According to The Star, Britain’s cheapest supermarket is to open in Barnsley, South Yorkshire next month - stocked with cut-price food other stores have thrown out.
This members-only shop will carry a comprehensive range of food products priced at 30% of normal retail prices. Twenty more are planned for the UK next year, six in London.
Slow to emerge in the UK, and with 1,000 already open in Spain and Greece, the number of so-called social supermarkets in Austria has risen from around 40 in 2009 up to a current number of about 70. These supermarkets allow people at risk of poverty to purchase their daily groceries at lower cost than in normal supermarkets.
These supermarkets are commonly organised as charitable foundations. They collect excess or rejected goods from normal supermarkets and sell these to the needy at rock-bottom prices. While the quality of these products is normal, their packaging may be damaged, they could be mislabelled, or they may be approaching their expiration date. Shelves are mostly filled with products satisfying daily needs, such as dairy products, bread, pasta, fruit and vegetables, but also household products, toiletries, and books. These goods are usually one to two thirds cheaper than at regular supermarkets; bread is often free. Only people with per capita incomes of less than around 900 euros are entitled to purchase at social supermarkets.
Whilst social supermarkets represent an outlet for retailers' surplus/near-waste products, this emerging channel has to provide an opportunity for suppliers to find a socially beneficial outlet for suitable products.
...and for the really imaginative retailer, why not convert an outlet scheduled for closure, and really make a difference?
This members-only shop will carry a comprehensive range of food products priced at 30% of normal retail prices. Twenty more are planned for the UK next year, six in London.
Slow to emerge in the UK, and with 1,000 already open in Spain and Greece, the number of so-called social supermarkets in Austria has risen from around 40 in 2009 up to a current number of about 70. These supermarkets allow people at risk of poverty to purchase their daily groceries at lower cost than in normal supermarkets.
These supermarkets are commonly organised as charitable foundations. They collect excess or rejected goods from normal supermarkets and sell these to the needy at rock-bottom prices. While the quality of these products is normal, their packaging may be damaged, they could be mislabelled, or they may be approaching their expiration date. Shelves are mostly filled with products satisfying daily needs, such as dairy products, bread, pasta, fruit and vegetables, but also household products, toiletries, and books. These goods are usually one to two thirds cheaper than at regular supermarkets; bread is often free. Only people with per capita incomes of less than around 900 euros are entitled to purchase at social supermarkets.
Whilst social supermarkets represent an outlet for retailers' surplus/near-waste products, this emerging channel has to provide an opportunity for suppliers to find a socially beneficial outlet for suitable products.
...and for the really imaginative retailer, why not convert an outlet scheduled for closure, and really make a difference?
