Start-up of the week: Bulk Market looks to tackle the waste problem in Hackney

The Gazette hunts high and low each week to bring you news of the most interesting and unusual new businesses in Hackney. This week we speak to a woman who wants us to be able to shop without creating any waste.

A former marketing exec who decided neither the corporate world nor policy makers are doing enough to tackle the waste problem, is looking to raise £29,000 to launch a “zero-waste” food market.

Ingrid Caldironi wants to bring a “new way of shopping” to London at Bulk Market, where no surplus food is binned or packaging sent to landfill.

She has a vision to have an apiary supplying honey made on the premises in Chatsworth Road, Lower Clapton, as well as a nut grinder dispensing nut butter straight to the jar, a commercial-grade composting machine and a recycled container-greenhouse for DIY classes.

Ingrid is promising an experience that is “a far cry” from traditional supermarkets, with brandless products sourced locally from other social enterprises, cooperatives, community farms or made on site, all sold in bulk or in reusable containers.

Ingrid said: “People will know how the food is made and where, all the way from field to table, and ultimately, to the bin.

“This idea came from my own needs. I wanted to support the right businesses and be able to shop without creating any waste, but there wasn’t anything like that in London. I’ve decided to take the leap.”

See spacehive.com/zero-waste-supermarket-london.