In The Shop

We stock a full range of healthy foods, whole foods, organic fresh produce, bread and take-aways, chilled and frozen organic and veggie foods, natural and organic body-care and baby-care products and environmentally friendly household cleaning products. Alongside that we sell natural remedies, dietary supplements and herbal remedies from companies with the highest commitment to quality and on-going research and innovation. Also worth noting is the fact that we have a range of loose, bulk grains, seeds and pulses (including the superb Infinity Deluxe Organic Muesli) and we also offer an Ecover Refill Service and Reverse Osmosis purified water on tap.

Space is at an absolute premium in our small but lovely shop so we have no room for products with less than perfect ingredients or made by companies with dodgy connections (no matter how cheap they are or how well they sell), especially as there’s always a queue of new, exciting, ethical goodies waiting to get on our shelves.

We’re not perfect (yet!), but in an imperfect world we’re trying to do what we can to encourage and promote the good guys and that means a lot of products, even “healthy” or organic ones, just won’t make it on to our shelves. The positive and negative lists below are by no means exhaustive or definitive – we’re always learning and trying to improve – but hopefully it gives some idea of where we’re coming from with the product range we stock and the choices we make. All feedback greatly appreciated.

WHAT WE LIKE:

Delicious, healthy food!
A good version of a product (at a good price) rather than loads of similar, confusing and unnecessary options (we don’t have the space and you don’t have the time).
Small, ethical companies – just like us!
Innovative and interesting products: delicious new ways to eat healthily or to meet special dietary needs.
Truly tasty organic and Fair Trade products.
Dealing direct: finding interesting products and getting to know the people that grow, make or import them.
Customer recommendations – the way we’ve found many of our tastiest best sellers.
CHOICE! The choice to eat healthily and to find the diet that works for you. So, not everything in the shop will suit the strictest macrobiotic wholefood lover – our aim is to help people to educate themselves about what’s good for them, read labels and make their own decision as to whether they should be eating nothing but cabbage this week or treating themselves to an artisan made, organic biscuit.

WHAT WE DON'T LIKE:

Organic brands created by gigantic corporations just to get a “foothold” or a bit of “market share”. It constantly amazes us how many ethically minded shops are prepared to make space for such brands when there are so many 100% committed, small organic producers out there who choose to make an organic product not because there’s a “niche” to be “exploited”, but rather because for them there is no other option but organic in a sane, right thinking world. Their products are sometimes not quite so polished in the design department (although many more are leaders in this field), or maybe so well developed in the profit department, but in terms of quality and ethics they are often second to none. Note that this is not the same as the situation when a large mainstream company buys an established organic brand. When this happens we talk to our customers to find out what they think, and look closely at the new owners using resources such as Ethical Consumer and Corporate Watch – if we don’t like what we see then the products are off the shelves and into the bargain bin, no matter how loved or how profitable, otherwise we keep supporting them as they try to get organics ever more into the mainstream.
Food containing artificial additives – there are a very few exceptions where a small amount of a relatively benign additive is required to preserve a product, for example in the case of Aloe Vera juice.
Foods containing hydrogenated fats – the worst kind of fats, man-made, detrimental to health and only added to products to make them cheaper to produce.
Genetically modified anything – all our wholesalers ensure all their suppliers are GM free so you can shop with confidence. Don’t know why GM is so bad? Have a look at Genetic Food Alert and GM Watch for more information, or the Soil Association or Green Peace.
Body-care products tested on animals. Absolutely no way. If you don’t know why then you’re probably reading the wrong website but if you’d like to check whether your high street brand still tests on animals have a look at the BUAV site (WARNING: This site contains graphic images of animal testing - do not visit it if you do not wish to see such pictures).

PLEASE NOTE:

We have taken the decision not to put a huge comprehensive stock list on our site for a number of reasons. Firstly our large range is constantly changing so by the time any list was complete it would be out of date! Secondly, we stock everything! Well, almost, anyway. We certainly stock everything you’d expect to find in a great health food and whole food shop, and if there’s something we don’t have we can almost always get it for you. The best thing to do is to contact us or pop into the shop if you’re looking for something and we’ll help you find it, order it for you, or even recommend somewhere else if that’s the best option for you.