Here at Real Foods we will be popping open some organic champagne, slicing some locally baked cakes, and celebrating from 25th-29th November to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of our Broughton Street store in Edinburgh. Please join us for lots of fun throughout the week.
We're delighted to be celebrating 50 years of supplying natural, healthy, organic and ethical foods not only to the people of Edinburgh, but to customers all over the world.
Situated in a beautiful Georgian terraced building, our 37 Broughton Street store is at the heart of a thriving community of independent businesses. Along with our 8 Brougham Street store, which opened in 1981, we are proud to say that we are the largest independent Scottish retailer of organic, Fairtrade, vegetarian, vegan and special diet foods.
We've come a long way
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We have certainly come a long way since our humble beginnings in 1963 as a market stall in the south of England selling organic vegetables. We have always been pioneers in the world of natural, healthy, organic shopping and this was very much the case back in the 1960s when we began importing macrobiotic foods from Belgium and Japan, as macrobiotics could not be sourced in the UK at that time. The next step in our journey was to start buying commodities from a London merchant to feed the ‘Aldermaston Ban the Bomb’ marchers who would gather at an Elizabethan mansion in the Chilterns before setting off.
In 1974 the first Real Foods store opened at 107 Morrison Street; a momentous occasion in our history. It was described in adverts from the time as "Edinburgh's original natural food store - small, but nice and cosy". Although we have grown considerably over the years we like to think that our customers still view our stores as nice and cosy!
Our Broughton Street store opened its doors to the public in October 1975. A former drapers shop, it was kitted out with shelves made from recycled government desks and transformed into a warehouse for dispatching natural and organic health foods all over the world.
It makes good sense!
An advert at the time of the Broughton Street launch reveals that world food prices had experienced a "phenomenal increase" and that together with a 20% drop in the pound and a home grown food drought, this meant that 95% of the advertised food prices were due to increase when stocks ran out. As a result we encouraged our customers to buy in bulk as it "makes good economic sense". I'm sure you'll agree!
The fresh, natural, healthy, organic foods we stocked back then were not too dissimilar to the nutrient-rich produce we stock today. From wholemeal pasta, porridge oats and organic barley flakes to chick peas, lentils and broth mix, the emphasis was on fresh, nutritious wholefoods to encourage healthy and wholesome eating. Our mascot at that time was Rufus the red squirrel, who appeared in all our adverts, alongside the slogan: "Real Foods: Bulk Wholesale Victuallers".
Although Rufus is now enjoying his retirement, the values we proclaimed at the time still stand today. As the advert states: "Real Foods' policy is to provide the best quality natural food at the lowest cost," and this is still very much the case 50 years later. Indeed another vintage advert, from The Scotsman, dated Wednesday 27th October 1976, refers in rather dramatic terms to "slashing profit margins to a precarious level" and "economic anarchy". With a pound of rice flour costing just 9.3p in bulk we most certainly made sure that our customers could "eat well and cheaply".
A healthy eating revolution
Over the past 50 years we have pioneered a revolution in food retailing and healthy eating by providing fresh, local, seasonal and organic alternatives to processed foods at prices our customers can afford. According to our 1976 adverts, we stocked 400 varieties of health foods. Today we are able to offer more than 10,000 products, including over 6,000 vegan products and more than 500 Fairtrade items. Our product lines are constantly growing and ever changing to keep up with the demands of our health conscious customers. Nowadays our stock includes superfoods, raw foods, natural and organic beauty products and eco-friendly cleaning products. From chia seeds to cacao powder you can find it here at Real Foods!
Our 1976 adverts offered local deliveries at the bargain price of 50p, whereas today our customers can place their orders via our website on their computer or mobile phone. We work with hundreds of suppliers, many of whom are small local businesses. We employ over 60 dedicated staff members and we work seven days a week, to meet the needs of our customers.
We're evolving and growing
Like our product lines, the Real Foods website is constantly evolving and growing, to become not just an online store but a resource for healthy recipes and articles on all aspects of natural health and wellbeing. Whether you want to learn about the latest superfoods or how to follow a vegan diet on a budget, it's all here!
When you shop at Real Foods, either in one of our two Edinburgh stores or using our international online service, you are tapping into over 60 years of experience in the world of natural, organic and healthy food. Many of our younger staff members can remember being brought into the shop by their parents. All our staff members are chosen for their friendliness, helpful attitude and knowledge. Whenever you pop into one of our stores you can be assured of a warm welcome and a personal service.
It's all about education
Educating the public about the importance of good nutrition and wholesome eating is very important to us and so we hold various information evenings at our stores to inform and advise our customers - plus there are always plenty of yummy samples to try! We also offer our support to local schools in their mission to teach young people about healthy eating, by visiting the schools and providing samples of healthy snacks and treats for the children to try.
We are justifiably proud of our history and how far Real Foods has come over the years. To mark our Broughton Street store's 50th anniversary we will be holding plenty of fun-filled events at the shop from 25th-29th November and we hope that as many of our loyal customers as possible will pop in to join in the celebrations. We've also created a special 50-year anniversary edition of our popular organic cotton shopping bags featuring an iconic picture of the shop itself.
Here's to another 50 years of natural, healthy, organic food shopping!