Riverford founder: Why I ditched management consultancy to farm 3 acres of organic veg in the 1980s

Guy Singh-Watson, 66, still has some of the old hoes and seed drills he used to plant, then pick the first leeks at his fledgling business 40 years ago. 

A decades-old tractor called ‘the beast’ that a local mechanic now refuses to mend sits in the corner of a field at his Devon firm’s sprawling HQ.

The old tools and machinery may now stand still, but organic vegetable box company Riverford continues to plough on. 

At a time when supermarkets and their suppliers are under pressure to cut costs further, it seems there is still appetite for smaller-scale companies to sell directly to customers.

Riverford boxes of organic vegetables start at £20 and are delivered to 70,000 customers a week. Its turnover last year rose 6 per cent to £117 million. 

So does Singh-Watson, who was plain Guy Watson before marrying gastropub entrepreneur Geetie Singh in 2014, ever get nostalgic? 

He smiles: ‘Sometimes I think how on earth did this all happen? I meet people in the pub I paid 50p for a bag of carrots in the 1980s or remember my first child buried in artichoke seeds as I pushed down a pram planting them every metre.'

Guy Singh-Watson founded Riverford in the mid-1980s before the organic boom took off

The seeds for Riverford were planted when in 1985, he returned to his parents’ farm, where they had been primarily dairy and livestock farmers since the early 1950s. 

Quitting a career in management consultancy, he planted the first three acres and began growing organic vegetables a year later.

When he started, Singh-Watson would pull up the vegetables and by 9 o’clock they were at greengrocers in local towns, while he also sold produce from the back of his Citroen 2CV in Totnes.

In 1987 he launched Riverford and ‘extraordinary growth’ then came in the late 1990s as organic became aspirational. But there have been hurdles to negotiate, not least when he progressed to selling to organic wholesalers in London.

‘They robbed me blind,’ he recalls. ‘One took all my one-year profits, declared himself bankrupt and was trading somewhere else the next day.’

Singh-Watson says that as a naive Devon farm boy this was an ‘eye-opener’, adding: ‘As I got more worldly wise. I was determined I’d never treat another human being with the ritualistic contempt of how a supermarket buyer treats farmers.’

Twenty years after launching, Riverford had garnered around £30million in sales at a time when the UK was one of the largest markets in Europe. 

Singh-Watson has campaigned for supermarkets to treat farmers fairly and improve buying

He sold 74 per cent of his Riverford shares to an employee trust in 2018 and before selling his final stake in 2023 for £9.8 million he wrote Riverford’s supplier charter, in which he vows not to replicate the ‘wasteful and abusive’ relationships he had with supermarket buyers.

‘I would like to see supermarkets copy it,’ he says. ‘The world would be a better place if those relationships were humane.’ 

Riverford is now fully owned by its more than 1,000 employees and is one of the UK’s most significant examples of employee ownership. 

He says that ‘for the most part it’s been an absolute success’, adding: ‘Giving a larger number of people a say has helped us make better decisions and consult more widely. The best decisions are when you look at a problem from many angles.

‘If you have people with many views and backgrounds they are more able to do it than a board.’

Singh-Watson has been a campaigner since taking the Government to court in 1999 over genetically modified crops. He is outspoken on intensive farming practices and is spearheading a UK campaign to ban weedkiller glyphosate during harvest time.

‘I am a controversial figure,’ he admits. ‘I’m in favour of farmers paying inheritance tax – it didn’t make me many friends locally.’

Yet he wants to see farming thrive, especially mixed smaller farms, and says Riverford has made a significant contribution.

‘Quite a number of our suppliers wouldn’t be in business today without Riverford,’ he says. ‘It’s a source of immense pride.’

Singh-Watson takes great pride in customer relationships too, saying: ‘Trust at Riverford has been built up over 40 years. A lot of people come by recommendation and word of mouth.

‘If you are asking people to pay a third more for their food, they have to believe that you are doing things in a better way.’

Riverford supplies its veg boxes to households around Britain and is now employee-owned

How we built it: Quick questions

Best business advice?

Really know your customer. For us it's understanding how they cook their vegetables, what works for the kitchen, what their children are eating and where your product or service fits into their lives.

Biggest mistake?

I am a farmyard philosopher and have probably been a bit too guided. I'm glad that the world I want to live in has driven a lot of decisions as opposed to what is most commercially savvy.

First leadership lesson?

John, my first employee who still manages our farms, once said to me: 'What you have to understand is that not everyone is like you and thank God!' I was much younger, tremendously driven and probably couldn't understand why people couldn't pick leeks as fast as me. And John was absolutely right.

Biggest challenge?

My own ignorance about farming organically, while I didn't know about growing vegetables other than what was grown in my mother's garden.

I had to figure it out myself visiting other organic growers in the UK. I used to go to the Netherlands a lot where they were very welcoming and where the community is still just that.

The Riverford Cookbook: Easy Evenings will be published on October 1