This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
After three difficult years due to the pandemic and health measures, zero-waste grocery stores are starting to get their heads above water. The return to normal allows them to quietly find their customers, but the pitfalls are still numerous in a difficult economic context.
The pandemic and the health measures associated with it have had a devastating effect on grocery stores offering bulk products. While the province as a whole avoided contact and restricted its outings to the strict minimum, zero waste grocery stores, with all the manipulations that their operation entails, have been neglected by part of their clientele.
Many had to close their doors. This is the case of the Bokal grocery store, in Beloeil, in Montérégie, the Pont vert in Prévost, in the Laurentians, or even Avrac A’davrac, in Sherbrooke, in the Eastern Townships.
“During the pandemic, the big concerns were hygiene and health. Environmental commitments were somewhat forgotten,” notes Andréanne Laurin, general manager of LOCO grocery stores, which have four branches in the Montreal region.
LOCO saw its sales fall by 25 to 30% during this period. Shop traffic has picked up in recent months, but has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. To survive, the company had to move its largest branch, which was in the Ahuntsic district, to a smaller “but more reasonable” location.
Andréanne Laurin, who is also the founder of the Quebec Association of zero-waste grocery stores, remains optimistic about the return of customers. “I feel that consumers are once again questioning their behavior. Added to the issue of packaging is local purchasing. Rather than simply reducing packaging, we are also interested in local, organic foods, good for our health, which have traveled little before arriving on the shelves. It’s a return to the basics of the zero waste movement, whose main goal is always to reduce its overall ecological footprint. »
Shortage, inflation and company
For the Basta grocery store, which offers prepackaged bulk products in returnable jars, sanitary measures have never been an obstacle to store traffic. On the contrary !
“We started during the pandemic, so this is the norm for us, explains Alexandre Dufresne, owner of the business located on the Plateau Mont-Royal. People came to us because there were fewer people than in big grocery stores, it was more relaxing! »
Here, it is rather the post-pandemic period that promises to be perilous. In addition to having to deal with staff shortages, zero-waste grocery stores must juggle rising prices.
Alexandre Dufresne has seen some of his suppliers double their prices in the last year. Another announced to him a fourth increase in the space of 12 months. “Before, I could spend three months not looking at the invoices, because the prices were stable, now I look at them with a magnifying glass. It’s a job crazy for a small grocery store like ours,” says the young entrepreneur.
Some products were taken off the shelves because they no longer found takers due to their revised prices.
“There is a certain psychological barrier that clients are not ready to cross, observes Mr. Dufresne. Bulk, in the eye of the consumer, there has to be a little deal since there is no packaging, brand or notoriety likely to convince the customer to pay the price premium. »
All the same, the inflationary crisis that we are going through may be a way for zero-waste grocery stores to reach out to a larger clientele.
“We feel the inflation, but perhaps less than other businesses. Our prices have not increased to the level of those of supermarkets, notes Andréanne Laurin, of LOCO. Because we work a lot with small local producers, prices have remained more stable. The gap between an eco-responsible food, sometimes organic, and a traditional food is really smaller than before. »
According to the manager, the time is very well chosen for those who would like to reduce the size of their garbage bags.
“It’s always easier to start a zero waste approach if you can target foods that are cheaper than elsewhere. It has become a competitive advantage for bulk grocery stores. »
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, relating to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.