A NEW sustainable shop is getting ready to open.

As staff tidied shelves and scrambled with MDF boards yesterday, they explained that Kindly of Brighton is designed to be “a complete eco-friendly supermarket”.

Owner Owais Amiri said: “Shopping for groceries from big supermarkets frustrated me.

“The need to do something about it stayed in the back of my mind for a good year.

“Finally, taking inspiration from shops like Hisbe, Infinity Foods and other independent sustainable stores, I set out on the journey of opening up Kindly of Brighton.

“Our tagline is ‘official suppliers to the thoughtful’.

“We want to do things differently, because selling anything customers want with a view to maximising profits is not enough.

“Thoughtfulness and sustainability needs to transfer into how supermarkets buy and sell.”

Inside the shop, at the Seven Dials, Brighton, the walls are lined with omega oils, hemp soaps and beechwood toothbrushes.

There’s a cooler crammed with the fermented health drink kombucha.

There are organic cordials, bespoke Indian pale ales and a whole section for meat-free alternatives. A fridge bulges with tofu.

One wing of the shop, which is on the site of what used to be Watts chemist and Hartleys off licence, is devoted to a “refill station”.

The wall is lined with clear tubes filled with cereals, pasta, coconut chips, almond flakes, mung beans, and split peas.

“The idea is people can just come in and get as much or as little as they want,” and employee said.

Customers planning on rustling up a single meal can reduce food waste by popping in to buy much smaller quantities than at a conventional supermarket.

On another set of shelves, liquids are stored in plastic drums.

Customers will be able to fill up jars with oils, cosmetics, and cleaning products. There is washing up liquid, shampoo and fabric conditioner on tap.

Owais said: “For generations we shopped without any need for plastic packaged bananas and our local grocers sold rice and pasta in paper bags. People could get just as much as they needed.

“I am just doing the same thing with Kindly of Brighton.

“The items we sell will be free from animal products, most are organic, and where possible they are sourced locally.

“It’s a perfect destination for everyone filling up their day to day groceries from bananas to rice to lentils.”

The new store at 110-114 Dyke Road is one of a number of new sustainable ventures in the city.

It was hoping to open to shoppers by today.

As shoppers become more eco-conscious, shops are cropping up to cater for their needs. On Monday, a new waste-free shop opened in Western Road to help Brightonians cut down on the 242 million pieces of single-use

plastic they throw away each year.

The Source Bulk Foods store is packaging-free and stocks more than 450 products. From wholefoods to cooking oil, they will be housed in containers so scoop and container-wielding customers can help themselves.

In the bag-free business, it seems Brighton is leading the way.