Methodology
How every number is sourced.
This page backs every claim Produce Network makes on this site. For each one it gives the definition, the source it is read from, and when it was last reviewed. What is verified is stated as fact; self-reported figures are labelled as self-reported and published with their definition and date; what is illustrative is labelled as illustrative. Truth before speed. It is also where a procurement team should start a supplier approval process: a food supplier questionnaire asks for definitions, sources and certification, and each is named below against the claim it backs.
The claim register
What is verified, what is illustrative.
Each row is a kind of claim the site makes. Read the definition, the source it is drawn from, and how often it is reviewed. The status says whether it is stated as fact, or self-reported and reviewed.
The delivery window and the SLA
Verified- Definition
- A contracted 02:00–06:00 window per site, six days a week, delivered before service. A drop is on time when it is signed at the door inside the window; GPS and proof of delivery put the timing on the record.
- Source
- The delivery contract for the account and the proof of delivery logged at the door — signed, cold-logged and photographed.
- Cadence
- Set per account; held six days a week.
How a price is set
Verified- Definition
- A price is agreed at account setup against the sites, the volume and the price-locked list, written down before the first order, and held for the agreed pricing period. It is not read off a public rate card.
- Source
- The account agreement and the price-locked list. You are told in writing before a held price moves.
- Cadence
- Held for the agreed pricing period; reviewed when the period closes.
Origin and season
Verified- Definition
- The country and region of origin, and the UK season, published per line on the seasonal calendar. The grower and any certification are named on the price-locked list for the account, against each line — not on the public page.
- Source
- The buying record, ported to the public calendar; the grower and certification on the per-account price-locked list.
- Cadence
- Reviewed periodically; last reviewed August 2026.
One record and the invoice
Verified- Definition
- One invoice per site, consolidated to the finance director on 30-day terms, already matched to the order and the proof of delivery. A credit is raised against the order and applied to the statement.
- Source
- The order, the proof of delivery and the statement — held as one record, not three to reconcile.
- Cadence
- Per order; consolidated per statement period.
Headline figures (lines carried; two figures withheld)
Self-reported- Definition
- Lines carried (1,230), counted from the current catalogue. Two figures published here until September 2026 — kitchens supplied, and delivery-window compliance — are withheld until they can be derived from a logged record.
- Source
- The line count is read from the catalogue build, which prints its derivation, and is reviewed periodically — self-reported, published with its definition and review date, not independently audited. The two withheld figures were removed because nothing in the operating record derives them: the invoice book bills accounts rather than counting kitchens supplied, and no system records signed-at-the-door times, so a compliance percentage has no denominator. Each returns as soon as it can be read from a record and stated as a fraction rather than a rounded percentage.
- Cadence
- Reviewed periodically; last reviewed August 2026.
Food safety
Verified- Definition
- Registration as a food business with the local authority for Arch 71, New Covent Garden Market, and a food safety management system based on HACCP principles — the two things UK law requires of every food business. Plus cold-chain temperature logging from market to door.
- Source
- The local authority holds the registration and inspects against it; the Food Standards Agency sets the framework both sit under. The registration details and the HACCP plan are available on request before an account opens.
- Cadence
- Reviewed at each local authority inspection.
Reply time (within the hour, 24/6)
Verified- Definition
- A new request is answered within the hour, around the clock, six days a week. The desk closes Saturday 12:00 and reopens Sunday 18:00; a request sent in that window is answered from Sunday evening.
- Source
- The message log on the account inbox and WhatsApp Business.
- Cadence
- Continuous; the closed window is fixed.
Worked examples in the journal
Illustrative editorial- Definition
- Any percentage or pound figure in a journal article is a worked example from a stated premise — an arithmetic illustration of how a number behaves, not a measured rate from our operations or a cited industry statistic. The figure that matters is the one you read from your own waste log, trim weights and invoices.
- Source
- The article body states the premise the arithmetic is worked from. No performance or market figure in the journal is asserted as fact; none is read from our operating systems or an external study.
- Cadence
- Reviewed with each editorial change to the article.
Last reviewed
When each claim was last checked.
The operational claims on the network were last reviewed August 2026. Claims are reviewed periodically. Self-reported figures are published with their definition and review date and labelled as self-reported; a figure that needs independent audit is held back until it is checked rather than published early.
The provenance behind a line is published on the seasonal provenance calendar.
Common questions
Questions about the numbers.
They are self-reported from our own operating systems and reviewed periodically — last reviewed August 2026 — and published with their definition. They are labelled as self-reported, not dressed up as independently audited. The method behind the on-time figure is a contracted 02:00–06:00 window, signed and cold-logged at the door, with GPS and proof of delivery putting the timing on the record.
The origin country and region, and the UK season, are drawn from the buying record and published per line on the seasonal calendar. The named grower and any certification sit on the price-locked list for the account, against each line, not on the public page.
The operational claims were last reviewed August 2026. Claims are reviewed periodically; each published figure carries its definition and the date it was last reviewed, and self-reported figures are labelled as such.
The delivery window and SLA, how a price is set, origin and season, accreditation, reply time and the one-record invoice are operational facts, stated as fact. The headline counts and percentages are self-reported from our own operating systems — published with their definition and review date, and labelled as self-reported rather than independently audited.
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