Hello June 2021

Thank you for all your support in Stroudco and what we do. Since our last newsletter we have welcomed a fantastic list of new suppliers to our shopfront. There have also been plenty of updates to our product range with plenty of new additions in response to our feedback survey at the start of the year.

Finally, as we move towards summer and cross our fingers for better weather our shopfront will be stocked with plenty of choices for your BBQ’s, picnics, alfresco, and other seasonal needs.

Reminder: Our online shopfront is open 8am Friday to 8am Wednesday each week, with collection midday every Fridays and delivery Friday afternoons.

If you need additional help or have any queries with making your order then please email manager@stroudco.org.uk and we will do all that we can to help you.

Image of seasonal fresh vegetables with the words supporting local and seasonal eating is made easy with Stroudco your local online grocer.

Image highlighting the various ways Stroudco can cater for all summer needs in Stroud. Picnics, BBQ's, Outside Dinning. We've got you covered. A list of various local products, seasonal produce, eco items for cleaning, beauty, and gardening, and healthy ready made meals is featured. Under the list are colourful icons of a BBQ, a picnic basket, environment friendly, wine and beer, a plate for sit down meals, and a water bottle plus apple for snacks/on the go meals.

Catering For You

As well as welcoming back past Stroudco supplier The Artisan Baker (who’s freshly baked goods are being delivered in Partnership with the wonderful Bike Drop each week), we have also introduced healthy multi-portion meals/sides fromMama’s Family Food, eco food wraps from The Food Wrap Co (with both Beeswax Co and Vegan Wax Co options available), and the vegan gluten free raw treats (containing only natural sugar) by Baked by Beth.

We have also re-introduced our previous Fruit and Veg supplier Global Organic Markets. A firm favourite with our customers in the past, Global Organics are a Stroud based family business who have been trading organic produce since the early 1980s and support local producers wherever they can.

Our final newest supplier is a range of innovative ethical coffee blend from Noni’s Coffee Roasters who share a little more on what they do below.

"Noni's Coffee Roasters has been on the horizon for a good number of years. There is sometimes a thing that gives people some meaning to life, for some reason I have always been drawn to food supply chains, maybe because I am a huge food lover at heart and flavours make my heart sing! My love for coffee was brewed in the mountains in France learning about coffee's flavour profiles and learning about an industry taking some responsibility in the journey of a coffee bean. 'Specialty Coffee is Arabica coffee with a cup score of 80+ points'. The idea being that if you can increase the cup quality the producers are able to get a better market value for their cherries.

Each of the coffees have project titles - these are all linked to the environment of coffee production and the coffees in each project are either bought to support farmers who are looking to improve or protect coffee growing regions by the method of farming or processing coffee or are related to projects that help protect the environment they are produced in. There are many exciting projects coming up so please watch this space!"

Summary of our Feedback Survey

A big thank you to everyone who took part in our survey earlier this year regarding the range of suppliers and produce we offer on our shop. The feedback provided has offered a valuable insight and has already shaped some of what we have added to our stock and will continue to guide us with our future additions.

We have already increased our range of vegan and gluten free options as well as now being able to offer no refined sugar treats.
Our range of local suppliers has also been increased and we are delighted to welcome back Global Organic Markets.
We now offer eco food wraps as many participants requested.
Our products that are great for families are being showcased more frequently.
The range of products via our ethical supplier Essential Trading has also increased.
We are also in the process of exploring how we can improve the clarity of information on the various levels of sustainability with our suppliers packaging.

A word art using the feedback received from our 2021 product survey. The more popular the response, the bigger the word. Large words include local, beeswax wrap, pie, children, goat cheese, market, pet, and baby.

Trinity Rooms Community Hub Updates

As co-tenants of our Trinity Rooms Hub we work in partnership with a number of other local organisations and community projects that also use the building. With exciting future developments benefiting Stroud in mind here are the latest updates on what’s going on.

Volunteer Lead Saturday collections of surplus Farmers Market produce are taking place each week. Everything gathered is being distributed to the local food hubs across Stroud, reducing waste food in the district.

Our porch also has its own food hub with fresh, frozen, and dry ingredients on offer on a pay only what you can, when you can basis. It’s opening times are 9am-11am Monday to Friday, and 2:30pm-3:30pm on Saturdays.

We also have Room Hire and Hot Desk spaces available at our Hub. To find out more and/or make a booking contact josie@stroudtrinityrooms.org

Finally, plans are in place to create a community café run by volunteers. These cafes could be group based (i.e. for bereavement, climate anxiety, people living with dementia, etc…) or just general drop in cafes for everyone in the community to come along. We are looking for those interested in helping bring this to life to contact sarah@earthprotectorcommunities.net

Four Images demonstrating the Trinity Rooms Partnership. Image One is the current food hub opening times. Image Two shows the key partners using the building; Transition Stroud, Stroudco, Earth Protector Communities, and Landwise. Image Three highlights some of the food hub produce which has previously been available. Image Four highlights how different levels of donations for our Freezer of Love Meals can help benefit The Long Table.

Summer Reading

An exciting new addition to our shop that we will be expanding on soon is books. Currently we have the fabulous book from our local supplier The Artisan Baker. Soon to come climate action, wellbeing, and plastic free related reading – including our very own feature in a book on being Happy by a Ruscombe couple!

Image highlighting our need for additional volunteer drivers to help us deliver orders on Friday afternoons. If you or someone you know can help please email manager@stroudco.org.uk

We Love To Chat

Please check out our social media pages for updates. We love hearing from you on social media so please tag us in your comments, tweets, posts, pics, & shares, including #stroudco to help spread the word of what we do.

We also welcome any feedback you may like to share and hope you will continue to shop with us in future weeks! A final BIG Thank You from all of us on the Stroudco Team for being such a vital part of our community and supporting what we do.

For help with a particular issue or query please email manager@stroudco.co.uk

More updates to come in our next newsletter so get following our social media and subscribing to our newsletters by entering your email in the subscribe box on our website contact page to be added to our mailing list today.