Infinity Foods 40th Birthday, Jubilee Square, Brighton, July 2

From the thousands of regular customers who frequent the North Road establishment or purchase its produce around the world to the countless who benefit from the innumerable charities the cooperative business supports, the health food shop offers not just trade made fair but, rather, a way of life.

Conceptualised by local teenagers Peter Deadman and Ian Loeffler in the late-1960s, Infinity Foods came from the humble beginnings of a macrobiotic and health food cafe at the University of Sussex called Biting Through.

Incorporating the foods and diet Deadman had experienced travelling round the world, “living the hippy life to the full”, the cafe was unique in the area.

As demand increased for the diverse ingredients the duo were using – brown rice, for example, was unheard of in the UK at this point – momentum for the cafe’s focus on good, healthy grub in the face of post-war convenience food rocketed.

“They inherited some money from an aunt and invested it in a shop on Church Street. The operation grew and they had to move to its current location in 1974.

"In the late 1970s the owners made it a co-operative company so it wasn’t owned by anyone. It became a machine of its own. As a co-op there’s a lot of autonomy within everything that’s done. Everything is democratic,” explains Dexter Bailey, one of Infinity Foods’ hundred-strong work-force.

Such was the demand for wholesale items that the shop could no longer run the day-to-day orders from the back of the retail shop.

The co-operative moved this burgeoning part of the business to a warehouse in Portslade, where it continues its massive operation, supplying the whole country and regions of Europe with Infinity Foods branded goods – some items even reaching as far afield as Hong Kong.

“We are the same company, but we have little say in what they do and vice versa. They’ve set up some incredible projects around the world. They actually buy from the entire community – rather than just buying a load of rice from one person who then pays his workers peanuts – and ensure the money is given to education or projects to develop a better way of life for all,” says Bailey.

This ethical leaning to Infinity Foods’ procurement of goods came as a natural follow-up to their healthy and organic remit for both the wholesale and retail store branches of the brand.

“The people who worked here years ago were very extensively travelled – real hippy backpackers – so they probably came across a lot of the situations that aren’t so fair in the world,” says Bailey.

“They had a wider thought process to how food was purchased, who you were buying it from and how people were being treated there.

“There are some countries where people can be picking in a field, being sprayed by chemicals while they work. There’s a fairer way for things to be.”

Infinity’s celebrations couldn’t be better timed, as Saturday’s event also coincides with International Co-operative Day, where the work of the co-operative movement in resolving global issues is commemorated.

“It’s wonderful being part of something where no one person has more control or decision than another; we don’t have any ‘managers’ in the shop. That has its drawbacks and at times it can be frustrating when you’ve got a great idea – but you have to present that and justify it, and that’s not a bad thing,” Bailey laughs.

“Being a co-op means there’s not just one mindset, there are many. That prevents any kind of bad agenda or drive that some companies may have. Everything is exposed all the time. I’ve never been very good at being diplomatic, I’ve always been quite outspoken, but learning those skills and knowing you can be honest to yourself and your viewpoint without being offensive is very liberating: it’s empowering.”

Bailey’s responsibilities, as well as working on the shop floor, include organising the charity side of the business.

With a team of five others he promotes local events and sponsorship projects, recently working alongside the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership to provide money for the initiatives they launch.

“Loads of schools around here now have areas where they grow vegetables to teach children about healthy eating. We’ve given them money to do this, setting it up so the project can run itself,” he explains.

“There are some areas where people can only afford to buy mass-produced frozen ready meals and don’t necessarily eat as much healthy food as they should. If we can get kids to have an idea where vegetables come from and then get them growing them, then that’s great!”

When establishing Infinity Foods, one of the main challenges the founders faced was the lack of awareness about the food they were selling. Those at the shop often worked for free, living in shared bedrooms above the property and eating communally each night.

Now the shop’s main challenge is making sure they stay in touch with customer demand.

“Some of the customers who shop here have been doing so since the shop was in Church Street; it’s theirs. It reminds of me working in a pub – the locals who have been going there for years see the bar as theirs, and those of us who look after the shop have to fit into that. They’re the people who make the decisions in a lot of ways,” explains Bailey.

Keeping the shop’s produce sensibly priced when the options of who they buy from is so narrow also presents a daily challenge.

“Everything we purchase has a thought process behind it. We think through what uses more fuel when shipped or driven to us and we don’t buy anything that’s airfreighted.

"We don’t buy anything from companies with bad reputations either. So many companies have dubious ethics – we ensure we are always ethically purchasing,” he explains.

“All our fresh fruit and vegetables are supplied seasonally by local farms. Our vegetables are cheaper than at the supermarkets. We always prioritise local above anything else, then we move to the UK, then further abroad.

“We’re very controlled by being a co-op – we have a particular mark-up we put on something which is a very low, basic retail mark-up. We don’t chuck up the prices if things are popular. We can only be successful if we have lots of customers, so that’s a drive. A lot of our customers know who we are and are really happy to support that.

“Many people who work here are customers too, so it feels like working in a community.”

It’s this dedication to detail that has seen Infinity Foods succeed while similar organisations have failed.

Strictly vegetarian, the shop doesn’t sell anything that has egg in unless it is guaranteed free range and even the organic dairy range reflects the co-operative’s concerns over the ethical treatment of livestock.

“The local organic movement in dairy production has quite high standards about animal welfare, so that’s a guarantee for us that the way an animal has been treated has reached a certain standard – that takes a weight off our minds.

"While other shops might not have such strict guidelines, we consider very different ethics and I think people like that,” says Bailey.

Even the building itself is a template to a sustainable, energy-aware way of living.

Following a recent shop refit the floor is made out of recycled pulp, the shelving made from a non-mixed metal that can be recycled and reused and all Infinity Food delivery trucks run on recycled vegetable fat – no mean feat considering they deliver all over the country and abroad.

“Our lighting runs on 8% of the energy of standard lighting and all our electricity comes fromethical suppliers which look into regenerative ways of producing energy. Even our telephone system is with the Phone Co-op – a non-profit-making organisation. In everything we do, we try to do what is right,” says Bailey.

“My view is true democracy is who you give your money to. You give power to people when you give them money. Big corporations have a lot of control in the world – don’t give them your money if you don’t like what they’re doing. Don’t vote for them with your cash.

“A lot of people in Brighton feel that way and I think they’re happy the money they give us is channelled into the right places and aims to make the world a fairer place.”

The city itself also buoys the business along in its own special way.

“People here are aware – it’s just a right-on city.

Wholefoods are in at the moment. With the economic downturn, pre-made stuff is way more expensive and people want to buy whole grains to make their own food. That’s the core of what we sell, so that’s really successful,” laughs Bailey.

“That and raw chocolate, for some random reason.

People are obsessed with it. It’s quite expensive to make but it is good and has great qualities to it.”

To celebrate the 40th anniversary the Infinity Foods workforce will be out and about in Jubilee Square on Saturday, showcasing the food and drink that has made them such a success, giving customers the rare opportunity to meet some of the food producers that supply the shop.

From the orchards of Oakwood Farm, in the Sussex High Weald, to the aforementioned raw chocolate suppliers, East Sussex’s CHOC Chick, visitors will get the chance to try and buy from a range of fresh produce and tantalisingly decadent treats.

Local MP Caroline Lucas is set to make an appearance and live music from local bands Zora & The Tatsmiths, The Silver Sounds Samba and The Swing Ninjas will provide a festival vibe to the proceedings.

Bailey acknowledges the primary point of the event is to have a good time.

“We want to keep it fun and not too sanctimonious. It’s celebrating what we are. We don’t want to be preachy about what we believe in – we do what we believe in,” he says.

“We’ll be setting up a marquee in the square and at the back we’ll have a cafe of cold foods and a bar where we’ll be serving organic wines and a very limited edition Infinity Foods ale made by Hepworth Brewery.”

The day will also celebrate another important birthday – that of the Brighton Natural Health Centre which turn 30 this year.

A product of Infinity Foods’ physical expansion at the back of their building in 1981, the centre is now a registered charity.

“It was originally set up by Infinity Foods to promote a healthy lifestyle alongside healthy eating. We still have a symbiotic relationship with them – a lot of our customers go to class then come in for food. They’ll be running 15-minute chi-gong, tai chi and yoga classes throughout the day so it’ll be a lot of fun,” Bailey says.

“We’ve also got [interactive club night promoters] VAVAVOOM hosting a quiz show later on in the day – they’ll do a ‘Runaround’-style competition to commemorate the 1970s, which should get everyone involved, and that’ll lead to a Blankety Blank game showwith all the questions about healthy eating, Infinity Foods and our products.

"There are lots of prizes and vouchers up for grabs – and maybe cabbages as consolation prizes!”

For Bailey, the co-operative’s next 40 years is one of constantly working towards being as ethical as it can be.

“There’s no set plan – we’re in a recession so we’ve got to keep doing what we do and keep our prices down. We’ll continue to find new ways of sourcing our products as locally as possible while not cutting quality,” he explains.

“A campaign that I’m trying to get off the ground is ensuring more things are reused, like glass and jars.

Re-using is way more ethical than recycling – obviously, it takes energy to remake things.

“With our own packaging we’ve minimised what we use – our carrier bags are made of cornstarch so they compost back to their vegetable matter. It’s these things that are our future aim.”

* 12pm-5.30pm, free, call 01273 603563 or visit www.infinityfoods.co.uk for more information