Green Grocer ‘Nada’ Nears Launch in East Van

Founder/CEO Brianne Miller and Buyer/Supplier Relationship Manager Alison Carr inside their new space

The zero waste grocery store, Nada, will be opening its 2,400 square foot flagship location at 675 East Broadway (in the new building across from Pizzeria Barbarella) sometime in the coming weeks.

Nada, the brainchild of Brianne Miller, began as the Zero Waste Market pop-up shop, operating mostly out of the Patagonia storefront in Kits for the last couple of years. Miller, a marine biologist, was inspired to create the environmentally low-impact concept store back in 2013 after coming in direct contact with the pollution problem primarily created by food packaging.

What you can expect from the first location are shelves stocked with the usual selection of pantry essentials, including dry goods (flour, salt, spices, sugar and nuts) and edible liquids (olive oil, honey, molasses and vinegar); plus fresh produce and three fridges filled with everything from meat and dairy to a selection of take-out snacks and juices prepared using produce from the store. They are super selective, only carrying products from vendors that meet their ethical criteria and are mindful of tracing each and every product’s environmental footprint.

Probably the coolest feature of the shop, though, is their cutting edge, specially designed weigh station system which uses hi-tech stickers to encode customers’ containers with their weights. These ‘smart’ stickers are also dishwasher safe so that once you’ve gone through the process of weighing your stickered containers you don’t need to go through the motions again.

They’ve also got a low-tech container exchange program where you can donate your excess, clean containers to be re-used and, in turn, customers in need will have access to free containers to use. Nada will also be carrying upcycled jars and their own branded line of jars, containers and bags, so there’s no stress if you forget to BYOC or just don’t have enough to carry all of your purchases.

The Nada team is still working hard to get the space fully operational, but in the meantime you can flip through our photos below for a look at the work in progress and sign up for updates via the newsletter at the bottom of their website homepage. Additionally, if you head over to their Evo Pre-Launch Sidewalk Event this afternoon (May 25th) you might just get a chance to peek inside the shop as the dust is settling.