New Whittlesey food store set to open

The £1.5m Lincolnshire Co-op is in West End and will feature a car park with 19 spaces. It will be open from 7am until 10pm, seven days a week.

Lincolnshire Co-op is an independent co-operative with a head office in Lincoln with the majority of its trading taking place in Lincolnshire and the surrounding counties.

The new store - its first in Cambridgeshire - will stock products from its Love Local range, which sources goods from 60 local producers, including beverages from Fenspirits and Elgood’s Brewery (both based in Wisbech) and sausages, pork pies and scotch eggs by Grasmere Farm, based in Deeping St James.

A Free From range will also be on offer.

The society has its own membership scheme and royal-blue dividend card featuring the Lincolnshire Co-op logo. Members receive benefits when they shop, including extra money on fresh fruit and vegetables, Fairtrade products and local goods, as well as a bonus each year.

Whittlesey Community First Responders will be the first group to benefit from the Community Champions scheme which sees a donation made to a good cause every time a member shops with their Lincolnshire Co-op dividend card.

There will also be a collection point in the store for donations to Whittlesey Emergency Food Aid.

Store manager Kim Arnold said: “We can’t wait to meet our customers and show them what Lincolnshire Co-op is all about.

“We’ve made lots of connections with community groups and organisations in the local area already and we’re looking forward to working together with them in lots of different ways in the future, starting with our Community Champions fundraising for the local first responders.”

Within the store there will be social distancing measures in place including a limit on the number of customers shopping at one time, markings on the floor showing two metre distances, till screens and a sanitising station.

News of the Lincolnshire Co-op opening follows Wednesday’s announcement that Aldi is also progressing plans to open a store in Whittlesey.