X

Manchester's
Co-operative
Grocery

Sourced by people who know their onions

Tasty, Wholesome & Affordable Produce

Winner of the BBC Food & Farming Awards
'Best Food Retailer'
2017

A worker-
owned
business

customer-tills2

veg-customer-620

customers-banner

customer-staff2

Manchester's
co-operative grocery

Tasty, wholesome & affordable produce

Sourced by people who know their onions
(and are always happy to talk about them)

A worker-owned business

Winners of the BBC Food & Farming Awards
'Best Food Retailer' 2017

veg-area-banner

Our Produce

A stunning selection of affordable, wholesome food, ecological household goods & lots more.
Our Range

Contact Us

We’re located in the heart of Chorlton, South Manchester. Come and see us or drop us a line!
Find Us

Our Co-op

A thriving worker-owned grocery, named Best Food Retailer at the 2017 BBC Food & Farming Awards.
Learn More

Veg News

We’ve got an unbeatable range of fresh organic fruit & veg, and our buyers really do know their onions.
What’s New

People and Produce

Learn more about the Unicorn Community

Price Comparison

We aim to provide a realistic alternative to the supermarkets, so affordability is key.

Featured Supplier

Small & marginal tribal farmers grow our Araku coffee, part of our ‘Recommended’ range.

Our News

Big news, events, and a run-down of what’s especially hot in the veg aisles.

Instagram feed

Instagram post 2221112024874769655_223879195

Veg news 14th January.

The first direct pallet from Univert in Provence, France, is due this Friday. We always get a bit excited about their produce. For one, because they’re a co-operative of small growers, and secondly, because they specialise in luscious leafy greens, like fresh herbs, spinach & lettuces. By trading directly with them, we manage to reduce the time it takes to get from the field to our display (and your fork!) Spanish growers experienced their first frost last week. Most of Europe relies on Spanish ratatouille vegetables at this time of year, so when the frost hits, these crops quickly become scarce. First to be affected are cucumbers, courgettes and aubergines. Peppers are fine for now. In fact, they are looking and tasting particularly great at the moment.

The UK offer of brassicas (aka: cruciferous vegetables) remains strong, despite the low availability of kale. Kalettes, sprouts, leafy and hard cabbages make for a wide range. Francis Sampson, who is our winter cauliflower supplier in Cornwall, is sending a pallet to us on Thursday. He says purple sprouting broccoli is about to get to a good size, so that’s something to look forward to.

Finally, Seville oranges are now in their prime. There is nothing like making your own marmalade, especially on these rainy days. And for those feeling adventurous: a bergamot lemon gives it an unusual and delicious twist!
#unicorngrocery #eatorganic #marmalade #eatyourgreens #eattheseasons

Instagram post 2216133717737369450_223879195

Veg news 7th January

Now the festive dust has settled, we can look forward to a week of abundance on the fruit & veg displays.

On the veg side we’re particularly impressed with French lettuces and spinach. Spanish avocados are excellent value and Duncan Gielty’s Lancashire Savoy cabbages are picture perfect.

Kale varieties usually start dwindling at this time of the year, but at the minute it is particularly hard to get hold of. We’re expecting a big delivery from Home Farm Nacton in Suffolk on Wednesday, but there may be a few gaps. That said, there will be plenty of cavolo nero to go round and an early start to the Kalette season will help too! Kalettes are becoming more of a household name. It’s now a decade since this cross between kale and Brussels sprouts was introduced in the UK, but the crop is not widely cultivated organically, so we are pleased to be able to offer them from Wass in North Yorkshire.
Glebelands’ salad leaves are on 2 week break. Some years they are able to grow them year round in their market garden in Sale and second site in Stockport, but this year the plants are in need of some time to regrow after December pickings. There are some lovely offerings out of France instead: lamb’s lettuce, baby leaf spinach and rocket, all coming in every day.

Fruity highlights include navel oranges, bursting with flavour, from Spain and Agrico-op in Sicily (with the blood orange season also getting underway) and juicy conference pears from Paul Ward’s orchard in Kent.
#unicorngrocery #eatyourgreens #eatorganic

Instagram post 2210989962495655795_223879195

It's baaaaaaack! The hummus gap is officially over.

Instagram post 2208058872617242733_223879195

Veg news 27th Dec

The post-Christmas and New Year’s period is a notoriously tricky time for sourcing fresh produce. Many UK growers are taking a well-deserved break, whilst suppliers and hauliers on the continent are operating on reduced schedules. So here’s what to expect over the next 7 days or so:

The weekend in between Christmas and New Year will see a reduced offer in terms of leafy veg, with salads and herbs the biggest gaps. Fresh Lancashire little gems will be delivered by Duncan Gielty, coming in especially from Ormskirk. We’ll receive a fresh injection of leafy brassicas too for those tired of Christmas stodge!

On Monday 30th (yes we’re open!) and New Years’ Eve the range should be close to normal.

Thursday 2nd will be the trickiest day, but those lovely folks at Glebelands are picking some salad leaves that morning and dropping them off after lunch. Friday 3rd our UK offer is back to full strength, including Libby Flintoff making a trip down from Preston with freshly harvested spinach beet and rocket. If you are after fresh herbs, it’s best to come on Saturday when everything should be back to business as usual.
We’ll return with more in-depth veg news in 2020. In the meantime, it’s been a pleasure keeping you informed this way - thank you all for your engagement!

Happy New Year!

Load More... Follow on Instagram

Delicious Recipes

Discover a world of new recipes to try!

Eat the season

Our values

How to find us

Unicorn Videos