A lot of people just go crazy when they go to fairs and find bulk (loose) products. But know that a Spanish supermarket chain has recently started selling products only in bulk. We are far from the big cities that serve as a model, but this is a good start.
The supermarket chain Pão de Açúcar started selling more than 40 products in bulk in São Paulo. But by the end of the year there should be more than 60. Whoever goes shopping uses reusable containers. This habit was part of the routine of our ancestors – a healthy practice that produced less waste and connected people more with food.
What are the benefits of selling in bulk?
- Reduction in the use of disposable packaging
- Less food waste
- More savings
- more attractiveness
- freshness perception
- encourages the place
- Supports economic activity in the region
- Create more social bonds
And the last one is also the coolest. Have you ever thought about how we don't interact when we go to the market? And not only that, how do we treat those who work there indifferently? As if they were automatic robots and they were doing us a big favor. We barely greet those who operate the cashier, who keep the fruit.
From the bulk, there is a new resignification in our way of living in the community, changing an entire cycle and helping to empower more local families than large supermarket chains. Of course, at the beginning it is the large networks that end up implementing this new way of consuming, but it is good that these spaces are being created and allowing a new way of consuming food.
Reflections aside
Have you ever stopped to reflect on the amount of garbage you bring back from the supermarket? Start with cleaning packages, then personal hygiene and finally food. It's a lot of garbage, isn't it? What if the next time we went to the market and took our own packaging to replenish what was needed? Wouldn't that already be the beginning of a much smaller waste?
In natural products stores it is possible to start to observe the phenomenon of bulk, which many say is returning, as it was a trend in warehouses for years. That's because family members bought, for example, 500 grams of rice, 600 grams of beans, a little sugar. Nothing was packaged. It was possible to smell, to perceive the texture of each product. Wasn't it really a marvel?
Including this habit may be difficult at first. These spaces that sell in bulk are growing, in fact, it will be a new way of relating to the products we consume. We hope it's something that this time stays. Nature thanks you!
Text written by Angélica Fabiane Weise from the Eu Sem Fronteiras Team
