Your Crunchy Carrot Needs You! An Update from our Shop Managers
Hello dear supporters and customers,
It has to be said that the last two years have been the most difficult and unpredictable in the Crunchy’s 22 year history, and continue to pose real challenges to the long-term survival of our much-loved shop.
The pandemic turned our lives upside down, fear and anxiety filled all our days. The shop had to change to respond to this crisis practically overnight!
We believe we rose to the challenge and managed to stay open throughout in one capacity or another. We were able to be there for the community, and at the peak of the crisis went from delivering 90-odd boxes a week to 350!
The staff worked like troopers, long 11/12 hour days to make sure everyone had food and household supplies, at a time when leaving your house was fraught with Covid dangers.
A big thank you to those who put their trust in us to serve them and who continue to do so.
The shop is still evolving and recovering as the world in which it operates seems to have changed for ever.
The Crunchy Carrot is struggling a little. Footfall on the high street is lower than before the pandemic and frankly we need it to increase to be sustainable going forward.
Prices across the board have gone up for everyone and the shop is no exception. Every week suppliers contact us apologetically, explaining that they need to increase the prices we buy at.
What makes us different
Unlike bigger shops and supermarkets we do not benefit from the ‘economy of scale’: places buying a ton of produce will get a better deal than a small shop like us buying only 5kg.
We cannot compete with the big boys. We deal with many small and local farms and producers, and with independent businesses, often family run, and the prices they dictate are often set so they can provide a decent wage to their workers. Supporting decent wages and good working conditions comes very high in the values we hold.
We try to avoid buying from companies that have questionable values or practices, or ones that were small independent businesses but sell out to big companies, thereby often compromising their integrity.
We also endeavour to minimise the impact on the world from chemicals, plastics and the like. To that end we try and stock environmentally friendly items, ones that have biodegradable packaging and contents, organic, natural and sustainable ingredients. Good quality, fairly-sourced ingredients often mean higher prices.
We take guidance and try to stay informed by reading the Ethical Consumer guide.
Our local supply chain means we are supporting local employers and reducing our food miles and fuel consumption as much as we can.
We believe in community and want to play our part in keeping the high street alive as the core of our thriving community.
These values are hard to hold on to at times, especially when the economy is struggling and we are all tightening our budgets. We try as hard as we can to price our goods as affordably as possible while earning enough to cover our overheads. It’s not about accumulating profit (besides, our profits as a community shop are channelled back into the shop and our community work, as laid out in our Community Benefit Society constitution).
The shop Managers and Board are working hard to re-examine and make necessary changes to our business plan, to ensure the shop's long-term viability. But we also need to ask for your support, as shareholders and customers.
So we thought this would be a good time to highlight some of the shop’s valuable services…
Bulk buying
If you use something a lot, you can order a bigger amount and save money - for instance porridge oats in 3kg bags, or your favourite teabags in a case of 4 boxes.
Refills
Bring your own bags and tubs and refill items and save money, as well as reduce packaging. We do many dried goods like rice, lentils, oats etc. We also do laundry liquid, washing up liquid and hand soap, to name but a few. Seeds, nuts, spices…We have recently installed a new self-service refillery system.
Local
Veg, salad, fruits when in season from growers of all sizes. We support and benefit from projects like The Ridge's community gardens and Belhaven Community Garden as well as local organic farms like Phantassie and Elders, plus many more. We get honey, eggs, fresh oat milk, humus, shortbread, Anam Cara body care products, locally made greetings cards, again...plus many more items. See some of our local suppliers on our map here.
Environmentally friendly
Our aim is to reduce anything that can harm us and the planet, so we aim for items that are free of suspect chemicals, biodegradable, sustainable, natural, that reduce air miles, do not destroy or harm natural habitats and wildlife…
Delivery
We deliver personalised, customisable boxes and orders to homes and businesses. When our box scheme is at capacity we reserve emergency places for those who cannot get to the shop as easily, and we deliver to OAPs and the housebound for free. Find out how to set up a delivery order here.
Product searching - the personal touch!
If you are struggling to find a specific item we are happy to contact our suppliers to see if we can source it. We try hard to stock more unusual and hard-to-find products. Email shop@communitycarrot.scot or call us on 01368 860 000 to enquire about a product.
We need help to spread the word, to help increase footfall to the shop and to the high street, to help the community recover after a tumultuous couple of years.
Thank you for reading this and again for your support.
Love from the Community Carrot Team xxx