There are some things that people think about us that aren’t true (although we wish some of them were!)
We grow all our own veg / all our veg is grown locally:
‘Fraid not. At the right time of year, our veg shelves are groaning under the weight of UK produce; Herefordshire aubergines, Cornwall Cauliflowers, and Manchester salad leaves (and even tomatoes!) show just what can be coaxed out of this wet and windy isle. We prioritise and promote fresh produce with lower food miles, and we support new producers close to home, but that’s a very long way from making us a local food shop. In order to offer the kind of range that enables people to do their weekly shop here, we stock produce from all around the world.
Since 2008 we have owned 21 acres of growing land at Glazebury, near Leigh. We and former tenants Moss Brook Growers transformed two bare hay meadows into a proper, almost self-contained farm, with 60 solar panels and a connection to the national grid, and hundreds of metres of native hedging planted to provide a rich habitat for birds and small mammals. Although not all of the land is not currently being farmed, it is currently home to a tree nursey nuturing trees for agroforestry at The Kindling Farm. Watch a film on their agroforestry work here.
All our produce is organic and fairtrade:
Sadly also not true. “We aim to trade in a manner which supports a sustainable world environment and economy” (Unicorn’s Principles of Purpose) but we also aim to maintain a product range that is accessible to the community we serve. Achieving both these things is a continual balancing act – we sometimes manage it (we’re proud for example that our organic produce is often a similar price to supermarket non-organic veg), but we definitely don’t claim that all our range comes with a 100% ‘ethical’ assurance. Some products are chosen simply because they are wholesome and affordable foods.
Find out more about how we source.
No-one’s in charge:
This one is sort of true, but also not. As a workers co-operative aiming for a flat structure, we don’t have a manager. However from the customer’s point of view there is always someone looking after the shop floor, we call them the Floorwalker and they are your go-to person for things like product returns, complaints and queries.
In terms of overall management, we are structured into small teams that oversee each area of the business, and it’s within those teams that operational decisions are made – with day to day matters delegated to even smaller groups within them. We don’t involve 65 members in deciding what colour to paint the walls!
Find out more about co-operatives.
We’re a health food shop and everything is super healthy:
We do focus on foods that aren’t heavily processed, and our core offer is basic ingredients to cook with – fruit & veg, pulses, grains and spices. Having said that, we do also sell many treats; deep-fried onion bhajis or coconut biscuits are not one of our five a day! At the end of the day we are a grocery rather than a health food shop, so we don’t sell health supplements and generally avoid products marketed as superfoods unless they are a really good fit and a basic ingredient (superfoods often come with a higher price tag).
Find out more about how we source.
