HEALTHY LIVING:As supermarkets compete for an ever-bigger slice of the €12 billion we spend every year on groceries, a 31-year-old former Dell worker has opened Ireland's first all-organic supermarket in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Everything sold in The Organic Supermarket is 100 per cent certified by the Organic Trust, and a unique and colourful range of wines, cheeses, meats, chocolate, fruit and vegetables greets visitors to the store, which is open seven days a week and is located on on Blackrock's Main Street.
After eight years working as a project manager at computer giant Dell, the shop's managing director Darren Grant abandoned corporate life to start the organic supermarket.
In a bid to support local food producers and take a stand against, what he calls, the "Tescopolisation of the country", Grant is putting in 90-hour weeks to get the business off the ground.
He has poured all his savings into the venture and has also managed to secure loans from AIB bank, the government's First Step small business loans initiative and the backing of a private investor in the firm.
He hopes to turn over €1.4 million in his first year and build on this success by opening three more stores over the next few years. This would carve a significant niche in the market, which grew by 75 per cent between 2003 and 2006.
Bord Bia predicts that the market will be worth €400 million by 2012, as increasingly eco-aware and health-conscious consumers - who are concerned not just about food miles and pesticide residues, but also seasonal choice, flavour and animal care - opt for organic groceries.
"Irish people are rebelling against the monotony of convenience stores and the Tescopolisation of the country and more and more of us are visiting the farmers' markets that are springing up. I am effectively bringing this market back indoors.
"Ireland was a land of bakers, butchers, greengrocers and your local sweet shops. But these are now a distant memory, with bland convenience stores serving a small, stale and monotonous range of food.
"It's time to revert to good, old-fashioned seasonal produce that is organic and locally grown," he said.
