Village Earth Foods, Shrewsbury

This month we spoke to Glen, owner of Village Earth Foods in Shrewsbury who offer a large range of organic, ethically sourced and local produce...

5 Greyfriars Bridge
01743 231414
villageearthfoods.co.uk

At first glance you seem tucked away a bit by Greyfriars Bridge, but you must get a lot of people passing on their way to work?

Yes we are on a busy thoroughfare for people walking to and from the town centre either on their way to work or shopping in the town centre. Parking is also pretty easy nearby - so quite a lot of customers make a special trip.


It's definitely a browsing shop, full of products or brands that a lot of people probably won't have seen before. Do you get a lot of people asking you about your products?

Yes we do, people are always surprised by the range of quality products we have in a small shop - and how many of them are local. Simialrly though - a lot of customers also know what they are after. For example they come by on days when they know we have local organic bread or when fresh organic fruit and veg will have arrived.


Is what people see on the shelf everything you have, or can people make requests?

Absolutely. We do a lot of special orders for customers who want a specialist product or who would like to buy in bulk. We also respeond positively to customer requests to stock a particular item. We will gladly try and source particular products.


It is good to see you supporting local producers. Is there a good selection available to you or would you like to see more organic producers in Shropshire?

We have a number of local producers some organic, some non organic (all fruit and veg is organic). My quest this year is to seek out more - but its not always easy. the logistics of getting products from small producers to the shop are sometimes difficult. We are very happy to hear from local producers.


It is very refreshing to read your views and policies on your website, that you acknowledge that concepts like organic, and locally produced are complex issues. Does it make selecting products to stock difficult?

I try to keep it simple and recognise that there are different reasons why a product may be more 'sustainable' or ethical. People often tie themselves in knots by comparing apples with oranges (if you will excuse the pun!). Organic production, local products and fair trade produce all bring different benefits but may not be directly comparable - so dont try to! just accept they are good for different reasons. Lets give an example. Drive 20 miles to a farm shop to buy your organic apples and their carbon footprint is almost certainly higher than the ones imported by ship from argentina or new zealand. You should still buy the local apples if you can - but dont kid yourself about the reason you are doing it!


Organic food received lots of media attention a few years ago and now doubt demand rocketed. Is demand for the types of products you stock still growing?

Some of the media seem to have taken delight in predicting the death of organic food production as a result of the dire economic conditions recently. Our own takings have remained steady during these tough times due to the excellent core of customers we have who care very much about what they eat. Supermarkets have use food loss leaders to attract people into their stores and it is very hard for small shops to compete with. We all need to maintain a niche in the market to survive. I think that local food plays a big part in that because much as they protest to the contrary, supermarket buying and logistics operations can never really tap into a local market.


You have a mailing list on your website. What kind of information will you be sending out to people?

We have been so busy that this has been a bit negelected but we are planning to send out our first newsletter in the next week or so, with specisl offers, background info on local products, recipes etc etc


At eatShrewsbury we grow our own fruit and vegetables, but for those without space or time to grow their own there are box schemes. How is your scheme being received? What sort of feedback have you had?

The feedback is excellent. We provide a very local service to customers who like to have a strong relationship with their supplier and boxes carefully take into account customer likes and dislikes. In fact Jackie who rune the shop with me has developed a really nest spreadsheet based programme which produces our box packing lists! But we do want more customers. We adjust our box contents in the summer months to take into account the needs of customers who 'grow their own'.


There is also something about Nutritional Assessments on your website, can you tell us a little about that please?

We have linked up with local nutritional therapists to provide a nutritional assessment service either online or by post/personal assessment. The idea is thta we can then help source specialist dietary products for people who need them and if convenient provide deliveries of the selected products.


You dont seem to have a 'traditional' retailing background.

No. I have spent the last 20 years travelling the world working on sustainable development issues and worked for the world bank in washington DC for a number of years. I still spend about half of my time on international consultancy work and have recently been in Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Sarawak and Nigeria. My most recent assigment has beed auditing the sustainability of World Bank investments in the palm oil sector in Indonesia. The shop is something I have always wanted to do and I hope to expand it further, though its possible we may have to look beyond our current location to do that. Jackie who runs the shop is also an environmental scientist by background. It keeps the shop interesting and brings some different perspectives on what we are trying to do!


And finally, in our interviews we always ask for a recommendation of one of your products. What would be it and why?

We sell a lot of shropshire honey. Its local, natural, and very healthy, particularly for those who suffer from hay fever and other allergic responses. We need the bees to stay healthy for all kinds of reasons.

Thank you Glen. Shropshire honey can be difficult to find, it seems to get snapped up as soon as it is on sale. Good to know we can buy it from you.