Sustenance Groceries

Our mission is to provide an alternative to supermarkets. We want to provide environmentally and socially friendly food, locally at affordable prices. Our produce is of highest quality and sourced from sustainable and socially fair suppliers to make sure the earth, the suppliers and our customers can live in an improved world.

We achieve this by using high-quality wholesalers that are co-operatives with responsible environmental policies in place. And by providing alternatives to harmful plastic products which includes loose food without packaging, refillable household cleaning solutions and items like toothbrushes and dish scrubbers that are made with eco alternatives that do not drain or pollute the earths resources.

Our dream is to create a store that sells organic, plastic free groceries such as dry pantry food, cosmetics, household cleaning products and eventually gifts. Customers will be able to come and fill (and refill) their own containers to buy zero waste products in small quantities or in bulk.

What is Zero Waste?

Simply put zero waste is less rubbish. The main aim is to cut down on single use items for example, the plastic bags that pasta comes in.

Instead of a plastic bag being made, used once to put pasta in and then thrown away we supply unpackaged food for people to buy and carry away in paper bags or, preferably, in their own containers. By doing this we’ll cut out the wasteful single use plastic bag! Customers can then reuse their containers to buy whatever they want at the stall and in whatever quantities.

We sell bulk and small amounts, for example 2KG of organic white rice or 50G of organic dried mango to try and limit food waste (which is another area of waste that needs to be addressed) and cater to all appetites and budgets.

Local or Ethical Produce.

We source produce that has been grown or made as close to us as possible to cut down on delivery distance and the associated carbon emissions. For example, Hodmedod’s Quinoa is British grown! However, due to the British farming capabilities there are many dry food items that cannot be sourced in the UK so we source from accountable companies that have high traceability as well as solid environmental and social values.

Organic Food.

We have chosen to stock organic whole foods where possible due to the damage of fertilisers and pesticides to soil, water and animals (for example birds).

Organic over conventional produce can be a tight road to walk as new studies come out detailing the pros and cons of organic agriculture, but for the moment we will stick to organic produce where possible.

Recycling and Reusing.

Some produce we get do come in plastic bags. Some of these bags are compostable (due to amazing wholesalers who are already eco-friendly) and some of them are not. I save up my personal and business plastic and pay to send it off to be properly recycled as these types of plastic are not commonly recycled in council recycling schemes.

No Plastic!

We do not have plastic bags for customers to put produce in nor to carry home produce in. We supply recycled brown paper bags for customers if needed which can be reused or composted. Produce is stored in UN approved food grade metal bins with airtight lids or glass jars.

Sold by Weight.

All produce is sold and priced by weight. We have weighing scales that can tare the weight of containers so that we can place a container on the scales, the scales are then zeroed for food to be weighed directly into so customers are charged for the only food they buy and not the weight of the container too.

We then add the amount of food purchased to your bill and move onto the next container and item. All orders are added together on an to create the final bill.

Selling in weight means that customers can buy as little or as much as they want in a additional bid to beat food waste.