This week, in honour of Valentine’s Day, we wanted to share a touching letter from long-term Riverford customer and Wicked Leeks reader Chantal Gagnon. The letter was originally published by Pilgrimage Design on its podcast, Branding Love Letters. Chantal is the founder of neurodivergent-friendly stationary company Socolo.
Dear Riverford,
I have been your customer since 2014, maybe earlier. You have always supplied me with the best-tasting produce in the UK. You have helped me get more experimental with my cooking, using vegetables that I have never seen and also do not know the name of. You have been there for me through my juicing crazes and various obsessions with different fruits and vegetables and herbs. You keep me eating vitamin-rich food while pulling all-nighters to get projects done.
I remember seeing your colourful vans all around London, telling me about ‘living life on the veg’, and me thinking that’s exactly how I want to live. I love the tongue-in-cheek produce puns and your Wicked Leeks magazine, where I can keep up to date on sustainability and ethical business practices. Everything in this magazine I always find so inspiring, and I try to incorporate in my business in other ways.
I will be so sad if your branding ever changes, from the elevated organic potato carving prints, to the handmade fonts, to the cardboard boxes. I love all your perfect imperfections. Keep up the good work on doing good work. I look forward to your emails, with new recipes and videos showing me how to use a cauliflower in more ways than I could have ever imagined. Who knew I would be so excited about eating the leaves of a cauliflower? You sure did.
You make every Wednesday feel like Christmas Day and every Tuesday night feel like Christmas Eve. On Tuesday nights, like clockwork, I put my empty colourful cardboard boxes out on the doorstep, excitedly awaiting them to be filled with goodies by the time I wake up in the morning.
Every April Fools’, you get me with your jokes about selling organic soil. Please stop making this a joke and make this into an actuality; I could use a few boxes of quality soil for the vegetables I grow in my allotment from the seeds of the vegetables you bring me.
Thank you for being you.
Love,
Chantal
Who do you value this Valentine’s Day? Share a thank you, tribute or moment of recognition for family, friends, communities or food producers in the comments below.
I agree so much with this lovely letter, the veg I receive each week inspires and delights me, as does all the information in your magazine. Thank you Chantal for reflecting my views so beautifully.