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Originally Posted by Paul mabbott  Does anyone know of Abel & Cole - the 'greener grocer'. We get much of our food supplied from farmers in Yorkshire but this company has been putting through our doors - sounds cheaper &c but ...... They've also had adverts in the national paper so must be quite big .... but no address other than Abel & Cole - organic home delivery service
One particular thing that worries me is that they offer "Fresh fish caught daily by small boats off the coast of Cornwall." How the hell are they going to get this, still fresh to South Yorks?  |
Hi Paul
As I recall, Abel and Cole started in London where they had to source stuff from all over due to the obvious lack of local growers in the Smoke.
They were very successful thanks to the Islington set
et al and quickly spread across the South East. I'm impressed that they have made it to Yorkshire already.
Their size means that they source a lot of stuff from overseas, which when considering things like Oranges seems inevitable, but for stuff we can grow in the UK is highly irritating. I can understand this in the winter months as the freight CO2 footprint is smaller than heated greenhouse CO2 footprint, but is inexcusable in the summertime. (I can't find the references for this apect of their trading but read it is some newspaper a while ago). It is their scale and the level of commitment that they make to supply stufff that forces them to shop widely in this way. They do state that they will source as locally as possible, it is just what is possible for them is not that great.
They have a pretty good reputation, being reliable and as you say cheaper than many other offers, but I would avoid them for the following reason.
If you spend money with your local small scale suppliers, your money stays within the local community and can be reinvested elsewhere in the community through wages and support businesses. A+C may be cheaper on the face of it to you and your wallet, but to your community they cost a lot more, and maybe that affects you, depending on where your income comes from. The New Economics Foundation have done some research on the impact of Big Business on local economies and found that every £10 spent with an outside business is worth £14 to the local economy, whereas every £10 spent with local businesses was worth £24 to the local economy due to the recycling effect I just described. (I tink these figures are right, if they are not, they are about right, and anywaym the general point is the same)
My preference would be to stick with your local suppliers, you probably have a better relationship with them than you would be able to form with a distant company like this, and you'll be better off in the long run.
Cheers
Sven
PS Can't help with the fish thing, don't eat them, but the Marine Stewardship Council runs a certification programme for fish sourcing and stocks. Have a look at
MSC Home - hope it is of help.