UK: Ethical supermarket to take on highstreet retailers
Retailers argue that they are good for consumers, as they keep prices low and increase choice. However, their critics counter this by suggesting this is all at the expense of suppliers who face ever shrinking margins.
So is it time to consider an alternative to, as some would see them, the shareholder-beholden, profit-driven, monolithic corporations that are today's supermarkets? Amy and Ruth Anslow think it is. The Brighton-based sisters, 35 and 38 respectively, have spent the past two years creating a business plan for a new type of supermarket – ethical, sustainable and affordable, yes, but also one with a different corporate structure.
hiSbe (how it Should be), located in the heart of Brighton, is a community interest company (CIC) – a limited company, where profits are used for community benefit rather than private advantage. In hiSbe's case, its social purpose is to give people access to food that's more affordable, fairly sourced and more sustainable. "The profits go back into the business rather than make the shareholders rich," says Amy. "It frees us up to trade in a different way, so we are not having to make a large surplus to support shareholders."
The finding of the supermarket also shows innovation. The sisters raised capital for the venture from online crowd finding buzzbnk, where people made donations in exchange for discounted shopping when the store opens in September.
In addition to this £30,000, a further £60,000 has been raised in equity loans and a £15,000 social enterprise assist award. The target is £170,000. A total of £170,000 is needed and the Anslow's are trying to raise the rest from private investors and the sale of vouchers.
The store's offer is based on eight principles: go local, choose seasonal, protect nature, support ethical, think welfare, save fish, end waste and avoid processed. Brands will be stocked as long as they are highly rated by the Ethical Consumer Index, which provides rankings of more than 40,000 companies, brands and products. "If it can be local, we will source it locally," says Amy. "If it's not local, then we will make sure it's British. If we can't get it from here, then we'll make sure it's fairly traded from abroad."
hiSbe will also pay staff above the living wage and suppliers a fair price. However, an innovative structure and funding mechanism, underpinned by strong ethical principles, doesn't guarantee customers and sales, which will be the decisive factors in hiSbe's success or failure.
One of the criticisms of ethical stores is that they are expensive compared to regular supermarkets: the aisles are packed with the middle classes who are can afford to pay for their principles. Will hiSbe be any different?
"Yes," says Amy. "hiSbe is aimed at everyday people with average incomes and everyday diets. We want to break with the perception that you have to have money to be able to afford good food."
Fraser McKevitt, a retail analyst for Kantar Worldpanel, says keeping prices low is key. "If you look at why people shop where they do, location and price dwarf any other considerations," he says. "The main challenge is to be price competitive, but if they can be, and are in a specific location and do it well, there's no reason why they can't succeed."
"We are very serious about building a chain around this pilot store and creating a model for how supermarkets should be in the 21st century," says Amy. "But we are realistic – people are still going to need to go to supermarkets to get those other things that they stock apart from food.
Source:guardian.co.uk
