Podcast Summary:

James Reed: all about business
Episode 62: How to stack revenue: The 3 levers that grow any food local business | Pete Russell
Date: January 19, 2026
Host: James Reed
Guest: Pete Russell, founder of Ooooby (Out of Our Own Backyards)

Episode Overview

This episode features Pete Russell, founder of Ooooby (“Out of Our Own Backyards”), an online platform committed to reconnecting small-scale food producers directly with local consumers. Russell shares the journey and evolution of Ooooby, how it empowers farmers, and explores the “three levers” for growing revenue in local food businesses. The conversation covers business model pivots, steward ownership, the future of food systems, and the revolutionary potential of AI-driven commerce.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What is Ooooby and Its Mission?

[02:07] Pete Russell introduces Ooooby:

• Ooooby (spelled with four ‘O’s) stands for “out of Our Own Backyards.”
• Purpose: "To help put small-scale back at the heart of the food system."
• Ooooby provides an e-commerce platform tailored for small-scale, ecological food producers to connect directly with consumers, manage logistics, and retain full retail value.

“We set Ooooby up as an online platform for small scale producers to be able to represent themselves online and to be able to connect with their local communities and own their own supply chain from their gate to the customer’s plate.” – Pete Russell [02:20]

Why Now?

• Inspired by the 2008 financial crisis and exposed fragility in global food supply chains.
• The current food system is overly centralized, with consequences largely unexamined by society.

2. How Ooooby Works

[04:24] Digital Marketplace for Local Food

• Farmers can set up an online shop, list produce weekly, manage subscriptions or one-off orders, and handle fulfillment using Ooooby’s logistical tools.
• The platform charges a 1.9% commission plus card transaction fees (~3-3.5% total).
• Delivery is handled by the producers themselves; Ooooby provides route optimization.

“It’s like a farmer’s market on your doorstep… The food is super fresh because oftentimes it’s been harvested that morning and delivered to your doorstep that day.” – Pete Russell [07:18]

• Customers locate their local supplier by postcode, fostering local relationships and direct buying.

3. Benefits and Barriers for Farmers

[09:06] Empowering Small Producers

• Farmers keep more value (full retail price) compared to selling to supermarkets.
• Platform suits supplementing, not replacing, current sales approaches.
• Initial adoption was challenging due to slow tech uptake among farmers, but momentum is building as models are proven.

“More and more farmers are realizing...I don’t have to turn up to a farmers’ market with all my food and not know who’s going to turn up and then have to bring it all back home again.” – Pete Russell [09:42]

4. The Three Levers for Growing Local Food Businesses

[15:04] Price, Convenience, Awareness

• Price: Fresh farm-direct produce is now cost-competitive, and sometimes cheaper than supermarkets.
• Convenience: Doorstep delivery and easy online ordering are now on par with supermarket e-commerce.
• Awareness: Main limiting factor; most people don’t realize direct local farm shopping is possible.

“There’s three main pillars to gaining market share. That’s price, convenience and awareness.” – Pete Russell [15:15]
“Now we’ve hit the convenience parity, we’ve hit pricing parity. The only missing thing is awareness.” [16:13]

• Marketing budgets are small at the farm level; physical flyers and local word-of-mouth (e.g., school newsletters, bulletin boards) still play key roles in growing awareness.

5. Business Evolution & Lessons Learned

[18:36] The Ooooby Pivot

• Started as a social network for food growers (2008) → evolved into logistics and supply chain operator → pivoted to focus solely on software-as-a-service (SaaS) for producers.
• 2019 pivot (moving logistics operations to local teams and focusing on SaaS) triggered rapid scaling (from 3 hubs in 10 years to over 150 in 5 years).

“It took us 10 years to get to three hubs… and then in the last five years, it’s over 150.” – Pete Russell [22:24]

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

• You can't “ride two horses”—focus beats trying to be good at everything.
• Strategic timing is crucial; what works at one stage may not work later.
• Meaningful, soul-satisfying work sustains resilience through near-death business moments.

“If I knew everything that I know now, I probably wouldn’t have started… It’s been a lot tougher than I thought it would be.” – Pete Russell [26:11]

6. Steward Ownership Explained

[28:00] What is Steward Ownership?

• Purpose-driven, for-profit model that separates “control” (given to mission-driven stewards) from “reward” (returns to aligned investors).
• Investors get capped returns; stewards keep voting rights, preventing future mission drift or misaligned company sales.
• Inspired by organizations like Bosch and Patagonia.

“Steward ownership…decouples those two rights and puts them into two separate buckets…” – Pete Russell [29:51]

7. The Decent Alliance – Scaling Through Collaboration

[32:00] Radical Collaboration Over Competition

• Ooooby, LinkedFarm (Belgium), and Plant on Demand (Spain) united to form the Decent Alliance: a coalition of like-minded platforms across Europe.
• Aim: Share technology, pool expertise, and collaboratively build new, AI-ready digital infrastructure for decentralized food systems.

“What could we do together that’s way more powerful than what any of us could do on our own?” – Pete Russell [32:17]

• Goal: Build a new, agentic commerce-ready tech stack that members can migrate to, maximizing efficiency and responsiveness.

8. Future of Food Commerce: The “Intention Economy” & Death of Advertising

[38:09] The Next Leap with Agentic Commerce

• Anticipating a shift from the “attention economy” (marketing, ads) to the “intention economy” (AI-driven agents handling purchases).
• Customers will simply state intentions (“I want local, fair, fresh food for this budget”), and AI agents will source the best matches.

“Marketing is dead. You will not… there will not be marketing in ten years.” – Pete Russell [41:02]
“We’re moving into a different paradigm... the AI era is so significantly larger than we can comprehend.” [43:22]

9. Optimism for Decentralized Food and the Lindy Effect

[43:00] Why Local Food Can Win

• Russell believes decentralized food systems can regain dominance, leveraging technology and aligning with long-term, resilient models (“the Lindy effect”).
• The current centralized model is a historical outlier (only 80 years out of 10,000+ of decentralized food).

“If we can play our cards right, we can re-decentralize the food system and have another 10,000 years of resilience and ecologically sound and socially sound food systems.” – Pete Russell [45:13]
“What has been around for a long time is likely to be around for a long time.” [45:21]

10. Practical Guidance & Closing Thoughts

[48:34] How Listeners Can Get Involved

• Consumers can find local producers at ooooby.org or ooooby.com using their postcode.
• High rates of customer satisfaction are typical due to close relationships and support.
• Farmers and producers can easily onboard via Ooooby’s demo and support team.
• Rural economies are especially well-served, but urban expansion is a future ambition.

“Our farmers are the people we rely on three times a day, probably people we rely on more than anyone else.” [51:32]

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “We’re like a Shopify for small scale, artisan, ecologically sound food producers.” – Pete Russell [04:24]
• “The only missing thing is awareness. Most people just do not know that that option’s available to them…” – Pete Russell [16:13]
• “That pivot… took us 10 years to get to three hubs, and then in the last five years it’s over 150.” – Pete Russell [22:24]
• “Steward ownership… separates shareholders’ right to profits and right to control.” [29:51]
• “Marketing is dead. Advertising is dead in 10 years.” – Pete Russell [41:02]
• “If we can play our cards right, we can re decentralize the food system and have another 10,000 years of resilience and ecologically sound and socially sound food systems.” – Pete Russell [45:13]
• “Our farmers are the people who we rely on three times a day.” – Pete Russell [51:32]

Memorable Moments

• Pete’s story of pivoting Ooooby from hands-on logistics to pure software, enabling rapid scaling and better focus. [19:43–22:20]
• The explanation and importance of steward ownership in protecting a company’s core mission. [28:00–31:41]
• The bold prediction that AI-driven commerce will make advertising and marketing obsolete. [40:43–41:03]
• The “Lindy effect” applied to decentralized food and resilience. [45:21–45:43]
• Pete’s candid admission that, knowing what he knows now, he might not have started Ooooby due to the sheer difficulty—but that the journey has been worth it for purpose and fulfillment. [26:11–27:58]
• Light-hearted closing: Pete’s new puppy “Suki” gets him up on Mondays, and his dream is to one day run his own small farm. [55:22–56:43]

Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:07] — Ooooby’s mission and origins
• [04:24] — How the platform works for producers and consumers
• [09:06] — The value proposition to farmers, barriers to adoption
• [15:04] — The “three levers” for growth: price, convenience, awareness
• [18:36] — Ooooby’s journey, pivots, and lessons learned
• [28:00] — What does “steward ownership” mean?
• [32:00] — Formation of the Decent Alliance and pan-European collaboration
• [38:09] — AI, agentic commerce, and the coming shift from marketing to the intention economy
• [43:00] — The future for decentralized food systems & the Lindy effect
• [48:34] — How to engage with Ooooby as a consumer or producer
• [55:22] — Personal reflections: motivation and future ambitions

Actionable Advice & Takeaways

• For consumers:
  Use Ooooby to find, buy, and build a relationship with your local food producer.
• For farmers/producers:
  Platforms like Ooooby offer a viable, low-cost route to the direct-to-consumer market.
• For entrepreneurs:
  Be prepared to evolve your focus, stay adaptable, and recognize when it’s time for a strategic pivot.
• For tech/platform builders:
  The future is collaborative; open alliances and new tech stacks can drive industry-wide change.
• For all:
  Awareness is the biggest barrier: spread the word about direct farm-to-consumer opportunities.

Closing thought:
“If you ask a hundred people, would you rather eat… broccoli that’s grown in this local farm organically delivered to your door, or would you rather eat this broccoli here that’s grown in a big, mass-produced, conventionally grown farm, wrapped in plastic… who’s going to pick that one? No one. We know everyone wants this one, but they don’t think they have the option for that.” – Pete Russell [52:40]