Inspiring Conversations with Verity Noble of Nude Foods Market

Today we’d like to introduce you to Verity Noble.

Hi Verity, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The average American produces 1,704 pounds of trash each year. That’s enough to fill 23 million garbage trucks, which is 50 garbage trucks per minute!

And before we pat ourselves on the back for our awesome recycling habits here in Colorado, only 12% of our waste gets recycled, which is well under the national average of 35%. We hear that so many people feel powerless against the ever-growing tsunami of plastic. It has become a seemingly inevitable part of life.

We also understand that most people don’t have the time or energy to do what each of us was doing (schlepping miles to go to a bulk store every few weeks, painstakingly finding out where to recycle every aspect of our lives and going without a lot of our favorite snacks because they were packaged in plastic. Ugh).

We knew there had to be a solution. We also know that most people hate all this waste, they just don’t have a better alternative. So a group of serial entrepreneurs got together – each from different walks of life with different skill sets, but equally passionate about putting a stop to this crazy cycle of waste.

Our original plan had been to open a brick-and-mortar store in an unused space at the Broker Inn. We were working towards a June 2020 launch and had even built out some of the space using repurposed materials.

Then Covid happened.

I remember us having a phone call when Covid hit and the question was “Shall we wait for this to blow over and then open the store, or shall we turn lemons into lemonade and pivot our whole business model?” Of course, we chose the latter and launched Nude Foods Market, earth’s most sustainable grocers, as an online grocery delivery service, one of the fastest growing industries in the times of Covid.

After an incredibly successful year of delivery, we then launched a store in Boulder and now have one opening soon in Denver at 3538 W 44th Avenue. We still offer delivery to Boulder, Denver, Lafayette, Louisville, Niwot, Broomfield, and Westminster.

We’ve already saved over ¼ million pieces of packaging and that’s just the start!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha, it has NOT been a smooth road but it’s certainly been a fun one.

When you’re creating a completely new way of shopping, there is no road map so we’ve had to work out everything from scratch. Our unique prefill model means we had to set up filling processes, work out how to package a myriad of products in zero waste packaging (even our wraps come in jars!) as well and train and educate our vendors on how to provide their products as zero waste as possible to us.

On top of that, grocery shopping is a highly habitual process so asking people to change stores let alone asking them to try a completely new process has been challenging. People LOVE what we’re doing but it often takes them a while to step foot across the threshold. Once they do, they’re customers for life.

Technology has also been a big challenge. None of us are particularly techy so building and maintaining a website has been a steep learning curve! Luckily, we love challenges and solving them in the most environmentally friendly way possible to create the most sustainable grocery store on earth!

We’ve been impressed with Nude Foods Market, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Nude Foods Market is the most sustainable grocery store on earth.

Everything is packaged in returnable, reusable containers that customers bring back for us to wash, sanitize, refill, and put back into circulation. You can also refill your containers if you’d like to!

All our products have been through a strict vetting process to ensure the most sustainable supply chain, and best taste, possible.

So far we’ve saved almost half a million pieces of packaging. Together, we can change the face of grocery shopping for the better.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Resilience. As an entrepreneur, you have to be able to keep going even when the road isn’t smooth.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nudefoodsmarket.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/nudefoodsmarket
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nudefoodsmarket/