By Steven Penn
CNHI
INDIANAPOLIS —
By Steven Penn
steven.penn@flyergroup.com
Green B.E.A.N. Delivery offers its customers the chance to have
fresh, natural food delivered to their doorsteps.
John Freeland, Green B.E.A.N. vice president of sales and
marketing, said the company was founded in Indianapolis in 2007
by his college friend, Matt Ewer, president, and Elizabeth Blessing,
co-owner.
“Matt spent five years prior (to 2007) in Seattle, where he met his
mentor (and learned about) Community-Supported Agriculture
(CSA),” Freeland said.
He said Ewer’s plan was to develop a more feasible CSA model
based on what consumers needed, while incorporating Internet
ordering and home delivery to bring products from a network of
farmers and artisans to the customers’ doors.
“The mission has been to make healthy and local food more
convenient, affordable, and accessible,” Freeland said. “We don’t
consider ourselves a luxury service. There’s just a $35 minimum
and there are no sign-up fees.”
Freeland said Green B.E.A.N. — which is an acronym for
Biodynamic Education Agriculture Nutrition — works with farmers
weeks in advance to predict harvest yields in an attempt to provide
the best available food each week.
He said Green B.E.A.N. offers different sized bins that customers
can look at on the website.
“Each Thursday at 3 p.m., our virtual store opens up and customers
can look at what we found,” Freeland said. “They have the ability to
customize their order for their family.”
For instance, he said, if a family doesn’t eat a specific fruit or
vegetable, they can subtract that from their order and add in
something they will eat.
There is also a grocery section of the virtual store, which offers about
1,000 products like milk, eggs, meat, bread, and even coffee.
Freeland added there are some national brands available and
customers can be sure that everything purchased is 100 percent
natural.
He said Green B.E.A.N. offers its customers the avenue to get into
healthy eating habits by taking away some of the excuses that come
with a busy schedule.
The company’s expansion has been driven by customers’ needs
and the food, he said.
“The food has driven us to make some of these decisions, in terms
of expansion,” Freeland said. “In early 2009, we opened in
Cincinnati.”
Since the expansion there, he said, the company now has main
hubs in Columbus, Ohio, and Louisville, Ky.
In addition, the main hubs of Indianapolis and Cincinnati also
deliver to submarkets in Fort Wayne, Muncie, and Dayton, Ohio.
“It’s about figuring out ways to service smaller communities and
major metropolitan areas,” Freeland said. “Everyone deserves the
opportunity to support local farmers. It has been a neat
accomplishment to reach out to smaller communities.”
Jennifer Griffin of Plainfield has been using the service for about the
last two years.
“They had a Groupon, and it sounded really interesting,” Griffin said,
“so I bought that and stayed.”
She said Green B.E.A.N. Delivery has made her life easier and has
helped her stay on a healthy track.
“It’s a really good, healthy option,” Griffin said. “I work full-time and
then go to school at night, so I don’t have a lot of time to shop. It’s
nice to have it delivered to your house.”
Griffin added that she enjoys being able to customize her order and
add in products like gluten-free options, which are reasonably priced
and sometimes hard to find when shopping in a more traditional
sense.
For more information about Green B.E.A.N. Delivery, visit the website
at www.greenbeandelivery.com.
