Frequently Asked Questions

Food Shed is a marketplace for small-scale food producers.  It’s exactly like a Farmers Market, online! Inside, you’ll find fabulous food, sold direct to you by local producers.

Each producer has their own shop, where you can browse items they have in season, and find out a little bit more about the producer. Add whatever you like to your basket, and choose the applicable delivery method from the options offered by the producer.

You pay the producer directly, so they get paid a fair price and you get items direct from the producer.

Knowing the story behind your food makes for extra special meals and is a great way for children to learn more about the world around them. It’s also an easy way for you to ‘vote with your fork’ for producers who are creating proudly South African food systems, ones which are healthy for people and the planet.
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Economic Benefits: while ensuring product quality and a decent financial support to South Africa’s finest producers, prices can be lower because there are no intermediaries.
Environmental Benefits: Food Shed was created to improve access to sustainable food sources. For instance:

• Enhanced access to local, seasonal produce
• Ensure full traceability of products

Buyers can use Food Shed to order direct from producers for FREE. You have to sign-up with Food Shed to order, but doing this is free of charge.

Producers pay a fee to list on the site, but this depends on the number of items sold. See further information and options here.

Food Shed was originally aimed at the catering industry, but then we decided, why not be open to all?! So you can use Food Shed to order for your restaurant, Buying Club or family.

To order products, simply search by product or producer, or use the Category or ‘In Season’ links. You will be given a list of producers matching your search: Click on a producer’s name to visit the page of a producer.

From each producer, select the products you want to buy and specify a quantity. You can order from as many different producers as you like, in the same session. At checkout, choose how you want to receive your items from each producer.

On checking out, your order will be sent to the relevent producers and they will contact you with payment and delivery details.

Because the seller is the producer of the product, ensuring quality is critical. By ordering via Food Shed, you are buying directly from the producer and therefore can inform them directly of any concerns you have.

You pay your order directly to the producer, either on receipt of your items or before if requested by the producer. You do not pay Food Shed or pay via the Food Shed site.

The types of delivery available depend on the producer’s capabilities. These are detailed in the shopfront. The options are:

• Delivery
• Collection from producer
• Courier or Post Office Counter-to-Counter
• Pick up from farmers market

You can do your shopping at any time!

Yes, provided that the producer offers this service. You must then select this option during the checkout process.

You can request to set up a Trade Relationship with any producer that you are likely to make regular purchases from. By doing this, the producer can allocate a personal or discounted price list. These prices will be then be shown automatically when you login.

When you place an order, you will receive an automatically generated order number (e.g. #37).

However, because the order may be going to multiple producers, the order no. sent to the producer will include that number, followed by their own identifier (e.g. 37/9).

The producer can identify the order easily from your no. but any correspondence from them is likely to include their unique sub-order number too.

Community of Producers

With the collective power of the food producers on Food Shed, you have instant exposure, reaching foodies and food buyers looking for unique foods with provenance. And by selling direct, you have the opportunity to get to know your customers.

The internet made simple

We've made selling online simple, so you can focus on what you do best. You can change your product list and prices as often as you like and keep buyers up to date with upcoming products. You can even set wholesale or retail prices for individual buyers.

Variable shop size

Whether you have a few garden guavas, or are producing beer all year, our variable pricing scheme means you only pay for what you need.

Personalized Online Shop

No anonymous food here, each shop is all about you. We give you the space to share your story and your products, so your customers understand what makes your produce special. You even get a personal shop URL (web address), so you can direct customers straight to your shop (e.g. www.foodshed.co.za/burts-honey).

Anyone is able to sell on Food Shed, whether you are a farmer or a baker,  or even if you’re an individual with a fruit tree in your garden! You must first agree to abide by the Producers Charter.

It’s easy. You can register your details on the site and we’ll contact you with login details. After your free trial has ended, you can continue using the site for a small monthly fee or just let us know if you no longer require your Food Shed shop.

The ethos of Food Shed is all about increasing access to sustainable food, so only items that fit with our Producers Charter may be sold on Food Shed.

Being the Food Shed, we are focused on edible items, or those items inherently connected with food. We allow flowers to be sold because that is a perishable item used to beautify tables, but unfortunately, no crafty-type items can be sold on Food Shed.

No problem. In your seller’s admin area, you can create as many pricelists as you like and assign them to different buyers. You can also assign personal price lists for a buyer, once a trade relationship has been established.

Buyers can request to set up a trade relationship with you, and if you accept, you can allocate that buyer to a specific pricelist. When they log in, they will automatically view their assigned prices.

When an order is placed, the buyer will receive an automatically generated order number (e.g. #37).

However, because the client may be ordering from multiple producers, the number sent to each producer is the buyer’s order number, followed by their own reference no. (e.g. 37/9).