Forget the packaging, buying food in bulk is coming!
Perhaps it is more common in the USA and even in the UK, however, this trend is growing in Spain and more shops where you can buy in bulk are turning up.
If it is a “passing fashion” or not, only time will tell. Meantime, it is an amazing experience to buy in these shops where you can smell, enjoy the colours and aromas and even taste new products. Yesterday I watched a Spanish TV program about these shops and it was mentioned a store in Berlin, Original Unverpackt, one of the first shops where no packaging is used and is a zero-waste grocery store. All kind of food you buy there is in bulk and you can bring your own box or container to avoid waste packaging.
It was curious as I had been in a similar shop in Madrid just a couple of days earlier and I thought of how many shops of this kind are starting up in Spain. This one is called Pepita & Grano (Seed & Grain in English). It opened a few weeks ago and the neighbourhood is excited with the new neighbour where they can buy legumes, flours, spices, herbs, pasta, rice amongst other products, they can see, smell and even taste them, they can buy only the quantity they want and if they use their own packaging they get a discount.
Because those are the advantage and the spirit of this kind of shops: avoid waste packaging, recycle and promote a responsible consuming.
These shops remind the old groceries in Spain but with a pinch of “chic” as they are really stylish.
There are several food bulk shops in Barcelona, like Jaime J Renobell, Casa Perris, Al gra, Granería Sala, Granel, 4 unces. Some of them are old groceries which keep the spirit of past time, other one are bran new with the same idea but with a modern style, decorated according to the new trends. In Madrid there are modern groceries as well, such as A salto de mata, or for tea lovers, Amate, Granel in Bilbao, just to mention a few of them. And what about the specialized bulk shops for wine, tea, or croquetas? There are really interesting ideas but it will be for a next chapter.
