A community grocery has been operating in Toxteth since November 2022 selling food at reduced rates.
The charity, The Message Trust, in partnership with churches runs 21 community grocery stores across the UK including its Liverpool store on Upper Mann Street in Liverpool 8. In 2020, during Covid, the charity delivered 60,000 meals and food parcels to families and homes across Wythenshawe who found it difficult to put food on the table.
As lockdown lifted the need to help people was not only still there, but was getting worse. The charity felt it could not stand by and do nothing and the idea of a community grocery was born.
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The grocery, which acts as a bridge between food-banks and supermarkets, costs £5 a year to join. Members can then purchase 12 items for £4 per shop.
Message Trust enterprise director Sam Hawthorne told the ECHO: "There are no criteria for members to join. We’re here for anyone finding it hard to keep their family fed and would go hungry without our support.
"Items in the standard shop can include bakery items, fruit, veg, canned and shelf items, non-food, freezer and chilled items. Optional ‘little extras’ can be added to the shop and are priced separately”.
From July 3, the cost of 12 items will rise to £5. Items are sourced from supermarkets and food retailers who class them as surplus and have been rescued by the Community Grocery.
Surplus reasons vary from packaging mistakes, order errors or food is close to or just past the best before date, but perfectly safe to eat. The grocer regularly check stock and never stocks anything past its use by date.
The charity has helped more than 43,000 members, provided over 13.6 million meals to families fighting food poverty and saved over 5,250 tonnes of food from going to waste.
A customer said: "It's amazing what you can get. I can normally come out with two big bags for like £9. If I go to a normal shop, it could easily be £30, probably a bit more, so I’m saving quite a lot.
"It makes a massive difference because you can save what's left out of your grocery budget to use on other essentials. There’s other stuff people need that normally they would have to sacrifice to get their food.
"Before you come here and save money you can buy other stuff even putting it towards electricity".
Another customer said: "The grocery has been a complete life changer. Our fruit bowl is always full and my kids eat a lot of fruit now, as much as they want.
"We no longer have to cut back on fresh things because of cost".
Another added: "As soon as I found the community grocery it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders."
As the store is reliant on whatever foods are surplus each week, it can't guarantee what will be in stock. The little extras section contains goods the grocer has not been able to source through the surplus links.
The store bulk purchases these directly from wholesalers allowing it to pass on as much savings as it can to members.
Members and non-members are also offered free courses by the grocer's partner church such as: employment clubs, debt advice, painting, mental wellbeing and more.
For information visit the Community Grocery HERE
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