LOCO is a project launching a concept-store that has become every vegan’s dream: an 100% plant based grocery chain in Scandinavia. The first store will be opened in Oslo in 2021, and if all goes according to plan (fingers crossed!) the rest of Scandinavia will follow in the upcoming years.
The founders are four passionate Norwegians pursuing the goal of making veganism accessible to all. They want to help people by stopping the time wasted checking labels to see if the products are vegan. By creating an only-vegan supermarket, consumers would be able to find everything they need in one place. If you would like to learn more about the project, Vegan Norge has a very interesting article talking about it in more detail.
Pop-Up Event
On the third weekend of October, LOCO organised a pop-up shop at The Viking Planet where people could experience how it is to buy daily goods in a supermarket where everything is vegan and cruelty-free. They had a great selection of vegan food from small businesses and young entrepreneurs as well as cruelty-free, Fairtrade and handmade products.
There was a fantastic range of different brands on offer during the pop-up, from bigger and more established companies, such as Naturli and Berit, to start-ups, Fairtrade and local businesses.
Some of our favourite local businesses were there include Cake Sisters Oslo, two Spanish entrepreneurs very well-known in Oslo for their mouth-watering vegan cakes; Chill, it’s vegan, a local, very promising brand that is steadily growing; The Plant Makery, I couldn’t resist buying some of her raw cakes and her new Cheesy Chipotle dip; and Divine Chocolate, a Fairtrade cocoa cooperative that has a wide variety of vegan chocolates, including advent calendars, perfect for the run up to Christmas!
It wasn’t only about food, they also had a selection of self-care and hygienic products. I found a really exciting new brand called Indo Naturals, which creates zero waste wash bars made ethically in rural India. They don’t use any plastic and what I loved the most is that in every box you can see written by hand the name of the person that made it. That’s the world we want! The last brand I’m very happy I found is Ecopets, which provides vegan food and treats for dogs and cats, we can’t forget about them!
Besides the pop-up, on Saturday evening they were visited by @vegannordic. She gave a very inspiring talk by sharing her experience in veganism, the benefits of this lifestyle, and gave some tips about how to become the best version of yourself.
On Sunday, Cake Sisters Oslo had their first Masterclass (more coming soon!) and shared a few simple-yet-beautiful techniques for cake decorating at home. The public was really engaged and some volunteers dared to try the techniques themselves.
As a consumer, it was a dream come true to walk around and see vegan local food, also from Fairtrade, and getting the chance to talk to the people behind some of the brands. The pop-up was a success, and I can’t wait for the store to become a reality. This is an amazing initiative and if you don’t follow @weare.loco yet, you definitely should!
