Our story
Like most things worth doing, the origin and history of Purple Carrot comes with more than its fair share of ups and downs, challenges to overcome and successes and failures. So how did it all begin?
Well strangely enough our story starts with Netflix. In 2013 bored one evening and unsure of what to watch, we happened over a documentary called Forks Over Knives. For those who have never seen it we highly recommend you do. It opened our eyes to the notion that what we choose to eat affects everything, our health, our wellbeing, the environment and the way we treat animals.
From there events snowballed, within weeks we attended Vegfest in Bristol and were excited and inspired by the vast array of amazing vegan products on the market. It was literally like a whole new world had opened up to us and the friendly inclusive atmosphere of the festival meant we left Bristol buzzing and with food for thought.
At the time we were both ready for a career change and had saved a small amount of cash to do a road trip in the US, however something had changed and we had the feeling and belief that we could make a living selling all those amazing products we’d tried at the festival.
It was time to research and we visited two shops in Manchester that were the inspiration for Purple Carrot. Unicorn and Eighth Day were what we aspired to and helped us cement the vision of what we wanted Purple Carrot to be. They were shops at the heart of their communities that were built on strong ethical values selling amazing, unique products. We wanted a piece of that and we knew that it was something we wanted to bring to Liverpool.
However turning a vision into reality is a whole different story, we took out a bank loan and had some savings but cash was tight and after paying for equipment, and moving our life to Liverpool we only had a small amount on money to spend on stock.
We were really struggling and made so many mistakes. The worst was the shop name which was originally Utopi-ish a name created by business associates at a time when we were really struggling to get the shop up and running. We still have customers who remember the original incarnation of the shop, with its poor lighting, makeshift shelving and threadbare stock.
The shop was in crisis, we were run down, drained and unable to see a way forward. Then one Friday after taking ninety pounds all day we sat down and drew up a plan to pick us up off our knees. We knew we had to create a buzz around the shop so we started hosting events. The first being a Vegan Potluck event where everyone would bring a dish and essentially we’d have a big party showcasing Vegan food. We hoped for 20 people and when nearly 100 showed up we knew that this could kick start things.
We were excited again. Chris went back to work in his old job and Danielle ran the shop almost singlehandedly with some help from some good friends. It meant that we had more capital to invest in the shop and we were also given amazing support from our main wholesaler Suma.
The shop began to grow and we were able to get new fridges, shelving and lighting, we continued to host events such as film screenings, meetings on sustainability and meditation classes and perhaps most significantly six months after originally opening we became Purple Carrot.
9 years on we were proud and thrilled to win the award of retailer of the year at The Merseyside Independent Business awards and Purple Carrot is still thriving and evolving in a time when we believe the ethics and values that the shop is built on are more important than ever.
Every single member of staff, customer, supplier and contributor to the shop are an important part of the journey and what the shop is today. Our story continues with many exciting plans and initiatives ahead. It’s certainly been a ride and we’re proud to have been such an integral part of such an amazing community in South Liverpool.
- Danielle and Chris
