A FRUIT and veg supplier has turned to home delivery to keep its business afloat and retain staff during the coronavirus pandemic.

Four Seasons Fruiterers in Cricklade now sends boxes of fresh produce to customers across the county – and gave several to staff at Great Western Hospital.

Before the lockdown, the company supplied restaurants, pubs, hotels, nursing homes, colleges, retail outlets and schools in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds and beyond.

To avoid losing most of its business overnight, staff quickly worked on adapting to a delivery service for people in the area.

Many of changes were needed – including a new website set up in three days by The Local Marketing Business boss Paul Kurnyta.

Managing director and owner Franco Ventriglia said: “The learning curve has been pretty steep. While the new systems were being tested in real-time, it has thrown up a few challenges.

“But day by day we’ve been resolving some initial teething problems and the service is now running smoothly.”

“We have processed more than 2,500 orders in 10 days serving customers from across the region. Many of the customers placing orders have already enquired as to whether we will be continuing this service beyond the lockdown when things return to some form of normality.

“We actually toyed with the idea a year ago but decided to bench it for the time being – nothing like a global emergency to make you rethink your plans.”

The current waiting time for delivery is around one week from order to delivery, but this is expected to improve as the service is developed and things settle down from the initial wave of orders.

New features like being able to place recurring orders and being able to select morning or afternoon deliveries are in the pipeline.

Mr Ventrigilia added: “For now, though, we are just thankful to still have our staff in their jobs and a business to come to every day.

“Without this service, the business would have been faced with the extremely unpleasant task of laying off staff and even having to close its doors.

“So we are very grateful for the support we’ve received by customers placing orders with us.”

The mixed veg boxes contain daily essentials like onions, potatoes, carrots, leek, cabbage, along with some slightly unconventional items. For example, last week’s box had tenderstem cauliflowers.

The mixed fruit box contains apples, oranges, bananas and pears, along with some seasonal favourites like strawberries, pineapples and kiwis.

The contents of both boxes can change weekly, depending on what is available.

The company has added a lot more products to the online shop, with more lines being added daily to try and meet demand.

Daily staples are available, like milk, bread and eggs, through to other essential cooking ingredients and products, like oils, pasta, tinned goods and cheese.

For more information, visit fourseasonshome.store