Online supermarket for Jersey customers

Online supermarket for Jersey customers

Jake Shaw, director of First Choice Groceries (firstchoice.je), said that he hopes the project will bring the value his company currently has for its customers to the local market.

And he added that as well as providing all the standard groceries customers need, he wants the supermarket to have the ‘Jersey uniqueness’ provided by local producers.

‘We have been working on this project since 2019 and while some produce will inevitably be sourced from the UK and Europe, our focus is very much to source and promote the local market produce wherever possible,’ he said.

‘The original business, and that’s in the background, is an eCommerce business and it’s all basically been buying stuff into Jersey and then exporting it again.

‘It’s always sat at the back of my mind that we do all this and always export value to customers all over Europe, so we thought it would be nice to do something for the local community, especially at this time of crisis.’

Mr Shaw said that ahead of the planned launch in August he is looking to work with as many local partners as possible.

He added that he believed his firm’s expertise and experience could deliver a lot of value to the Island.

‘Harnessing what we’ve already got – the skills, the staff – it seemed a natural progression to move into this,’ he said.

‘It’s basically e-commerce, but with different temperature classes. At the moment all the stuff that we’re selling in packets is all just room temperature.

‘But obviously with groceries, you’ve just got to have frozen, fresh and chilled temperature classes.’

He added: ‘If you’re sending a van out, it makes sense that that van is full of produce rather than say, you’re doing small one item. We can consolidate deliveries.

‘And I think it really fits with what we’ve previously done.

‘So, it’s really then about trying to reach out and promote local producers and work with as many as possible. And I really am excited.

‘I was excited before all this terrible stuff happened. I think there is definitely a model for more online convenience for delivering to locals.

‘And at the same time, we want to make sure that we don’t lose that unique Jersey touch.’

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