From Farm to Selfridges Foodhall

Positioned 18 months ahead of regenerative agriculture trend

Secured partnership within 6 months of initial positioning shift and one of founding Project Earth partners

Featured in Selfridges homepage article

Premium counter placement (not shelf space)

How strategic positioning landed Eversfield Organic in one of London’s most prestigious retail partnerships

The market context: Organic meat’s positioning problem

In 2020, organic meat occupied awkward territory. Most brands positioned on two themes:

Health positioning: ‘Better for you, chemical free, nutritious’
Ethical positioning: ‘Better for animals, higher welfare standards’

Both true, important and commoditised.

Every organic meat brand said functionally the same thing. Competing on health benefits and animal welfare created price-sensitive customers who’d switch brands for £2 savings.

But Selfridges wasn’t looking for ‘healthy meat’ or ‘ethical meat.’ They were looking for partners who understood sustainability as luxury, not sacrifice.

That required different positioning entirely.

The positioning shift: From health to soil

Anna repositioned Eversfield away from standard organic messaging toward something competitors weren’t claiming: regenerative agriculture and soil health.

OLD POSITIONING (RED LINE):
‘100% organic, grass-fed meat. Better for you, better for animals.’

NEW POSITIONING (GREEN LINE):
‘Regenerative organic farming that improves soil health. Premium meat that’s part of climate solution, not the problem.’
The shift was subtle but strategic. Instead of competing with other organic brands on health claims, Eversfield owned sustainability leadership through soil science.|

As Anna put it at the time: ‘If we don’t look after our soil, we will struggle to feed our population. Improving our soil health is a really important way to combat climate change—an easy way to do this is to choose 100% pasture-fed organic meat.’
Soil health wasn’t sexy. But it positioned Eversfield as agriculture innovators, not just organic suppliers.

Why this positioning worked for Selfridges

Selfridges’ Project Earth wasn’t about stocking ‘healthy’ products. It was about showcasing brands leading sustainable transformation.

Chairman Alannah Weston was clear: ‘Now more than ever we must double down on our efforts to reinvent retail with sustainability at its heart and a way of working which is regenerative for humans and nature.’

That word ‘regenerative’ was the positioning territory Eversfield had claimed.

While competitors talked about what they removed (chemicals, antibiotics, hormones), Eversfield talked about what they added back: soil quality, biodiversity, carbon sequestration.

This wasn’t organic meat positioned against conventional meat. This was regenerative agriculture positioned as luxury sustainability leadership.
Selfridges noticed.

The partnership: Premium placement, premium positioning


October 2020: Eversfield Organic opened a dedicated butcher counter in Selfridges Foodhall, London.
Not just shelf space. A full counter with traditionally trained butchers hand-cutting meat in front of customers. Theatre meets transparency. Premium positioning made tangible.

Selfridges featured Eversfield in their ‘Future of Food’ article, which ran on the Selfridges homepage. The piece positioned organic meat not as niche health food, but as the future of sustainable luxury consumption.

The quote from Selfridges: ‘Eating better (organic) meat is the way forward, as mainstream meat production significantly contributes to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. That is why we’ve partnered with Eversfield Organic.’
Not ‘healthier meat.’ Not ‘ethical meat.’ But ‘eating better meat as climate action.’

That’s positioning.

The strategic insight: Position where the market is going, not where it is

In 2020, most consumers weren’t thinking about soil health. They thought about protein, price, and perhaps animal welfare.

But luxury retailers like Selfridges were already thinking three years ahead: sustainability as status symbol, regenerative as the new organic, climate action as premium positioning.

Anna positioned Eversfield for where the premium market was going, not where it was. Soil health. Regenerative practices. Climate-positive agriculture.

By the time mainstream brands caught up to ‘regenerative’ messaging (2022-2023), Eversfield had been in Selfridges for two years.

That’s the advantage of positioning ahead of market consensus.

What made this work

  1. Strategic positioning before brand activation
    Most brands would have led with heritage (family farm, Devon roots, organic and traditional methods). Anna led with differentiated positioning (soil health, regenerative agriculture, climate solution).
    The heritage was there, but it supported the position rather than being the position.
  2. Uncontested territory
    In 2020, few organic meat brands talked about soil science. Fewer still positioned it as luxury sustainability. Eversfield competed in uncontested space while others fought over health claims.
  3. Alignment with retailer’s strategic narrative
    This wasn’t just ‘get our products in Selfridges.’ It was ‘position our products as the answer to Selfridges’ Project Earth strategy.’
    The partnership worked because the positioning already aligned with where Selfridges wanted to go.

The positioning principles

Three lessons from this work:
Position for where the market is going, not where it is.
Soil health wasn’t mainstream in 2020. It is now. Eversfield was positioned before consensus formed.

Find uncontested territory.
Every organic brand competed on health and welfare. Eversfield owned regenerative agriculture and soil science. Different territory, no direct competition.

Align positioning with strategic partners’ narratives.
Selfridges needed brands that fit their Project Earth story. Eversfield’s soil health positioning made that partnership natural, not forced.

The result

  • Secured partnership with Selfridges during competitive Project Earth rollout
  • Featured in Selfridges’ ‘Future of Food’ homepage article
  • Premium butcher counter placement (not shelf space)
  • Positioned as sustainability leaders, not commodity organic brand
  • Created defensible differentiation while competitors fought on price

More importantly: established positioning territory that took competitors 2-3 years to recognise was valuable.
By then, Eversfield owned it.

Position first. Everything else follows.

This wasn’t a sales deal. It was strategic positioning that made the deal inevitable.

When Selfridges went looking for organic partners who understood regenerative agriculture as premium positioning, Eversfield was already there, because they’d positioned there intentionally, not accidentally.

That’s what strategic positioning does. It puts you where opportunity is forming, not where competition is saturating.

Anna’s visionary leadership and extensive experience propelled the brand forward with creativity, strategy and innovation, with transformative brand and digital marketing solutions.

Mark Bury
Founder

Anna Elliott is now a strategic positioning consultant, working with companies to identify defensible market positions before competitors see them. The work at Eversfield taught her one thing: position where the market is going and partnerships find you.
Want to position ahead of your market? Let’s talk.