before its 2022 administration, illustrating both the opportunity and execution risks in UK local-food marketplaces.
• Yumbles: UK-based online marketplace for independent and artisan food producers. Directly comparable model aggregating small UK food/drink sellers with discovery and unified checkout, targeting the same consumer persona of food enthusiasts seeking independent British producers.
• The Food Assembly (La Ruche Qui Dit Oui): European online marketplace connecting local food producers directly with consumers via community pickup points. Highly comparable model for aggregating independent producers and offering unified ordering, though operating across France and other EU geographies.

Broad incumbents

• Etsy: Global online marketplace for handmade and artisan goods including a meaningful food and drink category. Comparable marketplace mechanics, producer onboarding, and storytelling features, but operates at vastly greater scale and serves an international rather than UK-only audience.
• Amazon Handmade: Amazon's curated artisan marketplace with food and drink offerings from independent producers. Comparable in offering producers a large consumer audience, but competes on logistics infrastructure, trust, and search discoverability rather than on UK artisan curation.

Regional players

• Abel & Cole: UK organic and ethical food box delivery service sourcing from independent producers. Comparable customer persona (food enthusiasts valuing provenance and sustainability) and overlapping producer base, though it operates a subscription box model rather than a multi-vendor marketplace.
• Riverford Organic Farmers: UK organic farm-to-door delivery service with a customer base of ethically minded food buyers. Targets the same consumer segment seeking independent and sustainable British food, though built on a single-farm cooperative model rather than a marketplace.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/earthoceanfood
• Facebookfacebook.com/earthoceanfood
• Instagraminstagram.com/earthoceanfood
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/earth-ocean-food

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 The Earth & Ocean Food Company®