Tech For Good – Feat. Good Sixty

We recently caught up with Chris Edwards, Founder of Good Sixty, a unique marketplace for high quality independent food retailers and producers

The purpose of the Tech For Good series of interviews is to create a platform that showcases and champions companies, products and technologists who are using technology as a force for positive change in the world.

Joe @ ADLIB: Can you please introduce yourself, what your business does and what makes your business and offering unique and a force for good?

Chris: I’m Chris, the founder of Good Sixty. Good Sixty brings independent food businesses together in one place online so shoppers can browse and buy from a wealth of smaller shops in one drop, ploughing money back into the local economy.

With our zero-emission delivery service, we provide an eco-friendly and sustainable alternative to shopping at a supermarket.

Our service is perfect for busy people who may not have the time to visit their high-street shops or food markets but want to see them thrive.

Why the name Good Sixty? Because ‘Every pound you spend with a local independent store, or producer has a 60% greater economic benefit to your local community than spending it with a large supermarket’.

And it’s ‘good’ because it’s good for customers, good for the community, and good for the planet.

Joe @ ADLIB: Can you share the story behind the origin of your business and Service / Product?

Chris: I founded Good Sixty in Bristol in 2017 after previously founding and managing a successful digital agency. I grew up on Bristol’s Gloucester Road, a famously independent high street with an incredible tapestry of local businesses.

I realised it was becoming increasingly under threat from major retailers, online giants and the rise of national veg, meat and meal-kit box schemes. I knew that my friends and other Bristolians love to support local food & drink businesses but simply didn’t have the time to physically visit all of their favourite retailers around the city when doing their weekly grocery shop.

So I set out to create a solution: a grocery delivery service that offers convenience with a conscience!

Joe @ ADLIB: Can you share some tech challenges or barriers you had to overcome to create a Product / Service offering with potential, whilst remaining ‘for good’?

Chris: During the COVID pandemic we saw a surge in the need for home delivery as well as a need for people to support their local retailers.

In order to support local retailers we quickly improved the service to prevent retailers from being overwhelmed and allow them to continue trading.

We additionally added features to allow more retailers to benefit from the demand by allowing them to receive recurring revenue from subscriptions as well as grouping multiple retailers to save additional journeys.

Joe @ ADLIB: Why do you think is it a growing trend for tech professionals to seek out opportunities to work in purpose-driven businesses?

Chris: People are becoming more and more conscious about the environment and their local communities. They are trying to make the right choices in their private lives. Whether it’s by recycling, shopping from independent local retailers instead of going to large supermarkets, reducing our waste, or cycling to work.

For many employees it is also important that the company they work for reflects all those values and further improves the quality of lives of the surrounding them communities.

Joe @ ADLIB: What has been the key thing you’ve learned about ‘tech for good’ and your target audience specifically?

Chris: Our customers are foodies who want to eat the best quality food they can find. They love their cities and want to support their local communities. They want to know where exactly the products come from, they care about the air quality and they hate any unnecessary packaging. Sometimes, they don’t have time or are not able to go to their local high street and spend a couple of hours shopping from their local independent shops. Good Sixty provides them with the solution to that problem. They can shop online, and have their favourite food delivered by zero emissions vehicles.