New SESI refills shop to open at Florence Park, Oxford

SESI, which already runs a refills stall at East Oxford Farmer's Market, is planning launch its new store at Flo's community centre in Florence Park.

Selling a 'wide range' of unpackaged staple foods such as pasta and porridge, SESI's own refill detergents and environmentally-sound baby products, the shop will open on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.

It will officially open for business on Saturday, June 8.

The organisers said their aim was to help local people to reduce plastic waste at the same time as investing in local community initiatives.

The money raised through Flo’s Refill Shop will go towards supporting Flo's community projects.

SESI Food and Household Refills is a social enterprise run by husband and wife Rina Melendez and Paul Godden.

The detergents they sell are specially produced by a family firm in Northampton called Ideal Manufacturing.

The ingredients are almost entirely from the UK, except for lemons and lavender from Europe, and none of them are harmful to the environment.

Since it was set up in 2006, the organisation estimates that it has saved 40,000 containers from landfill.