Budapest: organic supermarket in shopping centre

György Wéber is a brave man: in the autumn of 2007 the Hungarian organic store specialist opened an organic supermarket (Bio-Ritmus, 300 m²) together with a natural personal care shop, organic restaurant and fresh food shop in the popular shopping centre called Mammut 1 in the centre of Budapest. The whole set-up occupies a generous 600 m² of retail space. Bio-Center is currently attracting around 400 customers a day.  The fresh food shop with fruit, vegetables and a juice bar with freshly pressed organic juices is franchised to a local organic farmer. Bio-Center incorporates the only organic supermarket in Hungary and has brought to Hungarian organic consumers modern shopping comparable with Vienna, Munich and Paris.

Picture: Imaginative decoration in the shopping centre

“We are at the heart of Buda here,” explains Ferenc Frühwald who publishes the customer magazine Biokosar. He is an original on the organic scene in Hungary, and two decades ago co-founded the organic agriculture association Biokultura. When he says Buda, he is referring to the western part of the capital, and here the streets and the  shopping centre are throbbing with life (picture). Bio-Center is, however, somewhat out-of-the-way in the first storey so that you are only likely to go there if you know exactly where you are aiming for. Immediately behind the store is the shopping centre administration that wanted specifically to create a healthy and sustainable shopping alternative in the centre, that is now nine years old. This is why they encouraged Bio-Center to set up there with a grant for construction work and fittings. The owners of the shopping centre, who are among the top 150 people in Hungary, shop in the organic supermarket, and enjoy lunch in the wholefood restaurant too.

To the right of the organic supermarket, and separated by a corridor and large glass panels, is Bobita, the natural personal care shop (80 m²). The name Bobita comes from a well known Hungarian fairy tale about elves. The shop assistant explains the various brands and products to the customers. In total, there are about 800 articles, and a high proportion are the well known brands Lavera, Logona, including Fitné food supplements, Sante, Speick, Anne Lind and Dr. Hauschka. On sale too at the eco-store Bobita is a wide selection of hair colorants by Logona, household cleaning materials, washing powders, paper handkerchiefs, nappies and pads. (Picture: György Wéber and shop assistant)

“We’ve already sold out,” we are told when at 3 o’clock in the afternoon we call in the restaurant opposite Bio-Ritmus. Every day you can choose from six meals, either with meat or vegetarian, which is greatly appreciated by the roughly 100 people the restaurant caters for on a daily basis. In addition to the full meals, cake, salads and juices are available (picture), and there are pizzas, pasta, sandwiches and baguettes to take away. In the afternoon, the same number of customers comes for coffee and cakes. The restaurant can seat 29 people on wooden chairs or, if they want a bit more comfort, in brightly coloured armchairs.

The range in the supermarket Bio-Ritmus is comprised of all product groups, and there is a comprehensive stock of organic foods. “95 % of food products come from organic agriculture and the other 5 % are conventional products from the health food sector,” explains the owner György Wéber proudly. This is an extremely high proportion of organic products for a central/east European country. As in other countries, the special range for vegetarians is largely conventional. The reason given: “Vegetarians are unwilling to accept the price differential between organic and conventional.”

The store size and fittings, that are equal to west European standards, are way above average for Hungary. In a 5.5 m line of chilled cabinets with forward sloping shelves, the customer can choose from a wide selection of, for example, yoghurts, cream, quark, cheese, margarine and chilled ready products. In front of the cabinets you find the frozen products in a large chest freezer with an insulated glass top. (Picture: fashionable customers love shopping at Bio-Ritmus)

Including cosmetics, the total number of articles on sale is 5000 – the biggest stock of organics in one location in the retail trade in Hungary! There is also a children’s department with a little table and toys, so that the kids can play and amuse themselves while mums and dads get on with the shopping. The store offers "Playmais", a corn-based stuff, children make models out of.

48 year old Mr Wéber explains that it was not easy getting permission for Bio-Center, because for retail premises in excess of 500 m² you need special authorisation. It took a good five months before he got the official go-ahead. He would have liked a grant from the EU for his model project, but unfortunately three applications were turned down.

György Wéber also runs an import business that deals mainly with imports from Germany, so that he can supply not only his own stores but the whole organic retail industry. In the Pest part of the city, he also has a 600 m² facility that can be used by the specialist retail trade as a cash-and-carry. And Mr Wéber has an organic farmer selling fresh fruit and vegetables here too. He is a busy man in the organics business, and he is now involved in setting up a home delivery service as well.