AUSTRALIAN shoppers are leading the way in a retail revolution. As the country becomes increasingly health conscious in its eating habits and catch onto trends such as quinoa, chia seeds, bee pollen and gluten-free products, the question that many consumers are asking is, “how can we afford them?”
The Source, Noosa’s bulk food grocery retailer, has the answer.
The Source founder Paul Medeiros said the reason some health foods were found with such a high price tag in supermarkets was often because the customer paid a premium for the packaging.
“As a shopper, I was frustrated by the fact that my healthy eating choices seemed to be having a negative effect on my income, and also the environment,” he said.
“At the end of the week, I was left with a bin-full of plastic bags and containers. I wished I could just go into a shop and fill up my own container, with the exact amount that I needed.”
While many brands who want to stand out in the marketplace focus on plastering packaging with their logos and slogans, Paul said he decided to take the opposite approach.
The Source is a ‘package-it-yourself’ health food store (or P.I.Y) where over 400 bulk products, including nuts, seeds, grains, muesli, honey, oil and confectionary are stored in bulk food bins.
Customers can scoop produce into brown paper bags or containers they bring from home, or purchase glass jars in store to fill.
“What we offer is not only more environmentally friendly, but means customers can buy exactly as much or as little as they need, rather than being restricted by the number of servings that a supermarket thinks they should purchase,” Paul said.
“It seems like a new idea to some customers, but it’s really an old concept that we want to bring back into fashion. If you think about how our grandmothers used to shop, they would buy only as much as they needed, wrapped in paper or glass jars. They didn’t see it as being eco-conscious. To them it was just practical.”
Although Paul believed in the concept of P.I.Y shopping from the start, he said he was surprised by how it had taken off.
Since opening their Noosa store at the end of last year, the idea has been embraced by local shoppers. Due to customer demand, they are expanding rapidly, opening one new store every month across the country on average.
Every shop is a plastic-bag free zone and, if customers order through the online store, their delivery will arrive in wax-lined fresh-seal brown paper bags that are recyclable.
The brand’s bulk range now includes household items and personal hygiene products such as shampoo and conditioner and Paul said he had plans to open more stores across Australia in the future.
“I’m glad there’s such a buzz around the shopping experience we offer,” he said.
“But I also hope that, in the future, buying in bulk is just the norm rather than a unique offering. I really do believe it’s the smartest way to shop for ourselves and for our planet.”
