Into its 40th year as a Brighton landmark, the city would be flabby without Infinity Foods.
How have attitudes changed towards healthy eating since Infinity started in 1970? The wholefood thing was very alternative, whereas now it’s firmly in the mainstream, so much so it’s really hard to think back to how it was. With people like Jamie Oliver cooking on TV it became fashionable to eat healthily – that had a massive effect on us. People are just a lot more into cooking and trying different foods from different places.
Has the recession affected people’s healthy and organic intentions? It hasn’t had any effect on us at all – we were envisaging a difficult time last year but it just didn’t happen. Maybe people are thinking, “I’m might not go on holiday but I’m not skimping on food.”
What does the worker’s co-op entail? Most of the people who work in the shop are part-owners – you don’t buy into it, when we take someone on they have to work for a year as a probationary member and if you get taken on as a full member they effectively own a part of the business while you work there. It means everyone’s connected, not told what to do by one person who makes all the money. You basically just get more involved in the business on all levels.
You wholesale own-brand foods nationwide – could Infinity happen in other cities or is it something that could only happen here? Yes we’ve got a warehouse in Portslade, five lorries; we send food all over the country. It’s a hard one I suppose, I mean, it wouldn’t work in Worthing; most cities don’t have the right atmosphere. Bristol has four or five good health food shops – I don’t know, though. Where we are now has been a really big thing for us.
Has Infinity changed Brighton, do you think?
It’s brought a lot of people into the area who wouldn’t normally have come – North Laine was very run down in the 80s, and having a big food shop here certainly helped with that regeneration, with people coming in two or three times a week. I hope it’s added to the general economy of the area, I think it would be a poorer place without us.
If people were to change one thing about their diet -ethically or for health reasons – what should it be? Eating as much fruit and veg as possible, and buying local produce. It’s fresher, you’re supporting the local economy, it ticks all the right boxes – keeps the money in the community.
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