But what is it that made Mitchells stand out from the rest of the nominees? In this blog post, we thought we would tell you a little more about the small things that we do to encourage healthy eating and sustainability, and how they go a long way to benefiting the local community.
At Mitchells, we constantly seek to improve our working practices in order to be as sustainable as possible, and the Sustainable Retailer of the Year award, sponsored by Resource Efficient Scotland, paid homage to our increasing awareness of environmental issues.
Our company vans run on biofuel, our waste cardboard is baled and collected for recycling into more cardboard, and by trading with local companies, from bakers to farmers, we cut down on food miles and lower the business’s carbon footprint.
Food waste, meanwhile, is minimised by careful management of date-marked products; some of it goes to feed local pigs and the remainder is collected by a waste management company and turned into compost.
This compost is not only used by local farmers as a nutrient source for their cropping programmes, reducing reliance on artificial fertilisers, but we also use the compost for our hanging baskets and window/roof boxes flower displays helping, enhancing the appearance of not only our business but that of the town itself.
The Health Promoting Retailer of the Year, meanwhile, recognised us for the role we have played in helping to create a healthier Scotland.
Our business philosophy says it all – ‘Naturally we’re Local’. Fresh, locally produced food plays a big part in a balanced, healthy diet, and naturally, we concentrate on providing high quality local produce as well as excellent fruit and veg, and deli produce.
Local suppliers are very important to us, and we are incredibly proud to say that our shop currently stocks almost 70% of locally produced or sourced goods and our tearoom nearly 80%.
Seasonality, provenance, and food miles are important to us and to our customers, and where possible, we source locally and in season direct from the producers, and use Scottish suppliers for as many of the core range of goods as possible.
One of the most satisfying things is too see more and more young customers coming through the door who are thinking more and more about where their food comes from, especially in terms of fruit and vegetables, meat, bread, dairy, and fish.
Fish, in particular, are good sources of many vitamins and minerals, and as most of you now know, we have teamed up with Downies of Whitehills to introduce a Fresh Fish counter into our store.
If you want to find out more about how Mitchells encourages healthy eating and sustainability, and helps contribute to the local community in Inverurie, please feel free to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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