Wild Oats was ahead of its time, introducing zero-waste self-service bins in the early 1980s, allowing customers to purchase grains and pulses in bulk. This initiative not only promoted sustainability but also empowered customers to buy quantities that suited their needs, reducing packaging waste.
00:00But it was started by Mike Abrahams over 40 years ago and back then I think he was far ahead of his time but now like I said it's mainstream now but we're still a very small independent business and thankfully with a lot of customers who love us.
00:17Nestled in Lower Redland Road in Redland, Wild Oats Natural Foods has been a cornerstone of Bristol's health and well-being scene since 1981.
00:27Founded by Mike and Lowe's Abraham, the store began as a small deli offering whole grains and pulses, a rarity at the time and they became the first in the city to offer this type of product.
00:39It was founded in 1981 and we started off like we're in the middle of the store here but as we go down we started off in the like lower section and then they bought next door, expanded, started off as like self-serve only and like refillable stuff and then we slowly like grew as time goes on.
01:03Mike, a former European Space Agency engineer, left his career to pursue a passion for sustainable living and healthy eating.
01:12Their vision was to provide the community with access to natural, organic and ethically sourced products long before such choices became mainstream.
01:23Yeah, well I think it is different that we are the original and the first and we do try to have a real focus on supporting local businesses, local makers where we can and that's really important to us.
01:42I think we were like before the whole health food kind of really took off, so I think it was like before its own time and now it's like flourishing where like the supermarkets are now stocking like things that we sell, so we know it's like a really good health focus and I think we just offer like more community.
02:03Wild Oats was ahead of its time, introducing zero waste self-service bins in the early 1980s, allowing customers to purchase grains and pulses in bulk.
02:14This initiative not only promoted sustainability but also empowered customers to buy quantities that suited their needs, reducing packaging waste.
02:24The store's commitment to ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility.
02:29We have had our share of struggles, we've had some major competitors on the triangle that have come and gone, we have a competitor right down the road, we have two competitors right down the road, but I think because we have, like I said, we have a lot of customers who love us, but we also pride ourselves on really good customer service.
02:46Yeah, you get customers that just come back for years and years and you get lots of customers that say, oh yeah, I used to come here like when you first opened like 40 years ago and I think just for some people having that face-to-face interaction is like a big part of their day.
