Hi! We are Ben and Maria, partners and founders of Hedgehog Organics.
What possessed us to open a premium priced local and organic food shop just as people are experiencing the biggest squeeze on their budgets for decades? Some would say it was our inability to think rationally, sensibly and logically.
We say it was because selling local food helps to support small, local growers and makers, maintains jobs and builds resilience into our otherwise fragile global food system. Organic agriculture cares for the soil, which helps wildlife and absorbs and retains carbon, so that humans get to stick around on the planet longer. We think that as energy and chemical inputs become costlier, organic will in time become the norm once again. We also know that for some people, the quality and provenance of what they eat comes before price and that eating organic will be the last thing to go, long after the boiler has been turned off and the sixth jumper has been donned.
With Ben’s experience in organics and Maria’s enthusiasm, curiosity, optimism and social media skills we grabbed the opportunity when a small shop became available in beautiful Bingley, where folks were having to travel miles to get good food.
We decided to open a different kind of shop where food looks, smells and tastes just the way it should, packaged minimally and delivered locally too.
Our customers tell us every day how amazing Hedgehog Organics shop is, how much they appreciate and love it.
And why ‘Hedgehog’? Well, from a young age, Ben has been a bit obsessed with the prickly creatures and after a prolonged name choosing debate, eventually Maria indulged him. Maria has since become a hedgehog addict too, regularly volunteering at Bingley Hedgehog Rescue.
