STA, 30 July 2019 - A plastic-free grocery shop, Rifuzl opened in the heart of Ljubljana's Šiška borough six months ago allowing customers to shop sustainably for local products and contribute to keeping the planet cleaner.
Rifuzl gets about 50 to 70 customers a day, and about the same number of curious passers-by, who come to check out the store first and return to shop later, say the founders, Primož Cigler and Manca Behrič.
"Most of our customers are young families, young mothers who only want the best for their children and want to contribute to keeping the nature intact for future generations," Cigler told the STA.
Their clients come to Rifuzl to shop from other parts of Slovenia. To save those customers a drive to Ljubljana they also plan on launching a delivery service.
"We are certainly not regretting to have taken this path. It's hard and there were moments that made us lose motivation. But happy returning customers make everything worthwhile," said Cigler.
Besides the more remote customers, the plastic-free shop has a number of local customers, who like the location and the products it offers.
"Šiška is quite densely populated and the area around Kino Šiška is fairly busy with enough parking space," said Cigler about the location's advantages.
"Most clients that have learned to shop without plastic packaging return very often. Some say they don't go to regular stores any more, because they can buy everything they need in our shop," he added.
Rifuzl sells more than 500 products, most of them food, such as rice, legumes, oatmeal, flours and pasta, along with preserves, eggs, sweets, dairy products, drinks and honey, and supplies for zero-waste life, such as glass jars, cotton bags and wooden cutlery, as well as cleaning and cosmetic products.
They get most products from local suppliers, which are the easiest to convince to supply plastic-free products. The ever-changing list of products is promptly updated and posted on their website, www.rifuzl.si, which also includes the company's presentation and manifesto, and the store can be found at Celovška cesta 111, 1000 Ljubljana.
Related: Meet the People - Neja Maruša Medved, Vegan and Zero Waste Blogger
