Nathaniel Richards fell on hard times in 2011 and had to turn to food banks. When he heard that supermarket suppliers were throwing away food that was still safe to eat he decided to do something. He set up Nifties in Dover in 2016, where the average price of an item is just 60p. The business is run as a social enterprise or social supermarket. Nathaniel also deals with local suppliers and farmers to get their wonky veg, which is rejected by supermarkets but is perfectly fine to eat. The wonky veg is the cheapest food sold in Niftie’s, with white onions costing from just 2p each. In fact, veg sold in store is sold on a “pay what you like basis” where customers put what they want into an honesty box. While Nathaniel only currently has one Niftie’s store and one warehouse, he also runs an online shop that ships his discounted products across the UK.
