Tops in pops is a local grocery market on Dorset Street. The business started off ten years ago, with the owner selling vegetables and fruits supplied by local farmers in rural Dublin and the surrounding areas.
The customers consisted mostly of people from the neighbourhood, buying something when passing by the store. They began coming back because of the quality of the products and had made a decision to support the local market as well.
Tops in pops started to grow bit by bit and nowadays they sell a range of products, from personal hygiene to breads and cereals. And of course the fruits and vegetables that are still their highest selling items. Almost all of the organic produce is placed outside the store offering customers a different shopping experience to what they would find in a large supermarket.
Fruits and vegetables that didn´t sell and are coming to the end of their best before date are often given away for free. Before closing the store, these products are put outside signage indicating that it is, “free”. That way people who cannot afford food will have a little to bring home. This is just one of the ways that Tops in pops gives to its community.
Tops in pops currently employs seven people and is helping the community stay local.
The relationship between local farmers and suppliers creates not only jobs in the community but also a model of sustainability which will endorse healthy harvests and nutritious foods. Even brands that can be found in supermarkets can also endorse local employment, for example Keogh’s Crisps grow all their potatoes on a family farm and their cider vinegar is supplied by Davis Llewellyn a local fruit farmer from Lusk. Ross Keogh, owner of the company, is an advocate of ‘sourcing local, producing local and supporting local’, which creates jobs and sustainability within the community but also allows for customers to acquire locally produced supplies from multinational shopping establishments.
Locally sourced retailers also ensure that all of the produce used is of a high quality and even helps the carbon footprint by reducing the reliance on complicated logistics that international products rely on, as less transportation and packaging is required.
Tops in Pops is helping the community to revaluate its consumer choices to shopping locally and greener, cutting down the car journeys and fuel consumption. Buy local, support local, shop at Tops in Pops.
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