Crowd brewing

Brewer taps the local crowds to create a new beer

We've already seen several breweries get funded by the crowds, so why shouldn't they tap the masses for a little product innovation, too? That, indeed, is just what the UK's Leeds Brewery is doing, with a new promotion whereby local beer-lovers will get to have a say in the creation of a new, special edition ale.

This June will see the closure of the longstanding Tetley Brewery in Leeds, making the Leeds Brewery the largest in the city. To commemorate that fact, the Leeds Brewery next month will produce a range of beers and ask local consumers to “pick a pint.” Specifically, it will invite beer fans to taste the various brews, vote for their favorite and help choose the new beer's name. A panel of local Leeds celebrities will taste-test an initial set of beers, narrowing it down to a final shortlist, according to a report in the Guardian. Those final contenders will then be served up to the public at various pubs, where consumers will be able to sample and vote for them as well as help to pick a name. The more suggestions made, in fact, the cheaper the first pint will be when it's finally unveiled, the brewer says. That winning ale will be announced on June 10, at the start of a weekend beer festival hosted by the brewer.

If New Zealand consumers are interested in helping to design a chocolate bar and Krispy Kreme fans get excited aboutdesigning a brand-new doughnut, you can bet with no small amount of certainty that UK beer lovers will welcome with open arms the prospect of helping to create a new, (still) made here ale. The promotional punch for the brewer, meanwhile, will come as a lovely chaser. (Related: New beer brand offers company shares with each carton sold — Beer-loving crowd aims to buy Pabst Brewing Co. for $300 mln — Crowdsourced restaurant taps local community.)

Website: www.goodbyetetleys.co.uk
Contact: info@leedsbrewery.co.uk

CROWD FARMING

MyFarm lets the crowds take control of a real-world farm

The crowds have changed the shape of many enterprises over the years, be it through crowd-management, crowdfunding or crowdsourcing. However, MyFarm — a new project from the UK’s National Trust — takes crowd-management to an area we’ve never seen it before: farming.

The 2,500-acre farm, which belongs to the Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, is calling for 10,000 online farmers to govern every aspect of its operations. These subscribers need have no previous farming experience, and will become official “MyFarmers” once they have paid their GBP 30 annual subscription. They will then be able to work with farm manager Richard Morris and the other subscribers to discuss issues and vote once a month on the farm’s major decisions.

These decisions are divided into three broad categories: crops being grown, the livestock being bred and general wider issues regarding the farm’s interaction with the environment. Morris will establish the context for these decisions by providing the choices the MyFarmers can vote for, and he will also share his knowledge and offer advice through the MyFarm blog and videos. Subscribers will also receive a free family ticket to the estate and its farm, which usually retails at GBP 38.70, as well as access to the farm’s webcams and radios. An article in The Guardian reports that there are also plans in place for a smartphone app, which will enable Morris to get near-instant decisions from the farmers on a day to day basis — particularly on issues arising from changes in weather.

We saw Tweetland taking social network activity and applying it to a game environment, and now My Farm has taken anonline gaming model and applied it to the real world. We have no doubt that bridging the gap between online and offline worlds will continue to provide a rich source of innovation for businesses far and wide! (Related: Urban farming expands onto school grounds
— Connecting buyers and sellers of agricultural goods & services — Scottish barley farm builds onsite brewery.)

Website: www.my-farm.org.uk
Contact: contact-my-farm@nationaltrust.org.uk

FASTFOOD VAN GLOBAL NAAR GLOCAL

Fast food chain goes local

Fast food restaurants have long been domains of guilty indulgence, something that Burgerville is set to change. Although it's been around in the Pacific Northwest since the 1960s, Burgerville is committed to supplying its patrons with local, seasonal and organic food options.

Beef and cheese are purchased from hormone-free farms in Oregon, and all of Burgerville's produce is locally sourced—meaning customers won't find a strawberry shake in December. They will, however, find sweet potato fries and pumpkin shakes in autumn and Walla Walla onion rings in the summer. In addition to its focus on sustainable ingredients, Burgerville runs its 39 restaurants as greenly as possible. Its canola oil is recycled into biodiesel fuel after its cooking life has ended, it has a wind-generated electricity investment programme, and there is a staff-initiated composting and recycling scheme. Food is priced marginally above other chains (for instance, a Yukon & White Bean Burger costs USD 5.29 and rosemary shoestring potatoes USD 2.99), but can be justified by the extra effort involved.

Although Burgerville certainly isn't the only fast food joint to source locally and act sustainably, it's one of the biggest chains that have gone that direction. If fast food chains, so recently the antithesis of all that's eco-friendly, healthy and democratic, can do a 180 with their business—can't anyone? (Related: Meatless fastfood chains.)

Website: www.burgerville.com
Contact: www.burgerville.com/about-us/contact-us

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