I laud the growth of bulk buy shops in the UK, but I sincerely hope they do not become solely synonymous with only organic, vegan or GM-free living as appears to be the current direction. There is much scope for this but there is also a huge variety of products to suit all sorts of households with range of price points which could benefit from the bulk food revolution.
Like in Canada this can include sweets, cereals of all types, dried herbs and spices, drink crystals, biscuits, baking ingredients, soup mixes, coffee and tea as well as a range of cleaning and personal care products.
Besides eliminating a lot of packaging, bulk buying also doesn’t penalize you on price for the amount of product you need. The encouragement to buy more than you need is eliminated, thus often eliminating further food waste.
But my favourite thing about the bulk food experience in Canada? Spices. How many of us have a cupboard of spice bottles that will never be used again. Unless you’re a huge fan of Turkish food and cook it often, do you really need 75g of sumac? Same for south Asian food. I love cooking it but will never use150g of fenukgreek seeds? Bulk buying also means you can buy very little.
Anyways, bulk buying should be for everyone, not just those after a specific lifestyle.