Crowdfunding for zero-waste grocer in London's core nets $39K in a week
A week into a crowdfunding campaign, a London business trying to open downtown's first packageless, zero-waste grocery store has all but bagged its goal.
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A week into a crowdfunding campaign, a London business trying to open downtown’s first packageless, zero-waste grocery store has all but bagged its goal.
The business behind the initiative is Reimagine Co., which sells reusable straws, utensils, produce bags and other items to help people use fewer single-use plastic products.
The idea is to create a grocery store where people can buy locally sourced produce and other items and use their reusable bags and containers for their products, which are also free from single-use packaging, said Heenal Rajani, who created Reimagine Co. with his wife, Kara.
“The vision for the new store is that it’s zero waste or packaged-free grocery store,” he said.
“It’s a community environment, based around food, minimizing waste, and in downtown London, where there aren’t a lot of places you can go to get your groceries.”
To make that vision a reality, Rajani and his wife have turned to Londoners to raise $50,000 to open the new store at 206 Piccadilly St.
They are also offering $1 in store credit for each dollar anyone gives to the project.
“It’s not really a donation,” Rajani said. “It’s a contribution. We are not crowdfunding, we’re co-funding; we are doing this together.”
A week after launching the campaign, the business has already received nearly $39,000.
It speaks to the importance Londoners give to the environment, said Rajani, adding the amount raised in a week was “beyond our expectations.”
“I think there is a shift that’s happening globally, which is reflected here in London,” he said.
“People really are putting environmental issues on the map consistently.”
Besides its line of cleaning and bathroom products, the business will offer grocery items and locally sourced fruit, vegetables, nuts, rice, grains and pasta, which people can buy in bulk.
“If you only need 100 grams of something for a recipe, you don’t have to buy a whole kilo bag of it,” Rajani said. “That’s one big way of reducing food waste, just buying as little or as much as you need.”
Rajani said they are also committed to reducing food waste and will work with London agencies to donate food instead of throwing it out. According to a 2019 study by Western University, a typical London household spends about $600 a year on food that ends up in the trash
The goal is to have the new store up and running in November, Rajani said.
