Look at the quality, not the label
October, 2006
SUMMARY: High quality fruit and veg, much of it organic, as well as bread, cheese, fish, meat and groceries. Open weekdays 8am to 9pm and weekends 8am to 7pm.
MARTIN CALLAGHAN'S shop, Pomona, which opened in November 2002, was one of the first in the area to stock serious quantities of organic foods (after Fresh and Wild in Parkway, Camden Town, and the organic stall outside Mistry’s in South End Green).
Martin formerly worked at the well-known Panzer food shop in St John’s Wood, running their fruit and veg section, so he knows what he is about. But he is not dogmatic about the organic issue. About 70% of his grocery goods are organic as is about 30% of the fruit and veg. “But I’m not insistent about this,” he told me.
“If I find a better product which is not organic, I will stock it. My ideology is to offer great food to the public, organic and natural where possible, and the labels are not always the most important thing.”
Ironically there are times when he finds it very difficult to get the sort of produce he wants to sell. This is because quite a few of the best farmers and even people like bakers, prefer to sell their goods direct to the public at farmers’ markets in London, thereby cutting out the middleman – ie people like Martin.
Nevertheless he has more than 100 suppliers ranging from wholefood wholesalers in London down to individual producers like an apple farmer in Kent, the Celtic Bakers in Cricklewood, a butcher in Berkshire and fish delivered overnight from Looe in Cornwall. He goes to Nine Elms Market four times a week and to Spitalfields three times a week.
What does he say to the cynics who say that organic and natural foods are just a gimmick? “Well, a lot of people have ulterior motives for saying things like that, and a lot of them are just uneducated. All I would say is the arguments in favour of organic and natural outweigh the arguments against, and I believe that the absence of chemicals and toxins from good can only be a step in the right direction.
“There is also the question of how organic producers treat the environment. I have been to see Manor Farm in Dorset where I get my milk from, and it was fascinating to see a farmer so committed to the ideals of sustainable farming.”
What about his prices? “People think they are high, but compare our prices with Budgens and you will see that we are very competitive,” he replied.
And, actually, I can confirm that. A few months ago I was looking for raspberries and gasped at Pomona’s price. I went up the road to Budgens, only to find that the raspberries there were about 10% more expensive, so I walked back to Pomona to buy some.
“I can’t possibly compete with the giant supermarkets’ prices, but I certainly can and do compete actively with other local shops and smaller supermarkets.”
And he’s a lot more flexible. “I really do like to hear from my customers about what they like and don’t like and what they would like me to stock. I am very happy to give people what they want. I am also very happy to hear peoples’ complaints, because that would give me an opportunity to do something about it.”
The shop is open weekdays 8am to 9pm and weekends 8am to 7pm.
Matthew Lewin