A pioneering ethical grocery store in Brighton will give shoppers an individual breakdown of how much money from their bill is paid to suppliers.
‘HisBe’ - which stands for How It Should Be - opens today (7 December) after raising £200k through crowdfunding platform ‘buzzbnk’ and private investors including Body Shop co-founder Gordon Roddick.
When shoppers pay for their groceries, a screen facing the shopper will display a pie chart giving a percentage breakdown of how much money from the transaction will go to suppliers, how much will go to paying overheads including staff wages, and how much is profit.
A breakdown for the total shop will also be printed on the shopper’s bill. “It’s transparency and honesty it’s showing you that today you’ve supported producers and you’re supporting the store and nobody’s been ripped off,” said co-founder Ruth Anslow.
HisBe includes two ‘pods’ - counters with basic food preparation areas - that will be rented out to local businesses to boost the store’s income.
HisBe hopes to eventually open a regional chain of supermarkets in the area.
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