What is REKO?
REKO is where producers and makers - be that fresh produce, skincare, cheese, herbs, local chef prepared meals, eggs, meat, sour doughs, gf desserts - advertise what they have available to purchase at the weekly pick-up.
Customers order and pay online and pick up their orders, each week at a pre-determined drive-thru location and time.
Small farmers and producers love to connect with their customers. It is important to us that you know how our artisanal approaches differ from large scale production, and REKO allows us to tell those stories, in person, COVID safe, every week – and we get to know each other too!
REKO is an online farmers’ market that aims to grow awareness of local makers and producers and connect them with local customers.
It means responsible consumption in Swedish and is essentially an online market for producers to sell direct to customers, without the middleman. The first one was in Finland in 2013.
“This is now a COVID-19 recovery tool,” Jacki says. “It’s ideal for producers of all sizes because they don’t have to invest in marketing, stalls, site fees or point-of-sale equipment, they just have to participate in their local REKO and ensure their packaging is up to scratch.”
Bringing REKO to Australia
In early 2020, Jacki Hinchey of Blue Dog Farm (pictured with Celebrity Chef Allaister McCleod) heard about the REKO Ring concept (watching her morning news) and immediately identified it as an opportunity that she would love to bring to Australia.
Within weeks of hearing the idea, the world went into lockdown and Jacki remembers the REKO Ring model, which she believed would be an opportunity to support local producers, makers and growers that were hurting due to supply chain issues and lockdowns.
Since this initial launch, the inaugural REKO Dayboro has grown to become a sustainable model, now adopted by over seven local REKO networks throughout South East Queensland and is now being rolled out Australia-wide
