Market day is but a click away
JOBURG - A desire to live as healthy life as possible and an awareness of what can affect us led Thandi Puren and Bevan Rees to make a few changes in their lives.
Only, as these things do, these changes snowballed into something that could be of benefit to more people than just this innovative couple, their family and friends.
Timothy & Clover, an online food market that will deliver fresh, organic, pasture-reared and whole foods throughout the city, is Puren and Rees’ answer to the over-supply of processed, lacklustre foods that so often line supermarket shelves.
“We always wanted to grow our own food, and having children made us think even more about food,” said Puren.
“It’s not possible to grow everything one needs, so we would go to markets all over town, which is something we still love doing.”
The couple spent time sourcing food from local farmers and suppliers to be able to make a complete lifestyle change.
“As we did this, our friends would ask us to bring things back from markets for them. Things really changed for us when we took a family trip to France and were exposed to the incredible market and food culture there.”
Through their contact with suppliers in and around Joburg, the couple found that establishing relationships of trust with farmers and consumers became an important part of their quest.
“It’s about complete transparency. Through our website, we let people know who these farmers are, so they know where their food comes from.”
And the name Timothy & Clover?
“We were reading Charlotte’s Web to our children, and found a passage that mentioned Timothy and clover grasses. It felt good to us and I think it represents traditional notions of farming,” said Puren.
Speaking about the response of the public to the website, Puren said it had been “incredible”.
“In the second week of this year, our orders had already doubled. However, organic and wholefood markets are still quite a fringe thing in South Africa… I believe in it, and think there will be a natural progression toward this culture,” she said.
“We’re not the only ones doing this, so we want to be good at it and help create a culture that makes living like this fantastic.”
Details: www.timothyandclover.co.za
