Our History

Unicorn follows on from a model devised by Roger Sawtell in the 1980s and used firstly at Daily Bread Co-op, Northampton. Essentially the model revolves around direct, often bulk purchasing of wholesome foods, on siteprocessing, and competitive margins and pricing. Thisall run by motivated owner/members following a clear social agenda.

“ One long September dawn in 1996 saw Unicorn’s two year preparation crystalise into a busy first day's trading. A two person working group had swelled as we approached finding premises, reaching six by opening day.

Preparations had been carried out with a backdrop of dire warnings of possible bankruptcy and general incomprehension at the plan, but support from the Co-operative & Community Finance Team and other friendly backers outweighed the sceptics at the banks. Sales grew quicker than our cautious forecasting and we were quickly recruiting again, reaching ten members by the end of the first trading year. Steady growth was matched by the amount of slog done by sometimes very weary members, but early sacrifice laid solid foundations for the future and we’ve never looked back.

Since the early days, much has changed. We’re several times the size we were, in 2003 buying the building we had previously rented just a part of. Our purchase of the site was forced by imminent sale to prospectors but with the loyalty ofUnicorn customers £350,000 of loanstockbonds were sold, crucial to our financing. We are now the proud owners of a 10,000ft² site.  This has allowed us to develop the site, adding solar panels in 2005 and a rooftop pond and wildlife garden in 2007. We now have an extended commercial kitchen on the way.

We've widened the range of goods across the board, but especially in the fresh and ‘ready to go’ areas where new inventions appear almost weekly alongside the old favourites. Commercial success has taken our members’ numbers way beyond the ‘human sized’ group sought originally. 2004/5 particularly were boom years, with growth beyond anything we could have predicted. Reacting to the demand we have continued to find more quality products to sell and squeezed more into our now crammed storage space.

Despite what’s changed, the model remains a precious tool to challenge the orthodoxy of multiples with their high transport miles, out of town storage, supplier frustration and demoralised staff. Whilst our offer is popular to our catchment area, much of the UK has sadly limited choice. Multiple domination of a highly skewed market continues and cheap food thinking post -1945 has degenerated further into an almost impossible situation for many primary producers. As multiples drive prices down by squeezing the supply chain, consumers are loosing the understanding of how much a product costs to be produced. Someone is ultimately paying the price for the 'cheap' food and the industry is increasingly reliant on continuous new, cheap and disposable labour sources.

The original Rochdale Pioneers were reacting to harsh market realities and co-operative grocery may well have some relevance yet. Our Statement of Purpose, sets out clearly what we stand for - the challenge is to run a business which can turn ideas into reality. By conventional standards we have achieved a lot, and we are proud of the business we own and run. For others who feel the same we have produced a Grow a Grocery guide to help them do something similar.