This is part of uOpen’s 'Industry Insights' interview series - a valuable collection of informative and intelligent insights into how some of the UK's best-known and most-loved subscription box businesses came to be and got to where they are - all shared by the very people who made it happen...

Covering customer acquisition to fulfilment, this blog series offers a behind the scenes look at how the many moving parts of these complex, yet successful operations come together each month to satisfy the ever-growing demand of subscription box customers in the UK.

How did the idea for your subscription box come about?

Seeing the potential of smallholder farmers and entrepreneurial food producers in Africa, alongside the desire of consumers for more transparency and ethics in their food supply chain.

What attracted you to the subscription box model?

It works well for our producers, giving them advance warning of demand. It allows us to place orders in advance, and give producers time to deliver a quality product.

How did you validate your idea and test the market?

Consumer interviews and Facebook quantitative research.

How did you acquire your first customers?

Emails to family, friends and contacts.

Did you raise any seed or investor funding to help you grow?

Not yet.

How long have you been running now and what are your most successful achievements and milestones so far?

Running for 6 months, and delivering our first orders this month. This meant sourcing our producers, curating their products, managing the logistics and acquiring customers through marketing.

With the rise of new boxes launching all the time, what do you see as your USP that sets you apart from your competitors?

We're ethical, and direct from smallholder farmers - we offer a product and story that you can't get elsewhere.

How does your business continue to find new and exciting products to keep your customers engaged and excited every month?

Our producers do that for us. For example, this month's customers all have been given a sample of natural, healthy tea infusions - we look forward to their feedback!

Have there been any particularly pivotal moments so far that have required you to make changes to how you operate?

Yes, we went from local food producers with a story to international ones. We also moved from a pick & mix product selection to a bundled subscription one.

How large is your team? What type of roles do they have?

We have five people. Tom - founder, working on a bit of everything. His background is in business and international development, so has spent a lot of time living and working in Africa. Alex - a design thinker from Central Saint Martins, who takes care of the customer journey. Sharon - is our queen of content, based in Nairobi. She makes sure our community gets fresh stories about our producers. Finally, Simon - who takes care of food safety and compliance using his background in big food and MBA from the Royal Agricultural College. We're also luck to have Bas as an adviser, when he's not managing the European operations of DPD.

Across all operational areas of your business, what do you manage in-house and what do you outsource to external suppliers to support you with - and why is this?

Logistical transport is outsourced, yet closely monitored. We did this, because our USP is the products with a story - not trying to beat Amazon at delivering a commoditised product as quickly as possible.

What types of challenges do you face with fulfilment, delivery and customer service?

None...yet. Just the time it takes, so we're looking at using James & James to make our lives easier - and focusing on what we do best: getting amazing products with a story from smallholder farmers to our customers.

How do you see the subscription box industry is evolving and what do you believe are going to be your biggest challenges over the next 12 months?

Building out our product mix, and trying to tempt customers away from the big four supermarkets.

What do you enjoy most about running your subscription box business?

The inspiring stories of our producers and visiting our farmers. I've promised Asante Mama that next time I visit them in Uganda I'm going to bring my tent and camp for a few days!

What excites you about uOpen, and how do you see the marketplace featuring in your business' future?

Hopefully it will be an effective sales channel.