We at Crowdleaf.org.uk are carrying another fantastic guest piece this week. This article was written for us by Hayley from The Eco Collective and it is a group we are starting to work with who are promoting a more sustainable future and a more sustainable diet.
The Eco Collective is unique as it is a 100% Vegan Supermarket that can more than compete on price and range. It vital we live more sustainably and remember you don’t have to be a vegan to shop with them, but in the quest towards eating more sustainably the world needs less meat and less dairy. For a more sustainable diet try the eco collective it is a great place to start.
A Vegan Supermarket for Good
My name is Hayley Guerrier and I am the co-founder of The Eco Collective, a not-for-profit social enterprise created by me and my mum Juliet and launched on 16th January 2018.
It is our mission to make it easy and affordable for anyone and everyone to live sustainably by offering ethically sourced, vegan products at the lowest prices possible and we have done this by building both an online vegan supermarket and a platform to purchase goods at wholesale prices.
Spreading Veganism
I think you would agree that if people decide they want to improve their lives and the lives of others – including our non-human cousins – they should never have to pay a premium to do so. And I know, beans and rice and fruit and veg is all deliciously affordable but what about when you just don’t have the time to cook from scratch or make your own bicarbonate of soda deodorant or milk the almonds.
The supermarkets aren’t much help. How does selling vegan cheese/ice cream/ready meals at two or three times the price of non-vegan options help to recruit new vegans? It simply isn’t fair or at all encouraging to make veganism or living sustainably look so unobtainable. Is somebody who drinks cow’s milk really going to look over at a £3 carton of plant milk alternative in Sainsburys and think to themselves, “I think I’ll try that today”, or are they going to opt for low cost and convenience.
That’s why The Eco Collective exists – to give affordability and convenience back to ethical people and to help to inspire positive change.
Over the last 3 years, mum and I have spent countless hours sifting through the tens of thousands of food, household and personal care products available, checking each packet for rogue animal ingredients and then cataloguing them onto a website to bring to the UK, the largest range of 100% vegan products anywhere.
The Power of Collective Purchasing
So, you’re probably wondering how we can possibly beat the supermarkets and offer some 8,500 products at wholesale prices and the answer is – our Members. When you become a Member of our community and donate by way of a subscription to The Collective, those funds are used to increase its buying power – which basically means we buy more and pay less. Those savings are passed directly on to our Members and are reflected in the prices they pay for their shopping.
The more Members in The Collective, the lower the prices get, it really is that simple.
A lot of people have commented that it’s like Costco… and it is, kind of. Except we only source vegan products, you don’t have to be a Member to shop with us if you don’t want to (you can just shop at retail prices) and we are not-for-profit. Any profits we do make go into increasing our buying power further or is donated to valuable causes and charities.
The contribution made to The Eco Collective for your membership helps with the running costs of the group as there is little to no mark-up on the products that we source – without it there would be no way of providing this service. It costs less than Netflix (with 20% off for students) and it normally pays for itself in savings from just 3 or 4 items per month.
Helping Vegan Businesses Grow
The Eco Collective is not just another shop, it’s a community of like-minded people all contributing to a better world. It is a platform for bloggers and vloggers to share recipes and videos and to help people who have the planet’s best interests at heart to speak out and tower above “big business”.
It is a place where small producers can showcase their handmade items without having to pay for the privilege of a table top at a fair or sacrificing a large percentage cut.
The Future
Limitless! With hundreds of members we could start buying directly from producers. With thousands, we could offer plant milk at the same price as cow’s milk! We could start to open real physical supermarkets across the country creating fairly-paid jobs, plastic free aisles, and spending extortionate wads of cash on nice long VEGAN TV adverts!
We have an opportunity to create something huge and purely for good, but we can’t do it without you. We are at the very start of something great, we only ask that you join us in our adventure and we will change the face of veganism in this country together.
Want To Join In?
- To become a Wholesale Member and part of our community, please email memberships@ecocollective.co.uk.
- To try The Eco Collective for free and receive 5-20% off your order, click here.
- If you want to have a browse of the items we source at their full retail prices, go straight to the shop. You can click the ‘Get Discounts’ link in the menu bar or email us later to join.
- If you still have questions, try checking out our FAQ.
- To enquire about selling through The Eco Collective, please email ecotraders@ecocollective.co.uk.
We are looking for bloggers, YouTubers and web developers to help spread the word. If you would like to volunteer to help promote The Eco Collective, we have an Ambassador scheme. Please email hello@ecocollective.co.uk to find out more.
www.facebook.com/ecocollectiveuk