Our Ethics

Being an independent shop means we are not bound to stocking certain products.
We can choose ourselves what we want to stock and what not. Customer satisfaction is our highest priority, as long as it is available to us the customer decides what we stock.
Being independent means we choose to use less plastic by re-using bubble wrap and other packaging materials for our online orders.

Where possible we stock products produced in Britain , ie Bio-D (cleaning products), Faith in Nature (natural toiletries) and various foods.

We try to deal with local wholesalers and suppliers, for example Green City (Glasgow based wholesaler), Heather Hills (Perthshire honey) and Chocolate Tree (Edinburgh chocolate) and Ochil honey (our most local honey).

Being independent also means we can order things in especially for the customer; if you can't find it on the shelf, we try our upmost best to source it.

We have freedom in choosing our own accountants, electricians and decorators. So we choose local tradesmen to keep the Stirling(shire) economy alive.

We can also choose what we do with our profit, therefore we have decided to donate part of our profits to charity. We support BUAV, Friends of the Earth Scotland, SSPCA, the RSPB and the Woodland Trust

We are proud to be an independent shop in the heart of Stirling, Scotland!

• Shopping local retains distinctiveness:
  Independent shops create distinctive shopping experiences and stock different products. Independent shops keep traditional local products alive. They respond more quickly to the needs of local customers, stocking products to meet the needs of the area.
   
• Shopping local creates jobs:
  Shops in the local area create local employment and self-employment. These people in turn spend in the local economy. Evidence shows that for every £10 spent in an independent shop £25 is generated for the local economy compared to £14 spent in multinationals
   
• Local independent shops invest more in communities:
  Sole traders and independent stores are proportionally more generous in their support for local charities, carnivals, schools and community events. So supporting local shops means a financial return for your community.
   
• Shopping local saves the environment:
  We are all aware of CO² emissions and our environmental impact. Local shops, often stock a high percentage of locally sourced goods and products, and long car and bus journeys aren’t required.
   
• Shopping local saves services:
  Private, voluntary and public sector services cluster around shops. The loss of the high street often corresponds to a reduction in these services. As shops disappear, so do hairdressers, vets, dentists etc.
   
• Local shops are for everyone:
  Most people can get to their local shops easily and this is especially important for elderly, vulnerable and young people and those without transport.
   
• Shopping local saves money:
  Out of town shops and national companies have done a good job of convincing us that all sole traders are expensive, but the evidence just isn’t there to back this up. If you add in travel, parking costs, fees to transport larger items home and your time, the overall cost is often much higher.
   
• Local shops value customers more:
  Evidence from numerous surveys shows people receive better customer care and service in local shops. Traders survive by their reputation and repeat business – so shopping local means customers get a higher standard of service.

We at the Stirling Health Food Store hold our ethics high.

By sourcing locally produced items less transport is needed so there is little environmental impact.

By buying organic foods, you will help wildlife and the environment. Organic means no chemicals or artificial fertilizers have been used, so you will eat less chemicals, the wildlife will flourish and the streams and burns won't get polluted.

We try not to stock toiletries which have been tested on animals. Did you know that high street brands put shampoo in animals eyes just to see if it harms them? We are totally opposed to these practises and stock a large range of cruelty free toiletries.
Even some of our supplement brands are against animal testing.

We try to minimise our waste by recycling cardboard, plastic and glass bottles.
Supermarkets keep their shelves over filled and need to bin a lot of good food, we try to keep our stock low so we do not need to throw away good, edible food. Sometimes this means that if you want to buy larger quantities, you can order in advance or order in bulk size.
By giving customers the option of buying food in bulk (ie 3kg, 10kg and even 25kg) we minimise our packaging and it's cheaper for you too!

And we go even further!
ALL the parcels we post out are boxed up using re-used carboard boxes, re-used packaging chips and re-used bubble wrap!
The only plastic we use in our parcels is the brown tape to close the parcel! That means less plastic ends up in landfill.