AN independent ethical co-operatively run supermarket opened in the centre of Southampton on Saturday.

Could it help change the way people in the city shop?

The people behind Rice Up Wholefoods certainly hope so.

It’s the sort of shop that would be at home somewhere like Brighton or Bristol – where ‘alternative’ businesses are more commonplace on the high streets.

But the Rice Up team hope that more and more ethical and co-operative businesses will open in the city.

And their timing couldn’t be better.

Their battle to take on the supermarkets coincides with controversial bids by Tesco to open a shop in Romsey and Sainsbury’s to open in Bishop’s Waltham.

“Our basic ethos is we want to bring affordable, ethical goods to everyone,” says Sarah Abbott, one of the store’s founder members.

Rice Up is a co-op, which means it is run by its members on an equal footing.

No one is in charge, all decisions are made collectively and everyone will be paid the same hourly rate once the shop starts making a profit.

Understandably, it has taken two and a half years to turn Rice Up from being a nice idea of some well-meaning people into a business opening its doors for training.

During that time a huge amount of research has been done.

The team have met with those behind similar co-ops across the country, such as at Infinity Foods in Brighton – a good example of how the model can work.

They also drew up a detailed financial plan and found people who were interested in the business to invest in setting it up.

“A lot of business people would say that this is the worst possible time possible to be starting something like this.

“I actually think that if you look at the energy and enthusiasm that’s being generated, it seems there’s almost a pent up demand for this,”

enthused co-operative member Richard Barnett.

“I think it’s because of the way the economy is going and there is the environmental situation and things like the factory collapse in Bangladesh – so many people are saying ‘let’s do it differently’.

“People really want to have alternative provisions, but it’s an issue of how hard it is to get it going.

“Places like Brighton already have that momentum.

“Hopefully this will help get that going for Southampton.”

Sarah explains that she hopes Rice Up will offer shoppers a real alternative to supermarkets – one that is more environmentally friendly and benefits other local businesses too.

“We want this to be an ethical supermarket,” she says.

“We want to offer everything you’d want to buy in your weekly shop under one roof but everything will be ethical – vegetarian food, cruelty-free cosmetics and toiletries, environmentally friendly lines, locally-sourced organic fruit and vegetables, frozen and chilled food, loose dry food and we even have our own deli counter.”

She adds that they are working hard to keep the cost of their stock down – for instance selling lots of dry items loose in bins, so that they can buy in bulk and pass the savings on.

“We want it to be somewhere everyone can afford to shop,” she says.

“This could be a catalyst for making a better city in terms of offering more alternative, ethical ways of shopping.

“Hopefully people will see that it is viable in the city.”