Graham Brooks, a director of the worker co-operative, says: “There's still a lot of news around at the moment surrounding the credit crunch, and an endless promotion of cheap food from the supermarkets. Our theory is that eating healthier is a simple change you can make in your life to feel better!.
“Research from the Soil Association has shown people who buy organic produce are not cutting back on un-processed organic food, but on leisure spending and ready-meal products. This is a strong indicator that they FEEL the difference by eating organic, and so we believe that your quality of life can be better with a fresher more organic diet.”
Arthur St Trading knows from some of its own customer feedback that once customers start to eat more fresh produce, they are reluctant to compromise by purchasing fruit and vegetables that could have been grown in artificial conditions and sprayed with a myriad of chemicals. However for those that haven’t converted, or indeed for those that simply cannot afford it, what is the answer?
"Whilst we recognise that our produce is more expensive than non-organic," says Graham, "we do compare very well with the supermarket organic ranges and are often much cheaper. You will usually find that items like our salads are from down the road, whilst Tesco lettuces are from Cambridgeshire. We pass those savings on to customers. When you also add up the free delivery (instead of you taking the car, we use a solar charged milk float where we can) and the fact that many of our products are simply not available in the supermarkets, we feel we have a very powerful offering.”
The co-operative – which has been trading for 10 years – saw a downturn in sales in line with the wider economic downturn, but an online shop created in September 2008 saw a 20% increase in new customers.
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Organic food is much nicer than any non-Organic food from supermarkets, I prefer to have my food as natural as possible, and if paying that bit more just to help local producers keep going and earn a living them I am happy to do so.
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