A new zero-waste supermarket opened up in Richmond town centre in April selling household essentials totally packaging-free. For our latest Up Close With feature we caught up with them to see how their first few months have been over in The Quadrant.

The Source Bulk Foods sells unpackaged food so customers can buy exactly the amount they need.

The shop sells everything from spices to kitchen cleaner, and even has a DIY nut butter machine with varying crunch settings!

Customers can bring their own pots, bottles or tubs to stock up or buy them in store and take them back to refill next time.

Owner and Founder Makayla Drummond-Murray told Nub News that the shop is thriving in Richmond so far. Most popular among its products have been its chocolate range (we can highly recommend the TV mix!), premium nuts, and the store's new refillable oat milk.

Drummond-Murray said: "Since opening our doors in April, the Richmond community has welcomed us with open arms and embraced our zero-waste ethos!

"Richmond is such a vibrant community and we have loved seeing the locals out and about more now that summer has arrived.

"It has been amazing to see so many new customers who are excited to shop plastic-free.

"We are excited to continue engaging with the community and working together on some amazing zero-waste initiatives."

The team has already been expanding, as any regular customers may have noticed. One of the new additions is Maelina, who loves rock climbing and says her favourite product is the sesame crunch.

Drummond-Murray added: "We were so excited to expand our team over the past few months and have welcome some amazing new staff who are not only passionate foodies, but also experts on zero-waste living."

For Drummond-Murray, passion and a shared ethos is central to the business's success. She said: "When you step through the doors of your local Source store, you'll soon discover that our staff all share an incredible passion for the store, the planet and the local community.

"Shopping at The Source is about stepping away from the bustle of your day, relaxing and reconnecting with your food and how you as a customer shop.

"Each of our team members is passionate about quality food, healthy options and reducing food waste and we try to make each customers visit a positive experience.

"Mostly however, when you shop with us you can rest assured that we have selected a range of products that meets our ethical criteria and is high quality."

And is shopping there more expensive than going to other food shops or the supermarkets? "We try to keep prices comparable to other stores on a like for like basis and as we have grown we have been able to do this across more of our range, however customers also know that often what they buy from us is of a better quality, better for them and of course the product of minimal waste," she said.

"Shopping with us is about voting for the world you want to see."

The company was founded in Australia in 2012, then brought over to the UK by Drummond-Murray and her husband Patrick Cermak in 2018 when they opened their first stores in nearby Chiswick and Battersea.

The Source has since opened stores in West Hampstead and Brighton, and Richmond is its fifth UK store. Putney was the sixth to open just after Richmond and they have just opened a brand new store in Crouch End.

So how did they choose our beloved Richmond for the shop?

Drummond-Murray said: "We have always loved Richmond and felt that the local community would love their own The Source Bulk Foods, so for us it was a clear choice.

"We know that there is a strong community there, which we love, a vibrant foodie culture and a keen interest in sustainable living.

"We've had many people south of the river that visit our Chiswick store asking for us to open a store near Richmond for quite some time and we are so happy that we are finally able to provide the community with a zero-waste shopping destination.

She said they chose The Quadrant as it was so accessible and convenient for locals, as well as customers from neighbouring suburbs.

"The Quadrant is such a central hub for Richmond we felt it would allow us to spread our unique message to more people.

"We also wanted to be close to public transport so that our customers from neighbouring areas could easily visit our store, so we were thrilled to be able to open our store only a 4 minute walk from the Richmond train station.

"Our Richmond store is a vibrant hub and we constantly have exciting new products launching and weekly specials on some of our most popular ranges.

"We are constantly sampling new products instore for our customers to try (the Kombucha is a local favourite), not to mention we freshly grind a new nut butter flavour every day!

"Each week when you step through our doors, you can expect to have a new and exciting shopping experience."

You can find the shop at:

16 The Quadrant

Sunday: 10am-6pm