Farmdeals: Working to give more buying power to UK farmers

Introducing the digital-based buying group working with farmers to help them purchase inputs, at a fair price.

Challenging weather conditions, increasing input costs and fluctuating prices are pressurising farmers’ profit margins.

Farmers need all the help they can get to reduce overheads and secure the long-term sustainability of their businesses.

It’s this desire to help the farming community that prompted the creation of Farmdeals, a unique, farmer-driven buying platform.

Powered by FutureFarm software, it is 100% digital – providing an easy-to-use platform with no sign-up fee or financial commitments up front.

“What drew me to Farmdeals is its unique approach and the benefits this brings farmers,” explains Chris Hollingsworth, West Suffolk arable farmer and founding investor in Farmdeals.

“A traditional buying group has a large team of sale reps and big overheads, but Farmdeals is a lean, digital platform. Our overheads are minimal, and we pass these cost savings on to farmers

“Often suppliers won’t give you their best price, but will only look to beat others in the market. 

“The same product will be sold to different farmers at varying prices, based on what is the highest price they think a farmer will pay.

“At Farmdeals we do things differently, and costs for on-the-spot purchase products are clearly displayed on our platforms so farmers can be assured they’re getting the best deal. It is always our best price based on quantity and location.”

In the current economic climate, smaller farms are often under the most financial pressure, a motivating factor behind Farmdeals’ Collective Deals offering.

“Bigger agricultural businesses have more buying power and can often access cheaper prices for inputs,” continues Chris.

“With Collective Deals, multiple farmers of any business size can club together to log their interest on a product.

“The more farmers that join the deal, the more negotiating power we have with suppliers and the lower the final cost.

“It’s rewarding to see how much prices can by affected by one farmer sending out the deal to his neighbours and pooling their collective purchasing power. It’s a great way of empowering them.”

Farmdeals can be viewed via desktop and mobile devices using the FutureFarm app via the app store. Here, farmers have full access to the latest products and deals on offer.

“It costs nothing to join; the more members we have, the greater our influence in the supply chain,” says Chris. “This helps us work with new suppliers and negotiate lower prices.

“We’ve onboarded over 3,100 members, but want to get even more farmers involved.

“Farmdeals is passionate about helping farmers get the products they need to be as productive and successful as possible – and all at a good price.”

Collective purchasing power

One farmer member benefiting from this is Adam Driver, who runs an arable farming business covering 1,800ha around Bury St Edmunds.

Having heard good things about Farmdeals via online farming forums, Adam started using the buying platform over two years ago.

“It’s very user-friendly and I like how easy it is to view products and make purchases,” he explains.

“When you’re pressed for time but want to get a product at the best price, it’s a good platform to utilise.

“All it takes is a few clicks of a button on my phone or computer to secure products for delivery.

“I use Farmdeals to purchase inputs that I don’t need any supporting advice on.

“This is often bulk products like fuel, seed and fertiliser. I like how transparent everything is with regards to pricing, and generally, the more you buy, the lower the unit price you’ll secure.

“This isn’t always the case with some suppliers.”

Adam has also benefited from using Collective Deals and receives regular email reminders on the latest opportunities.

“For products you need a lot of when there’s no time pressure, Collective Deals are great,” continues Adam.

“Everyone wants to reduce costs on farm, and from my experience, buying fertiliser or chemicals through a Collective Deal can result in savings of 5-10%.

“Anything that we can do to access the best quality products, at the lowest price is going to help us remain profitable in the long term.

“That’s why I’m keen to utilise platforms like Farmdeals. I’m looking forward to seeing how the business expands and new products they offer in the future.”