North London retailer Andrew Thornton has renewed calls for major manufacturers to “get on board” his plastic-free revolution after unveiling an ‘unpackaged’ range of 200 products in his Thornton’s Budgens store.
The new unpackaged range includes peanut butter on tap, fresh organic milk in glass bottles, squeeze-your-own orange juice, coffee beans, and a plethora of dry food and non-food lines.
A range of oils are now on sale, including pomegranate, lemon oil and basil-infused olive oil to adhere to EU legislation preventing the sale of extra virgin olive oil on tap. In addition, a water refill station includes sparkling water.
The new range adds to the 1,800 or so products introduced in plastic-free zones last year in the 7,500sq ft Belsize Park store.
Andrew told C-Store that he remains committed to realising his vision of a plastic-free store, but it also required the big manufacturers to take action to develop their packaging.
“Unilever seem to be embracing it but otherwise the progress is slow,” he added.
However, he said there had been huge interest from his customers since introducing the new ranges this week.
“Last year we were blown away by the international reaction when we launched our Plastic Free Zones. The new Unpackaged range represents the evolution of this,” he added.
“Our shoppers love our plastic-free packaging. But this is just the beginning. There is no end to our plastic-free ambition. I passionately believe the future of supermarket shopping in the 2020s will be without the toxic material that has done such damage to our planet and ourselves.”
Shoppers will also be able to buy reusable glass jars and fill them with the unpackaged products, which also include cereals, muesli, spices, nuts, grains, fruit, baking goods, cleaning products and personal care products such as loose soaps, shampoos and shower gels.
Cleaning products include OceanSaver pods, which are a range of concentrated, water-soluble cleaning pods that transform into liquid cleaner when added to water.
The new unpackaged range was launched in collaboration with campaign group A Plastic Planet.
No comments yet