TTH Blueprint Episode 23: Three Friends, One Pint and a Slightly Dodgy Idea | Matt Knight, Freely Fruity
A few weeks ago I shared a short clip from my conversation with Matt Knight, co-founder of Freely Fruity. It was actually Mrs H’s idea, and she’s been on at me to publish the rest of it ever since. Here it is.
I thought we were going to spend an hour talking about fruit trees. We did... but only in the same way that Ted Lasso is about football. This is really a conversation about optimism, about community, about food, biodiversity and volunteering, and about what happens when three friends stop asking “Why doesn’t somebody do something?” and instead ask “Why don’t we?”
Matt tells the story of how Freely Fruity began over a pint in a Berkshire pub just before Covid, how they nearly became “the Banksy of the tree world”, why they pivoted during the pandemic to grow fresh produce for food banks, and why they’ve since gone on to appear on national television, create community orchards, work with schools and help businesses make a genuine local impact.
What comes through clearly is that Freely Fruity isn’t interested in shouting at people or telling them how to live. Their approach is refreshingly simple: make it easy, make it positive and invite people to get involved.
If you’re a business thinking about biodiversity, employee volunteering, community engagement or creating a visible local legacy, this conversation is well worth your time. There may even be an opportunity to work with Matt and the team, whether that’s sponsoring school orchards, supporting community projects or getting your own people involved.
If this got you thinking about food, community and biodiversity, go back and listen to my conversation with Rebecca Ghim, founder of The Ferm. She’s built a kimchi business out of rescuing cauliflower leaves and broccoli stalks that restaurants were about to throw away. Different ingredients, same spirit.
If you’d like to get in touch with Freely Fruity, you’ll find all their details in the show notes.
Forget the TV appearances for a second. These are unsung heroes on our doorstep, doing something with real purpose, purposeful enough to get even this ageing Airdrieonian eating more fruit. At the end of the day,
Turns out Mrs H was right.
Listen to Scott’s full Blueprint conversation with Matt Knight here.
https://player.captivate.fm/episode/c9d44530-8332-4d81-b891-a1f8d0e297e3/
People. Planet. Progress.