In an effort to support local food production in and around the city of Norwich in Norfolk, UK, partners Josiah Meldrum, Nick Saltmarsh, and William Hudson started their bean and grain brand, Hodmedod, in 2012. Much like the foods they were trying to revitalize, the name derives from a forgotten word in East Anglian dialect that refers to something curled - a hedgehog, snail, wisp of hair, or presumably a bean plant. Since its inception, Hodmedod has helped spur a bean resurgence, creating new market opportunities for homegrown varieties like fava beans and carlin peas. Given the parallels in our work, we’re thrilled to have recently visited with Josiah and his team to learn more about the Hodmedod's story and evolution.
Beanstory: When you initially set out to create a more sustainable food system, beans weren't your focus. What about beans won you over?
Josiah Meldrum: We knew that beans needed to be part of any sustainable food system. They’re such a great crop for us and soil. And our partners love growing them because they’re so important rotationally. But beyond that, we discovered a rich history of beans in the UK that really excited us. Beans have been part of agriculture in the UK since the Iron Age. And even when people weren’t eating them locally, beans were grown here and used as animal feed or shipped abroad. We saw lots of potential to regain interest.
B: With a shoestring budget, how did you initially market your brand and gain traction?
JM: We’ve had no external funding to date - so we’ve had to grow slowly. We started with a regional focus in East Anglia, packing up boxes of beans and adding a little card to each package for customers and chefs to send in their feedback. This helped build interest and inquiry without spending on marketing. Initial interest was overwhelmingly positive, so we knew we had something there. We now sell all over the country, but it took time to get there.
B: How do you think your brand can be a model for revitalizing local food systems?
JM: I think we’re modeling new ways to form economic relationships with one another - ones that are less destructive and more regenerative. We’ve formed very transparent relationships with our farming partners. We put their names on our packs if they want them there. This means that customers could go to these farms directly. While this might occasionally cost us some sales, often these connections open up completely new opportunities for the farmers’ we work with - we don’t want to be the sole channel by which our partners thrive. We want them to have strong direct businesses while still being able to supply us with beans to meet growing demand beyond their farm gate. We’ve had a hand in changing how our partners operate and have seen their businesses develop in ways they wouldn’t have otherwise - so that’s part of creating new models and opportunities, too.
"We’ve had a hand in changing how our partners operate and have seen their businesses develop in ways they wouldn’t have otherwise - so that’s part of creating new models and opportunities, too."
B: What are some barriers that you've faced in growing your business?
JM: Many of the barriers we’ve faced are around mindset. When we started, we had to build a market for beans. Very few people in the UK were eating favas - and so we had to create demand and get people excited about eating locally grown pulses. Likewise, while people might not think twice about how much they spend on a pint of beer, they don’t seem as willing to place value on paying more for a bag of beans - which traditionally has carried the stigma of being food for the poor. We’ve had to help change perception in this area and we’ve seen lots of progress. The conversations we were having ten years ago were so much more difficult than they are now.
B: How important is it to you that your farmers are organic? How do you support organic growers?
JM: It’s very important to us, we know our customers really value it. It's the only really widely recognised standard that tells people how their food was grown, expects rigour and dedication from farmers, and respects soil and ecological health. When we started, no one was growing organic peas or beans in the UK for human consumption. Some of our farmers were always organic, some we’ve supported as they transition to organic, but not all we work with are. At times that means compromise - so that while on a particular farm our crops aren’t sprayed, other crops around them might be. But what we’re trying to do, beyond growing a business, is offer a new framework that supports farmers to become more agroecologically minded.
"What we’re trying to do, beyond growing a business, is offer a new framework that supports farmers to become more agroecologically minded."
B: With increased unpredictability in growing conditions, how do you think food systems can be more resilient to climate change?
We need to diversify the crops we’re growing and what we’re putting on our plates. There are so many different foods we could be eating and ways to cook those foods. British diets have become much more adventurous over the last 20 years and there’s so much opportunity to keep broadening what we eat. Diversity is core to tackling the changes to come.
B: What is the biggest challenge that climate change presents for your work?
What we can grow today might not be what we can grow in the future. This again highlights the importance of diversifying what we grow now, learning new approaches and finding as many routes to market as possible. We often talk about the larger farms we work with being caught in the commodity trap - once you’ve scaled to serve global markets and accept global prices it’s very hard to jump off the merry-go-round.
B: You got into the bean world to bring about radical systems change. Have you seen real change and if so, how?
I think it’s easy / tempting to map a system, identify intervention points, apply some pressure and expect change - and attempt at planned change. But systems are emergent, inherently chaotic and constantly changing and adapting - we’ve done our best to embrace emergence by nurturing networks, operating transparently, supporting other start-ups, giving time to not-for-profits and campaigning/activist organisations. Looking back it’s possible to see incredible change but almost impossible to identify the moment it started, looking forward it’s hard to map a clear path. My measure of how much things have changed is my own network, back in the late 90s and early 2000s it felt almost possible to know everyone involved in alternative food systems thinking and action. Now it’s impossible. I discover new and incredible things every day - projects, businesses, organisations who are changing the world for the better.
B: What advice would you give to someone who wants to create change in the food industry?
Maybe don’t be the first mover! Trust me, it’s hard. Although, then again, someone has to do it. Why not be you?
Thank you, Josiah!
To learn more about Hodmedod, visit them online.
