Business
The Root Cellar Village Green Grocer feeds Victoria's appetite for local produce - Daisy Leslie Orser and Adam Orser win BDC's Young Entrepreneur Award for British Columbia
The Root Cellar Village Green Grocer feeds Victoria's appetite for local produce - Daisy Leslie O...
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[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nOct. 20, 2009 (Canada NewsWire Group) -- VICTORIA, BC, Oct. 20 /CNW Telbec/ -- Two years ago, when Daisy Leslie Orser and Adam Orser uprooted their family and moved across the province to open The Root Cellar Village Green Grocer in Victoria, they knew the city was hungry for the fresh local produce they planned to sell. But they couldn't have predicted just how hungry: Their business has grown to five times the size they had projected and continues to expand to keep up with voracious demand. For this achievement, Daisy, 30, and Adam, 35, have won BDC's Young Entrepreneur Award for British Columbia and will be honoured tonight at a ceremony in Ottawa.\"The 100-mile diet trend really works in our favour,\" points out Daisy. The Root Cellar's winning approach includes stocking store shelves with fresh local produce from suppliers who range from small \"mom and pop\" backyard garden plot growers to large greenhouse operators. \"We recognize that healthy soil, clean air, fresh water and a happy planet are vital to our success. Recycling programs, composting initiatives and waste reduction efforts are core elements of our business practices.\"They offer both conventional and organic products, and their philosophy is based on buying produce from growers and farmers who are as close to home as possible. They combine this approach with competitive pricing and an unwavering focus on customer service. \"We're selling a shopping experience. The store smells and looks good. It's clean, vibrant and inviting, and our staff is upbeat, friendly and knowledgeable,\" Daisy says. The staff now numbers 50, a far cry from the dozen or so employees they had expected to have hired at this point.Ingredients of successThe local population has embraced the Root Cellar shopping experience so enthusiastically that Daisy and Adam have had to race to keep up with demand, adding extra tills, buggies and outdoor tents, and they are currently looking at expanding. \"Victoria is the right demographic for what we're doing,\" explains Daisy. \"Our customers appreciate the effort that goes into sourcing the products they buy.\" That effort is what sets them apart from most other grocers; it involves establishing and managing relationships with more than 100 growers and suppliers. In so doing, they eliminate the warehousing step, which saves them a mark-up a...