by K. V. Rao

Of all the products-as-services concepts that I’ve come across, there is one in particular that I just really love — vegetables-as-a-service. With an emphasis on organic produce, and a push for buying from local farms, and the rising obesity rates in the US, it’s no wonder local farmers are becoming innovative in how they think about attracting customers. Rather than looking at their fruits and vegetables as products they sell, they’ve refashioned themselves as service providers of access to fresh, local, organic food, in a way that anyone can subscribe to. Here are a few of my favorites:

Planet Organics delivers fresh, organic, locally grown produce (for Bay Area residents) right to your door every week, or bi-weekly, your preference. You can choose what produce you want and cancel your service at anytime. There are similar services popping up in most other major cities including Off The Vine in Atlanta, Matt’s Organics in Tucson, and Door to Door Organics has built a business that serves eight states. If that doesn’t speak to the popularity of this movement, I don’t know what does.

And here’s one that isn’t a veggie delivery service but a neat twist on subscribing to veggies — OneRoastVegetable.com lets you subscribe to a monthly “veggie club” where subscribers have access to fully illustrated, step-by-step veggie-centered recipes, online classes, and articles from experts including chefs, doctors, dieticians, and farmers.

We’re looking for more examples of industries that are selling their products as services to blog about, so let us know what you’re currently subscribing to. You may see it here on the Z-blog.