Our Philosophy

“We’re helping people with their health as well as their enjoyment of life”
Mike – Co-owner

So much of what we buy in supermarkets today is processed, unnatural, packed with chemical colours, preservatives and flavour enhancers.  We really don’t see why it should have to be that way.  There are two reasons.  It’s simply not how you were designed to eat, and eating real food can remind you of how food should taste.  Without flavour enhancers and chemical colours, food simply tastes better.

It’s good for you too – in a truly life-enhancing way.  It’s become such a cliché to say ‘you are what you eat”, but it really is that fundamental.  You can see it so clearly and quickly with children – stuff their diets full of additives and watch their behaviour change.  It’s the same principle when you start eating ‘additive-free’ – the changes are rapid and far-reaching.  We see it all the time when people come to the store because they’re sick and need to change the way they eat.  Food really is at the core of a positive, healthy life.


Natural

At NGS, 70% of our products are organic (and almost every single piece of meat and all the vegetables we sell are).  None of them are stuffed with artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.


Local

Where we can, we stock our shelves from local suppliers.  Our bread comes fresh every day from either a bakery at Newent, just a few miles away in the Forest of Dean, or from another acclaimed baker near Chipping Sodbury.  Our fresh meat comes from a certified organic farm just down the road near Gloucester and a certified organic poultry farm in Devon. 

Not only does this mean we can know exactly how it’s produced, we also know the people involved and how much they care about their work. 

Unlike some supermarkets, we don’t believe in ‘treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen’.  Instead, we believe in working with our suppliers.


Tasty

There used to be a perception that ‘natural’ food meant heavy, chewy stuff that was worthy, good for you but inedibly dull.  We’ve never seen it that way.  To us, there’s no point eating something unless you enjoy it.  That’s why we stock things that, quite simply, taste better.


Value

People think that natural food is a great idea, but just too expensive.  For the most part that’s not true. 

We aim to be as competitive as we can on price, and will always aim to match, where appropriate, our supermarket chain neighbours. And it’s because we can buy many products direct from the suppliers that we can get even keener prices…