The way in which we shop!

Recently, from shopping at Morrison's, I have noticed their attempts to look more like a market stall. From a help yourself olive deli, pick your own fruit and veg and a cheese deli counter. There has been an increase in the past year in the amount of organic produce purchased and this is replicated through supermarkets choices in how they market their fruit and vegetables. For example, Sainsbury's only sell fair trade bananas with even their basics range still being fair trade. This is because Sainsbury's wish to to portray a brand which is sustainable and conscientious of the environment, I believe that this is how they differentiate from other market leading supermarkets and how in fact they have managed to excel given the competitive nature of that industry.

The relatively new fruit and veg display in Morrison's is a fantastic way to offer more of a help yourself service. They have called the concept "Market Street", where the vegetables are set out in bunches like on a market stall, meaning that there is less packaging. This is a very wise move as the average consumer is more concerned about the effect  of plastic packaging on the environment. There is a spraying system over the fruit and veg, which reminded me of a European hypermarket, the idea is that it stays fresher for longer. This being both beneficial to the consumer and Morrisons as it means there is less waste. 

I am not an eco-warrier but given an ideal world I am all for purchasing my fresh produce at local shops and markets. However, given the way in which society has changed with more people working longer hours and convenience shopping being the most popular this is not realistic. As, in reality the ease of buying everything under one roof is putting local businesses out of business. However, it is nice to see larger organisations developing a more personal approach to their marketing and product offering.

Thanks for reading my woffley nonsense!!

Toni

xoxox

Rediscover the forgotten art of relaxation

It's official, I have the key for the door, I am now 21! This means I am officially an adult and as my younger sister keeps telling me, I am nearly 30, ahhhhhh!!!

For my birthday my mum bought me and my boyfriend a spa day and stay at Dunkenhalgh hotel on the outskirts of Blackburn. I have always wanted to go to a spa and was terribly excited for weeks before. On the day, we arrived early because we could use the facilities all day, including gym, saunas and swimming pool access. The building was beautiful it looked like a castle. After checking into our room, we were shown around the hotel by a very friendly lady and then taken to the spa and given our robes and given a tour of the surroundings. This made me think about customer service and how crucial it is for a business offering a personal service like a spa, this lady was very highly trained and a credit to Mercure hotels. This demonstrates that an employees passion for the work can deliver results, as she made my day very special and we felt comfortable to approach with any query throughout our stay.

After having a spot of lunch and a half-hearted attempt in the gym (as I didn't have a bobble, poor show Toni!) we hit the saunas. There were 5 saunas in total from mint flavoured steam rooms to an above 80 degrees rock room, they were amazing. I had somehow never experienced a sauna, but considering I used to faint it was probably for the best. However, I loved it and when Anne (the lovely lady) told me that putting crushed ice on your bum and legs after being in sauna reduced cellulite, I was alll over it!! This has inspired me to purchase a body brush (cue next blog post ;)

Then we had our spa treatments, which where heaven I had a facial, the beauty therapist was lovely and she used the range Decleor, which was beautiful on your skin and so relaxing. She again was very well trained and I was so relaxed. I decided there and then, that when I graduate and have a job I am going to indulge in a facial as a bit of me time, every few weeks.

The rest of our stay and this very long post is basically me reminiscing on such a good present and was simply wonderful to spend a few nights with my boyfriend, who spoilt me rotten as we are going to Michel Roux jr's restaurant in London, don't worry I will blog about my obviously fabulous experience.

Thanks for reading.
Caio
xoxoxoxo