It started with a peach.

 

Or rather… it started with a walk, a rest and a bite of something juicy. And a chat, some thinking and a bit of inspiration. And some friends, some neighbours and a taste of something good…

 

Well, every story has to start somewhere. It’s where they go next that’s interesting.

 

So back to that peach.

 

I’d been walking and talking with a friend, stretching our legs and enjoying Sheffield’s lovely wooded landscape as we headed out to Forge Dam. On the way back we stopped for a breather… and to buy a peach (each) from a shop on Ringinglow Road called Le Crunch.

 

Not from a supermarket or shopping centre or a warehouse on the edge of town. But from a shop I’d passed hundreds of times before – a greengrocer’s at the heart of our community.

 

While we were there I talked to Doreen behind the counter, and looked round at its gleaming fruit, its healthy vegetables, its potatoes and pineapples, its pears and plums.

 

I thought about Le Crunch as we walked back home, and realised that its colourful produce and those smiling faces needed support or they might not be around for long. So I decided that my days of supermarket shopping for fruit and veg were over. As far as my family and I were concerned, it was Le Crunch… or le nothing.

 

*

 

I soon realised that when I shopped at Le Crunch, I didn’t just get wonderful fruit and vegetables – although I definitely did get those things. I also got smiles and conversation along with a few handy tips from Russ, the owner, and advice about what to buy, and when, and what to do with it once I got it home.

 

So via a community WhatsApp group I talked up Le Crunch, and before I knew it I was taking neighbours’ orders and picking up their fruit and veg along with my own. And then delivering it, and chatting on the doorstep, and discovering what they liked best and what they were planning to cook.

 

I didn’t mind doing it. In fact I loved it!

 

At first I felt I was just doing my bit – helping friends and neighbours get the most from this amazing local shop. But my easy-going service went down so well that I began to think bigger. Not supersized, but just a little larger than before – covering more streets, more homes, helping even more people enjoy a taste of Le Crunch.

 

At which point, Each Peach was born.

 

*

 

Each Peach is my fruit and veg shopping service, dedicated to delivering quality produce to your door with a smile. (That’s my smile, naturally, because at Each Peach, service is always personal). 

 

I like to say that Each Peach is ‘fuelled by’ Le Crunch because the shop is at the heart of my service – I couldn’t do what I do without them. I work closely with Russ and his team, who source my produce using their decades of experience in the trade.

 

I admit that when it comes to picking out the best fruit and vegetables, I’m a fussy one. I get to Le Crunch while half of Sheffield is still in bed, and I handpick all my Each Peach orders from the back of their van as it arrives back from the market – before the produce even hits the shop’s shelves. You’d have to be up bright and early (even brighter and earlier than me) to beat Each Peach for freshness.

 

Then I hand deliver each order, always ready to chat on the doorstep and answer any questions my customers might have.

 

Want the same each week? No problem.

 

Need a hand coming up with your list? That’s fine.

 

Looking for a little advice about what you need? I’m always eager to help.

 

Plus we’ve got recipe ideas and videos to share, and you can chop and change your choices week by week.

 

There are no contracts and no commitment beyond your list for the week. Just the best fruit, veg and produce delivered to your door.

 

And because Le Crunch is at the heart of the service and our neighbourhood, it means we’re all supporting this local shop’s future – helping to make sure it’s around for a long time to come.

 

*

 

When I got home from that walk, I should have planted my peach stone because by now I’d have a bountiful metaphor to end this story.

 

But I didn’t. I just got on with my shopping, my cooking, my eating and living.

 

And grew a peachy new business instead.

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