What better way to spend money with our local food and drink businesses that to turn it into a game. That’s what the GOLFE project has done with its Local Food Loop Game. The idea is that customers become players and, by submitting the receipts for their purchases, get these converted into points. And we all know what points mean. You guessed; its prizes!
On Friday Dawn Keyse, of Halton, collected a £10 prize in the recently opened Radish café and deli in New St. Dawn received her prize for completing a challenge set within the Food Loop Game when she managed to quadruple her spending points before anyone else.
The prizes are small and just a bit of fun. The real aim of the game is to build upon the work done by the New Economic Foundation on “the local multiplier effect”. Money spent with locally owned and run businesses is likely to stay in our local economy longer.
Food loop is designed to test this by encouraging local businesses to participate in the process and demonstrate that they are managing to re-spend their customer player’s money with other local suppliers. When they do this those customers playing the game get additional points.
The prizes are small and just a bit of fun. The real aim of the game is to build upon the work done by the New Economic Foundation on “the local multiplier effect”. Money spent with locally owned and run businesses is likely to stay in our local economy longer.
Food loop is designed to test this by encouraging local businesses to participate in the process and demonstrate that they are managing to re-spend their customer player’s money with other local suppliers. When they do this those customers playing the game get additional points.
The real aim of the game is to keep our money doing good work in our own local economy for as long as we can. Current estimates put the local re-spend at 50%, which, over time will double the original amount spent.
If we can get that re-spend up to 66% we can triple the amount of cash in our local economy. At 75% re-spend the original amount is quadrupled, which means there is twice as much money moving around the local economy as usual. That’s the big prize that we are all aiming for.
If we can get that re-spend up to 66% we can triple the amount of cash in our local economy. At 75% re-spend the original amount is quadrupled, which means there is twice as much money moving around the local economy as usual. That’s the big prize that we are all aiming for.
At the time of going to press 28 players have spent £5,528 with 96 local food and drink businesses, and 70% of that money has be re-spent with other local food and drink businesses. This translates as an extra turnover of £3,918. The game will track this money as it is re-spent further.
Over time we expect that positive feedback like this will encourage more local businesses to source and spend locally, wherever possible.
For anyone who is interested in joining the game there is a website and a Facebook Group where you can find out more and register to get involved.
Dawn has pledge to re-spend her prize money on more delicious local food and drink.
Over time we expect that positive feedback like this will encourage more local businesses to source and spend locally, wherever possible.
For anyone who is interested in joining the game there is a website and a Facebook Group where you can find out more and register to get involved.
Dawn has pledge to re-spend her prize money on more delicious local food and drink.