For those who set up their grazing box business legally, registered with their local council and purchased a hygiene certificate, the Facebook commerce could be off the hook. Jodie Robertson begins Happy Platter Company out of her flat in London at the start of the pandemic when her partner, a chef by training for 25 years, lost her regular job. Robertson sells her boxes through her website, not social, and says she understands why people buy and sell grazing boxes on Facebook, but can also see where they went wrong.
“I understand why people [sold them] “Through the lockdown, I’m not going to make it difficult for anyone, it’s been a difficult time for a lot of people,” said Robertson. However, that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable for people to ignore regulations or tear people up, Robertson added. “I think I would personally be able to tell if they really just went to the supermarket and bought all the stuff. I think it’s a real hit for any customer when people come and do it,” she said.
Robertson’s partners make most of the goods in the box themselves, including dipping sauces, jams and chutneys, as well as bread and pastries. Some local imitators sprang up after they started their business, says Robertson, although many gave up after realizing it wasn’t easy. “I guess it’s easy if you buy some cheap, flimsy boxes of cakes on Amazon and go to Lidl and buy them and take them home,” she says, explaining that there are “hidden costs” involved, such as finding Courier supplies with valve refrigerators, find cheese suppliers and install additional storage in their homes. “We have quite a few fridges in our apartment now,” she laughs.
Robertson says she believes people buy grazing boards and boxes because they want to post pictures of them online. The majority of her clients are women, mostly in their late twenties, although she occasionally has clients in their sixties. “I think the popularity is just that it’s so easy to use,” she said. Florence Swift, 30 year old founder based in London Garner & Graze, operates out of a studio space, where she is licensed to make everything from bagels to banana bread from scratch. She also sells through a website, not social media, and says 80% of her customers during the store lockdown sent boxes as gifts to friends.
“It was a lot of birthdays, ‘wish we could be together’, a lot of people sending them to friends who just had kids. Sometimes it’s like, ‘I know things are a little bit bad right now so I hope this makes you a little happier,'” she says. Like Robertson, Swift says most of her clients she is a woman and her male customers often buy boxes for their girlfriends or sisters.Swift says when she first started her business in 2019, she knew of only two other grazing companies. in London. “And then with the lockdown, now that there’s so much, it’s crazy.”
