BC Business
Combined, Nada and Jarr have already rerouted over one million containers (and counting) from oceans and landfills.
B.C.’s food system isn’t perfect, but some residents are helping it get better.
Vancouver-based Nada is a package-free grocery store and delivery service looking to create a local and circular economy food system. Its founder, Brianne Miller, understood the assignment back in 2015 when taking upcycled containers to get groceries and carrying out carbon neutral deliveries (using electric cargo bikes and cars, for example) just didn’t happen very often in Vancouver.
Earlier this week, Nada joined forces with Jarr, another certified living wage and package-free grocery delivery service in Vancouver. Combined, the like-minded businesses have already diverted over one million containers (and counting) from oceans and landfills, helped customers reduce their own carbon footprints and consistently supported local producers.
Nada’s acquisition marks a commitment to offer sustainable alternatives to more shoppers across the province—its service now reaches Bowen Island in addition to Vancouver, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Richmond and North Delta.
Being a certified B-corporation, as Miller puts it, means including people and the planet as stakeholders in the company. Nada’s been doing that by sourcing from 150 B.C.-based suppliers, recovering its own food scraps to make new products for sale, keeping all employees above living wage, and reporting on supply chain and environmental impacts.
“The petroleum industry is projected to ramp up plastic production over the next 10 years and, as we head into an unprecedented period of inflation, this partnership between Jarr and Nada becomes even more important,” said Emily Sproule, who launched Jarr in 2020, in a press release.
The two Rs in Jarr stand for reduce and reuse—sound advice if you’re wondering how to shop responsibly. And if you’re new to package-free shopping and live within their delivery zones, use the code PlasticFreeJuly at checkout to get $10 worth of Nada and Jarr products for free.