Little Hadham Stores

Last week I went on a course organised locally by WENTA to help people planning on starting their own businesses.  It was useful, I came away with pages of notes and then found myself needing to just sit quietly yesterday and process.  Because I think this means I am really doing it.  I am opening Little Hadham Stores.  Our old butchers shop is going to become a shop again.

One of the things we were asked to do was focus on the end goal and write what we wanted to achieve, our vision of our business.  I wrote:

A beautiful little shop where people come to pick up their fresh, local, sustainable food and stop to chat and share.

We were also asked to write our mission statement, why we want to start our business.  Now there is a lot to be said here about wanting to be at home and be with my children, as well as wanting to do something worthwhile within my community.  I wrote:

I believe we need to change our relationship with food.  And to that end I want to support local producers that share my vision.

How do I think people need to change their relationship with food and why?  I want to think about that a bit more before I write.  As I want to reveal an authentic voice to these thoughts, not just regurgitate ethical marketing speak.  All in all the course has set me to thinking.

I need to succinctly and accurately describe my store concept.  It started as a spin off from the Farmers' Market.  Little Hadham Farmers' Market is only once a month.  Little Hadham Stores was to be a way to give us all access to the wonderful producers at the market during the weeks in between.  Since then I have thought more about which producers I want to support and why.

As many others have I'm sure, I have also been thinking about the need to reduce consumption, stop filling landfills and our oceans with single use plastic and just generally living with our surroundings and treading lightly on this beautiful planet of ours.

So Little Hadham Stores is indeed to be beautiful.  I hate those health food shops that look like medicine cabinets.  And the idea that seasonal natural food that is free from gluten, sugar, preservatives, dairy, e-numbers... (whatever) will not taste, look, smell as good as, nay better, than over produced, cheap, supermarket junk. Ok so price is something that I probably can't compete on.  But everything else Stores will do better than the best supermarket chain.

Little Hadham Stores will let people order from our list of wonderful local producers and then pick up their order all packed and ready to go from our shop.  We have seasonal organic veg boxes, bread and pastries, organic Irish soda bread, hummus, seasonal wild garlic pesto, vegan biscuits and macaroons.  I hope to add coffee, Italian food and dried goods next.

I want my shop to be a place to share good food, and ideas that will help to find more producers and better ways to shop, store and cook our food.  I've already invested in Beeswax Wraps to replace cling film and been in touch with kilner to see if I can stock their jars.

So, as I said I need to get more succinct in my description.  And today my first veggie boxes arrived only 3, but a start.