We love to beautify the shop with painted boards and decorated windows. All our own work! Have a look by clicking on the link below.

No Plastics

Because we really do care about our planet, we have put a lot of thought into how we can supply the best plastic-free options for our customers. Here’s what we have so far, but do come and talk to us about your plastic-free needs and suggestions. We value your comments!

✔︎ Compostable packaging

✔︎ Refills of cleaners

✔︎ Refills of shampoo, conditioner, body wash

✔︎ Natural skincare with no microbeads

✔︎ Wide range of alternatives to disposable plastic items

✔︎ Working with Suppliers to eliminate single-use plastics

Refill Station

We currently offer refills on:

• Laundry Liquids — Ecoleaf standard or Ecover concentrated “zero”

• Fabric Softener — Ecoleaf

• Washing-up Liquid — Ecoleaf or Ecover

• Multi Purpose Cleaner — Ecoleaf

• Shampoos and Conditioners — Faith in Nature

• Body wash - Faith in Nature

• Liquid Hand Soap — Ecoleaf

• Liquid Deodorant - Salt of the Earth

5 litre containers are stocked on most of the above, with more available by order.

Please note: We can't refill 5 litres, only 2 litres in a 5 litre container. This is because we have to decant the 15 litre Ecover refills into 20 litre containers (as the Ecover bag & box system doesn’t work for us); so refilling 5 litres would make it too difficult for us to keep up. The 5 litre containers can go in your recycle bins at home.

We also sell soluble laundry sheets and a range of Ocean Saver cleaning products: just tip the sachet or tablet into your spray bottle and top up with tap water to use - economical, plastic-free and light to carry!

Personal Care

In addition to our liquid refills, we offer:

• Shampoo and conditioner bars including the amazing new Rock shampoo, which is locally made.

• Loose and paper-wrapped soap, including Marseille blocks, palm oil free options and our own, beautiful, locally made bars.

• Bamboo toothbrushes, interdental brushes, floss and toothpaste tablets in a range of flavours.

• Wash cloths, reusable facial pads (to replace cotton wool), Natracare sanitary range and toilet paper.

• Hair and nail brushes made from all-natural materials

• Stainless steel shaving gear and razor refills - never buy a disposable plastic razor again!

• Deodorants in glass, cardboard tubes or refillable spray bottles.

• Locally made moisturiser cream in glass jars and bottles.

Home Ware

We stock

• The ‘If You Care’ range of cleaning brushes, baking products, sandwich bags and coffee filters - all totally plastic free and biodegradable

• Compostable sponges and sponge cloths

• Toilet tissues and kitchen rolls made from recycled papers and wrapped in biodegradable potato starch or paper.

• Rubber gloves made entirely from sustainable rubber.

• Locally made, waxed-cotton food wraps and cotton bowl covers.

• Compostable cling film.

• Stainless steel water bottles, lunch tins, drinking straws, pint cups, sporks and more.

• Bin bags and biodegradable dog poo bags!

  More items being added all the time…

Dried Goods

We thought hard about how to provide our dried food (nuts, flakes, grains, pulses and so on) without plastic packaging, and discussed the issue with our supplier. Michael’s Wholefoods, who found a wonderful solution: Natureflex bags!

Natureflex is a fully biodegradable packaging material made from sustainably grown wood pulp, which looks like cellophane and will break down in a home compost system in just a couple of months.

Because Natureflex is not strong enough to hold the largest sizes we stock - mostly 3kg - those are packed in polythene, BUT the good news is that you can bring those polythene bags back to us and we can return them to Michael’s, who get them recycled back into bags! Unfortunately, we can only provide this service with our own-label bags.

There are several practical reasons why we can’t just sell all the dried food loose. One reason is space: we would have to reduce our range to make room for refill units. Another is time: weighing each item is slower than checking a price, and creates queues. The main reason is the risk of cross-contamination: most of what we sell is organic and must be kept separate from non-organics, not to mention allergens… Happily, with compostable bags the problem is solved!

Fresh Fruit
& Veg.

Our organic fresh produce has always been available loose (with the one exception of leafy greens). We have paper bags available, or you can buy and reuse one of our net or cloth bags, made from organic cotton.

Our supplier is local, growing much of the produce herself with the rest being sourced within the UK wherever possible.

In the Spring and Summer months, we also sell organic herb plants grown in South Norfolk by Orchard End Organics.

We’re discovering more zero-waste possibilities all the time. Watch this space!

Gluten Free

We’ve included gluten free choices in just about everything we sell, including our home-made ready meals.  You can leave the shop with everything you need to prepare a healthy meal at home from scratch; or you can cheat a bit when time is short, yet still be confident of feeding family and friends something tasty and healthy.

If you’re new to gluten or wheat-free diets, or you’re looking to meet somebody else’s dietary needs and not sure what to give them, we can help with information and cooking ideas.

Please note: we order gluten free bread, rolls, tea cakes and scones according to demand - so the more you buy, the more we order. If we haven’t got what you’re looking for, just ask when we are placing our next order, and we’ll add your items to our shopping list!

Home Baking

We are a 100% vegetarian shop, with the overwhelming majority of goods also being vegan, and this is reflected in our home baking range. 

We do our best to create healthy, tasty foods catering for various dietary needs* using as many organic ingredients as we can to produce healthy vegan/vegetarian snacks and ready meals.

The selection in our cool counter varies from day to day, but here are a few favourites that we often have available:

• walnut and mushroom wholemeal pastry rolls

• veggie haggis rolls (like a sausage roll but more interesting!)

• tofu pies

• vegetarian and sometimes vegan quiches

• savoury, vegetable & almond wedges

• a choice of flapjacks

• vegan cheezecake slices

• Faye’s legendary fig and almond cake

• pear & ginger banana loaf

• dark chocolate tiffin squares

Pop into the shop and pickup a copy of the Natural Foodstore Cookbook.

WE SUPPLY A RANGE OF HIGH QUALITY PRODUCTS WHICH CAN HELP WITH THE MANAGEMENT OR RELIEF OF CHRONIC/ACUTE SYMPTOMS FROM MANY COMMON AILMENTS E.G. MILD DIGESTIVES UPSETS, MILD SKIN CONDITIONS, COMMON COLDS, HAY FEVER, ARTHRITIC PAINS, CONSTIPATION, INSOMNIA AND STRESS.

All of the products are vegan or vegetarian, reliable and of a high quality you may not find in unknown products from online ordering. We also hold informative free booklets and leaflets covering many common ailments.

There is a good range to choose from, but if there is something you need which we don’t stock on the shelves (e.g. because it’s not vegetarian), then you can always order it with us and we’ll do our best to help.

Please note, we are not health practitioners and as such, we recommend you seek professional advice from your GP, Pharmacist or health practitioner as some natural products may have contraindications with certain health conditions, or with medications you may already be taking.

Sharing Nicely a great way to work

How do you run a business without a leadership structure? Like a dream!

•  Sharing the skills

We rotate the roles that have some intrinsic power: the buyer, the administrator/book-keeper, even the primary cook. Every year, we swap roles and anyone new to the position is trained by the previous incumbent. That way, everyone understands and appreciates what each task entails and is in a strong position to make decisions whenever questions arise.

• Shared interest

It is our shop, it pays our wages and, as registered directors, we are legally responsible for its success. So we all have an interest in making it work and no single individual has to carry all the weight on their shoulders – or receive all the benefits when times are good. Equality brings its own motivation.

• Mutual Respect

Where no worker has seniority, it is vital that we respect each other’s opinions and ideas, as we make plans for the shop or deal with issues. No-one can be expected to think of everything or always be right, but creative discussion between a group of people with the same objective can usually find a solution. If we disagree, we talk it through until we either find a compromise or a way around the problem.

• Mutual Support

We are not robots or “resources”: everyone has a life outside work and emotional pressures that might affect their ability to do their job. In a co-operative working environment, where there is no need to compete with or undermine others to further one’s career, it is natural to create a kind and supportive workplace, and cut each other some slack from time to time! Of course, empathetic culture is not limited to co-operatives, but it is especially important, because of our particular need to function as a happy team.

Being a workers’ co-op

A workers’ co-operative is a business run for and by its workers, rather than by an owner or external shareholders. We share responsibility equally and make decisions by discussion and consensus.

We are a not-for profit business, meaning that we cover the costs of running a shop and pay ourselves a basic hourly wage. If we ever find ourselves with a surplus of cash that we can’t allocate within the shop’s needs, we will use it to support community projects or other co-ops.

There are not many workers’ co-ops in our area, so we get asked a lot of questions about how they operate and differ from other kinds of business. If you are curious to know the answers, click on the link below!

Co-ops come in many forms and are not all run along identical lines. However, all co-ops are guided by the 7 Co-operative Principles.

For more info on co-operatives, visit uk.coop