By: Theresa Christine
Wandering around the narrow aisles of LØS Market on a gloomy Copenhagen afternoon, it seemed that as soon as one person left the store, another person entered. Frédéric Hamburger, one of the owners of this package-free shop, warmly greeted each person who walked in as if he knew them personally. He made sure to show them the cosmetics section to the left and helped to individually seal their bags at the counter during check-out.
“My goal here is not just to reduce waste, but to also optimize the buying experience,” he explained. “Think about something like Kellogg’s. Do you know what’s in that? Here, I know the suppliers. I know where it comes from and how it’s produced.”
Along with Constance Leth, Frédéric founded LØS Market in 2016 in a quaint residential neighborhood just west of the main train station. After perusing the aisles a few times, you’ll always notice something new—another item in their inventory to surprise you at how much they manage to fit in their cozy space.
They currently offer over 320 items, from the things you’d imagine a store like this to have (fresh fruits, veggies, and loose spices) to the not-so-expected ones (lotions, olive oil, and even wine and cider). Customers are encouraged to bring in their own bags and bottles, but in each aisle, you’ll find recyclable bags, canvas totes, and glass jars and bottles to use—and reuse—when you return.
Of course, the bulk section of a grocery store is nothing new. You’ve certainly seen it in the behemoth that is Whole Foods, or maybe even in your local supermarket. But there are two big ways it’s different from a package-free shop. First, cost-cutting is generally understood to be the primary goal rather than helping the environment. Second, it’s more common for these package-free options to be part of a larger store where packaged goods still reign supreme.
LØS Market isn’t just about selling organic goods package-free—it’s also about ensuring suppliers don’t use plastic or unnecessary waste when getting the products to the store, which can be quite a challenge.
“The system is geared towards plastic,” Frédéric mentioned. “Luckily, we’ve worked with our suppliers and have most things delivered in three- to five- kilo cartons as opposed to plastic.” This means the wholesome goods they sell are just as healthy for humans as they are for the environment.
“We are always trying to be better,” he said, “with the sourcing and such. And of course, over time you see what is selling and what is not selling, so we optimize that for our customers. We like to try and find new products they’ll enjoy.”
Back in 2014, Denmark’s residents produced the highest amount of waste than any other European Union country, at roughly 759 kilograms of trash each year per person (that’s about 1,673 pounds, or 4.6 pounds a day). While it might be difficult to measure the positive impact definitively just yet, stores like LØS Market pave the way for consumers to change their buying habits.
So when can we see shops like this in the United States? Well, we already have. There’s In.Gredients in Texas, the Package Free Shop in New York, and The Zero Market in Denver, for example.
But we’re still a long way from this being the norm and helping to lower the average of trash every American produces daily. It will mean sacrificing a bit of that coveted convenience of pre-packaged items and shopping on a more local scale. While this sounds easy enough, it will be particularly difficult in more rural areas where the shipping specifications alone could increase costs.
Still, the growth of package free shops at least brings awareness to consumers. It encourages them to bring their own reusable bags to the store, skip the plastic produce bags at the supermarket—and maybe even try out that buy-in-bulk section at Whole Foods.
Theresa Christine
Theresa entered the world of design through The Dieline. With a background in writing and journalism, she has a passion for discovery and cultivating human connections. Her work for The Dieline is a constant journey to deeply understand all facets of the design process and to investigate what makes designers tick. Theresa’s writing has taken her snorkeling in between the tectonic plates in Iceland, horseback riding through a rural Brazilian town, and riding an octopus art car at Burning Man with Susan Sarandon as part of a funeral procession for Timothy Leary (long story). When not writing, she is planning her next trip or taking too many pictures of her cat.
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