THE Dorset Riverford team is toasting success after being named the Riverford Franchisees of the Year.

Husband and wife Gareth and Gill Rossiter were recognised for their dedication and hard work to the franchise in the award.

The pair took over the Dorset Riverford franchise in February 2014 and now deliver to around 650 households across the county each week.

There are 70 local Riverford veg teams up and down the country, and every year at the annual Riverford conference, a team is recognised for their efforts in customer care, sales, business practice and brand building.

Mrs Rossiter said: “We are delighted to win the award. It’s a great honour to be selected and makes all that hard work worthwhile.

“We have a great relationship with our Dorset Riverford ‘family’ of customers and it is really important to us to provide a personal level of customer care, it really drives us. Knowing that those who have spent a lot of their lives building Riverford are happy with our work is the icing on the cake.

“We believe passionately about organic farming and want others to know the benefits that this farming practice can bring, both to the environment and to their homes.

“We couldn’t operate our business without the support and dedication of our small team of superb delivery drivers, one of whom, Bob Thorne, was recognised deservedly for his outstanding customer care when he was runner-up in the Riverford Driver of the Year awards in March this year.”

The duo is also passionate about the county’s organic producers, several of which supply Riverford. However the pair are championing more, aiming to have the best local produce being sold more widely through the Riverford network.

Mr Rossiter said that while the team makes no promises to small producers, Riverford has been supportive of their efforts to introduce them into the Riverford family and have expressed their interest in some of the products that have been nudged forward by the pair.

A spokesperson for Riverford said: "In the short time since Gareth and Gill joined Riverford they have put a Herculean effort into their business. The fact that they believe in what Riverford stands for, that is good food, good farming and good business,shines through in all they do.

"They look after their customers incredibly well, and we are so proud to have them as one of our veg teams. We think their customers must count among the best fed in Dorset! Sharing good food is at the heart of everything we do here, and Gill and Gareth are the embodiment of that sentiment."

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