‘We want to get good food to Londoners who can’t afford it’

A store which is run by volunteers and wants to sell locally sourced goods at supermarket prices opened today.

The People's Supermarket in Holborn stocks "basics", fruit and vegetables, and 50 own-brand goods for £1 or less — including additive- and preservative-free "people's loaf", the "people's pint" and the "people's dozen".

The shop's fixtures are made from recycled or salvaged items and all waste food will be sold on as another product or turned into compost for allotments.

Anyone can shop at the store but members who pay a £25 annual fee and volunteer for four hours a month get a 10 per cent discount and a share in the company.

The supermarket was set up by social entrepreneur Arthur Potts Dawson, 39, who founded Acorn House restaurant in King's Cross and the Waterhouse eco-restaurant in Hackney.

"I'm not opening a Planet Organic or Fresh & Wild," he said. "You're in some of the poorest and most densely-populated wards in London, with a huge immigrant community, mostly Bangladeshi and Somali, where 51 per cent of people are living below the breadline. We want to get good food to the people who can't normally afford it."

The project, which has so far cost about £180,000, was funded by organisations including Camden council and the Development Trust Association. It is also set to be made into a programme for Channel 4 and Potts Dawson plans to launch The People's Cookbook.

The People's Supermarket has 110 members so far and has also recruited unemployed 18- to 24-year-olds through the Future Jobs Fund.