Inclusive Access to Affordable Food
"We are not a foodbank, everybody is welcome, everybody wants to save money and everybody wants to save good food from going to waste."
John O'Reilly, head of retail and grocery at Changing Lives Together, oversees The Very Green Grocery located inside its ReUse Warehouse in Crewe, Cheshire.
The community grocery provides retailer overstock, short-dated items, and products with damaged packaging during transit for sale to the public.
"If we don't pick this stuff up it goes in a big skip, in landfill. It's good food. We are the outlet to make sure it gets passed on,"said Reilly.
Shopping Model and Customer Experience
Customers pay a £7 fee to shop and typically leave with goods valued at £30-£35 in retail price. The store allows shoppers to select a limited number of items from various sections including fresh fruit and vegetables, tinned and baked goods, and frozen foods.
Reilly expressed his passion for providing affordable food and his strong opposition to waste.
Suppliers contact the charity about surplus stock, which Reilly's team of staff and volunteer drivers promptly collect.
"They know how reactive we can be, so literally I can get a phone call, email, WhatsApp message in the morning, and we can be there within hours."
Varied Food Offerings and Operating Hours
Due to the nature of the sourced food, the available products can vary significantly. Reilly encourages customers to try the grocery multiple times to experience the range.
"It might be the time you come down, it's 'wow, this is everything I want'. The next time you come down, it might be half of what you need and the next time it might be full again,"he said.
The charity's warehouse, located in the Victoria Centre in Crewe, operates seven days a week; however, the grocery store itself is currently open twice weekly—Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings—with plans to extend hours.
"The ideal scenario would be that we were open 5, 6 days a week, the logistics issue we have is obviously getting the stock from suppliers to do that,"Reilly explained.
Expansion and Community Impact
Changing Lives Together also runs grocery sites in Northwich and Winsford and aims to expand its network of retailers and distribution companies donating surplus food.
Tamyra Milne, a regular visitor to the Crewe grocery every Friday, advocates for more such initiatives.
"Obviously it's helping me in terms of saving money, especially with everything going up in price, but it's also helping with all the stuff that's going into landfill when it's not needed,"she said.
Milne noted that a typical weekly shop costs her around £80, so spending £7 at the grocery and approximately £25 elsewhere is "ridiculously cheap, and really good as well."
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