Our refill shop is on the move & we need your help

Aim

We need the support of our customers and friends to help us fit out our new space!

WHO ARE WE?

Hi, I’m Imogen (the one on the left in the photo), the founder of Eco Morpeth. I used to own a well-established health food café in Morpeth for 2 ½ years, however, due to the pandemic my plans had to change/adapt to the situation, and I had to rethink and restructure the business to keep afloat.

From the get-go, the main concept of the business has been sustainability. Almost everything in the cafe; from the food that was served, to the tables you sat at were sourced/made locally by independent businesses. Not only was the majority of the food sourced locally at the cafe, it was also fresh produce from the farmers market – zero waste! You can’t get much better than that eh?! 

Anyway, fast forward a year, I decided to take a different approach to the original plan due to the pandemic because unfortunately I couldn’t sustain the café with all the restrictions in place. It was fight or flight mode. I closed the cafe and kept the deli counter so I could carry on selling take out food/coffee, however I transformed the rest of the space into an eco friendly shop. Eco Morpeth (the shop) started off with only a few eco friendly products spaced out sparsely on the shelves. 

Within 11 months of opening, we have grown into a fully fledged zero waste shop! I was hesitant at first because I didn’t know if it was what Morpeth actually wanted/needed so I kept all costs at an all time low just in case it didn’t work out. No dispensers, no fancy machines, I just kept it simple and it worked!

The locals have proved me wrong and I could not be happier at the overall reception of the shop. Lots of old and new faces have now become regular customers which has allowed me to put the profits back into the business and carry on expanding the product range. The fact that so many people in the area share my ideas to help make the world a better place really gives a sense of community and fills my heart with pride.

Now, this is where I need your help

Although all of the profits are going back into the business to help expand the product range, it still isn’t enough to make the place a one stop shop and eco hub which is what I am aiming for. We are outgrowing our current location already and are on the move! 

I am in the process of securing the lease to a larger premises in Morpeth. The new premises is in a prime location in Morpeth unlike our current spot and it is double the size! Just think of all the possibilities we can do with that! Not only will our footfall dramatically increase to allow more people experience our concept and it will hopefully become ‘the norm’, but there will also be enough room to bring the café element back to the premises and increase what we can offer, which I know will please a lot of our old customers! We can employ more people from the local community and hold plenty of eco workshops! What’s not to love about this idea!

The ground floor will have enough space for a 24 seater café and the zero waste shop! You can shop until you drop and then treat yourself to a lovely bite to eat with locally sourced coffee/tea! In the evenings we will host clothes swaps, eco workshops and local craft making workshops!

We will be open 7 days a week with extended opening hours so the shop will be more accessible that the existing shop due to an increase in staff and footfall.

Why do I need your help?

This project cannot happen without you. The community has already drummed up enough interest and support to keep us going in the current location, it would mean the world to me if you could continue the support and be a part of this process to reach the final outcome. 

A new location starting with an empty building requires a big investment upfront, for not only the premises rent but to furnish the interior and purchase all the equipment from shelves and flooring to weighing scales and gravity bins, all needed to get us started. We have already secured a fraction of the necessary finances and we now need your help with the rest of it. It is a big project and I want to bring the community together so they can be part of the process!

The purpose of this Crowdfunder

The money raised by this Crowdfunder will go towards fitting out and setting up our new shop, as well as buying some essential pieces of equipment.

In return for your support, we've put together a big mix of rewards as our way of saying thank you. All pledges, small and large, will help us reach the finish line.

Here is a breakdown of the following estimated costs:

• kitchen equipment for the café, fit out and labour £10,000
• refurb the building including labour £15,000
• furniture for the café £2000
• initial stock £5000
• weighing scales, epos system, and gravity dispensers and paper bags: £5000
• fridges for fresh fruit and veg £2500
• 2x milk machines so that we can provide fresh dairy and oat milks £1200

Total: £40,700

Of course, whenever, and wherever possible I will try and source all these items second hand to both reduce costs and reuse/ recycle unwanted items from other places and people. 

If we raise money beyond our target the money will go towards:

• A commercial nut butter machine, in order for people to come and grind their own nut butters on demand. Producing nut butter with not a single preservative, salt or sugar in sight! You can adjust for smooth/medium/crunchy. Looks pretty cool too- think playdoh straight into a jar. £3000 (Impossible to find second hand except in the USA it would seem!)
• A stainless steel dispenser for start-up stock of locally produced extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil. We’ve been asked for locally produced oils on tap many times- please help us offer it from day one! £130

Why Crowdfunding?

Why not go to a bank for a loan? As well as the questionable ethical practices of many of the high street banks, starting a business saddled with debt will only lead to higher prices and less focus on giving customers what they want. Starting debt free will allow us to invest much more of the profits back into the business and community and allow us a much greater freedom in what we do.

A successful crowdfunding, will help us kit out the store with all the necessary machinery, zero waste fixtures and equipment that allows our shop and cafe to operate.

Buy Local, Buy Social 

I want to make ethical and responsible business mainstream. I want to help create an environment where responsible trading for social and environmental purposes is widely known.

I will always prioritise locally grown produce and locally made products where I can, to support other local, small businesses. I will also work hard to ensure that our products are sustainable in their production, transport, and packaging, and that they come from ethical and cruelty free producers. I will always strive to choose the lowest waste, most ethical products, and make them as affordable as possible to our community. 

Who Is The Shop For?

Everyone! Whether you are a hardcore zero-waster, someone just starting on a plastic free journey or someone who just wants to come in and have a look around you'll be welcome. The cafe will also be an inviting environment for brunchers, lunchers, mammas/pappas and babies, workers and coffee drinkers! Our customers are at the heart of everything we do and I want to encourage as many people as possible to come into the shop to see how it works and hopefully use us on a regular basis.

How else can you help or be involved?

• Like and share our cause on Facebook and Instagram 
• Talk about us and spread the word
• Shop with us in our current shop on 37a Newgate Street, Morpeth, NE61 1AT. 

THE PLAN

The state of the shop currently looks like this:

My plan is to transform the premises into a Scandi style eco friendly hub for people to enjoy shopping and dining in our café! Please see floor plans and mood boards below for reference.

This project successfully funded on 20th December 2021