Sustainable supermarket to get cooking in the spring

Wednesday 29 January 2020

A supermarket dedicated to waste-free and sustainable shopping will soon be expanding with a community kitchen.

The expansion at the Sustainable Co-operative (SCOOP), which will pave the way for specialised workshops on sustainable cooking using local produce, will also see the supermarket add washing facilities for the recycling of glassware, a children’s play station and a communal seating area to its premises at Farm Fresh Organics in St. Lawrence.

Founded by Kaspar Wimberley and India Hamilton, SCOOP was launched in 2018 after a £25,000 crowdfunding campaign. 

Pictured: Kaspar Wimberley and India Hamilton launched SCOOP in 2018.

Initially based at Vermont Farm in St. Brelade, the environmentally conscious shop moved to St. Lawrence last year around Easter and has since seen its activity increase by around 20%.

“It’s good that people seem to be interested in what we are doing and realising how much of an impact what they eat has on the environment,” Mr Wimberley commented.  

The team is now looking to expand and transform the office space located near the shop area into a community and production kitchen.

The kitchen – which should be up and running by the end of March - will enable the team to “make the most of the fantastic produce our local growers are supplying” and run sustainable and conservation cooking workshops, receive local school groups and possibly run catering services. 

Pictured: SCOOP offers a selection of local produce and waste free items.

“It has always been part of the vision to have a communal space where things can happen,” Mr Wimberley explained. “In the old space, we had a kitchen and table space, it made it feel more like a community. We were missing the community feel.

“Members come in and tell us about how people make different things. There is so much knowledge in the community that we will be able to share with other people through the kitchen.” 

The kitchen will be equipped with dishwashing equipment and ovens donated by the Hotel de France from their conference centre. “We are following our ethos of recycling and reusing things,” Mr Wimberley noted. 

In the future, SCOOP hopes to employ people work as chefs and have different chefs involved throughout the year, although Mr Wimberley said it would take “a number of months” to get there.

Pictured: SCOOP is based at Farm Fresh Organics in St. Lawrence.

The kitchen will be built on an open plan space with the shop allowing visitors to observe what’s cooking. Visitors will also have access to a “space to relax and sit down for a little bit” with books to browse. 

Thanks to funding from the Rural Initiative Scheme, SCOOP will also soon have washing and sterilisation facilities. They will be used for glassware and tableware and will “open up possibilities to do deliveries," according to Mr Wimberley.

“This is something people had been asking for, but we couldn’t do it until it was viable or cost effect,” he said. “We will be able to take glass jars and fill them with home-made pestos and chutneys.”

Deliveries are also “on the cards” and will be phased in slowly this year. 

While the extension is an “exciting” project for the cooperative, it is also stretching its resources. With six volunteers currently helping man the shop, Mr Wimberley is keen to recruit more.

“If people want to volunteer, we need more,” he said. “Whatever people are able to do, we are very grateful."