First Zero Waste – No Packaging Grocery Store
I got a chance to talk with Brian Nunnery of In.gredients.com. They are a new type of grocery store that is going completely package free. Brian said the Lane brothers, who are the creators of in.gredients were looking to sell beer and wine in bulk using only reused bottles, but what they decided was, why stop there, and have now started creating an entire grocery store without packaging of any kind! As they have been rolling it out, Brian reports their vendors have been excited and accommodating trying to make this bold step work, as this project is going to require a tremendous amount of vendor cooperation and open mindedness to successfully implement and scale.
in.gredients
Personally, the idea of a zero waste grocery store is very exciting! Perhaps I am a plastic recycling crazy person, but what In.gredients.com is doing, is nothing short of heroic. They are looking to blaze a new path in grocery conduct and I tip my hat to that. In.gredients is located in Austin Texas, one of the hubs for cutting edge, ethically minded, cooperative businesses, looking to make a positive impact on the world. In.gredients.com has selected to be a Triple Bottom Line business. I don’t know about you, but I was not too familiar with the ins and outs of this designation.
According to the Indiana Business Review, Triple Bottom Line or TBL was created by John Elkingston a world authority on corporate responsiblity and sustainable development. TBC is an accounting framework that incorporates three dimensions of performance: social, environmental and financial. This differs from traditional reporting frameworks as it includes environmental and social measures that can be difficult to assign appropriate means of measurement. The 3Ps do not have a common unit of measurement. Profits are measured in dollars. What is social capital measured in? What about environmental health? Finding a common unit of measurement is a challenge.
Interest in triple bottom line accounting has been growing in popularity with for-profit, nonprofit and government sectors. Many businesses and nonprofit organizations have adopted the TBL sustainability framework to evaluate their performance.’
Here is more about TBL from Indiana Business Review if you are interested.
Brian said the idea is to open micro community grocery stores in size from 2,000-4,000 square feet. They are also looking at having seating for customers to drink beer, wine, and eat food.
I asked him about how they came up with the in.gredients name? He said, As you would guess, ingredients.com is no longer available to register, so they decided to create their brand using a subdomain, and a bit of creativity, which they felt would also better reinforce their message of being linked (in) with community, food, and the environment.
Being from the Portland, Oregon area, Austin, Texas seems to be kindred spirits when it comes to radical, community driven ideas and businesses such as in.gredients. I asked Brian if he thought they would ever make it to Portland, Oregon, so I could enjoy a “taste”of in.gredients! He said, once they get to the point of considering expansion, it would first happen in Austin Texas, but assured me, if they look outside of Texas, they would keep Portland in mind.
The reality is, it is only time until something like this is created in PDX, as I might have already seen a Portlandia episode about exacty this. That’s not actually true, as I have only seen the first eight episodes, and can confirm their was no Zero Waste grocery stores, but it’s only a matter of time.
So when will In.gredients be Opening?
They are not sure of the exact date, but are shooting for this summer. You can keep up to date, and connect with them at in.gredients.com. I enjoyed cathing up with Brian, and I look forward to seeing their progress.
Submitted by Kenny Bavoso of Coop.org
