Co-founders, Paula Alcalde and Anderson Caicedo, arrived in the UK some 11 and 13 years ago respectively.  Paula arrived with £150 in her pocket not being able to speak the language and Anderson needed to establish himself.

They both established themselves in their careers over the following years. Their backgrounds are in some of the most prestigious firms in the world: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Bloomberg.

They became long-term friends and jointly decided to switch to a vegan diet. They gave up their high-profile careers to start a business that would have a positive impact. Now they are celebrating five years of developing the business, after launching what we believe is the UK’s first vegan Omnichannel supermarket. This boasts both a physical and online presence – GreenBay in West London. 

The business has experienced incredible growth over the past few years, with over 50,000 customers and over half a million plant-based products sold. They now employ 10 members of staff. GreenBay has just launched their own vegan food range: their aim is for plant-based products to become more mainstream as an alternative to meat eating.

Anderson says: “I’ve been honoured to help small businesses introduce their innovative products to the market through GreenBay… It’s been rewarding and I feel so proud to be a leader in a company that cares about the customers, suppliers and its employees. As a result, we have developed strong relationships with our suppliers, and our customers feel valued.”

In 2021, GreenBay won the Feefo Gold Trusted Service Award for its ‘outstanding customer service in 2020’. GreenBay attracts customers from all over the UK. They stock over 1,200 vegan friendly products – many that are impossible to find elsewhere. 

Both Paula and Anderson are passionate about providing a wider accessibility to new and innovative plant-based products.

Paula says: “We struggled to find products suitable for our lifestyle. I remember having to go to different shops, health food stores, online shops and supermarkets to find various vegan products. It was very time consuming and inconvenient: a bit of a nightmare! So the idea for GreenBay was born.”

With an engineering and management background, Paula felt the need to make a switch to her career: “I wanted to dedicate my life to a bigger purpose and have a positive impact on people’s lives”. 

They realised there was a much deeper issue at hand. Paula continued: “Animal agriculture is one of the leading causes accelerating climate change… We know that eating a plant-based diet is considered to be the ‘single biggest way’ to reduce our environmental impact on earth with up to a 73% carbon footprint reduction.

We truly believe that people want to make a positive difference, but they don’t usually know where to start. Our diet is such an important part of our lives and traditions, and even our identity, so switching overnight can be daunting.

“Our mission is to make it easy, fun and convenient for people to make (constructive) choices, by explaining the positive impact that small changes can make.” 

GreenBay donates a portion of every new purchase to charities and organizations fighting climate change and supporting rural communities with reforestation projects. The aim is to offset their carbon footprint. GreenBay has helped plant over 5000 trees in Marotaola, Madagascar since starting the reforestation project.

Reducing meat consumption has positive benefits for the planet. GreenBay sounds like a great way to try alternative foods. Having tried a plant-based diet in recent times, I have really enjoyed the wide range available. It is recommended that those who do switch to a vegan diet, check for supplements they will likely need to take (B12 and possibly Vitamin D) and Omega 3 fatty acids. Legumes, lentils and pulses contain zinc and iron.

GreenBay’s domestic services currently cover the following areas; England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Channel Islands.

https://www.greenbaysupermarket.co.uk

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