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A taste of the good life for online shoppers!

You won’t be able to buy strawberries in December, but eating foods in season brings its own pleasure, says Darren Grant, owner of The Organic Supermarket, Ireland’s first dedicated supermarket where everything from baked beans to blueberries are certified organic, and sold seasonally.

Since opening on the Main Street of Blackrock in South Dublin last year, the Organic Supermarket has gone from strength to strength, which is why Grant decided more recently to launch the online www.organicsupermarket.ie with next-day delivery nationwide.

“Initially we thought people would just supplement their regular shopping with some organic goods from us, but the business has grown phenomenally, and the demand is there for a full range of organic foods and other household items.”

“There are lots of farmers’ markets, and box deliveries of organic fruit and vegetables, which is great, but before now, there wasn’t any one store providing everything the average shopper might want like organic tomato ketchup, crisps, crackers, herbs or olive oil, and other stuff everyone buys,” he adds.

Since they went online three months ago, orders have come from as far as Cork and Belfast.

And with over 3,000 items available from a total of 147 suppliers, many of whom are Irish, online shoppers have a huge range to choose from including meat, fruit, vegetables, wines, bread, confectionary, tinned food, pasta, baby food, cheese and even cleaning agents and toiletries.

“We charge €6.50 for delivery anywhere in the country, and we deliver to the home or workplace.”

But does the extra cost put people off?

“Most organic food is around  20% more expensive because it’s more labour-intensive. But a recent report showed that 40% of the average household’s food is thrown out because we over-buy. Buying less but better quality food is the way to go.”

“And if we don’t support local, independent food producers, they’ll disappear and the big-name supermarket chains with homogenised brands of food will dictate what we eat.”

To celebrate organic food week, www.organicsupermarket.ie is having a big online food and wine sale, and will host several in-store artisan food tastings. They are also planning a ‘meet the farmer’ day.

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