#dyfi wholefoods

Dyfi Wholefoods. 10 years and six months since first opening.

21 Comments
Postcard of Dyfi Wholefoods shop front.

Dyfi Wholefoods. A year now into the new premises.

Facebook site link below. Worth a visit to see their products. Lots of photos.

https://www.facebook.com/dyfiwholefoods/

On the 29th March, 2013 Dyfi Wholefoods opened its door for the very first time. A little shop, but packed with a plethora of choices and a unique atmosphere for the local community. It smelled glorious on entering the shop with its herb, spice, coffee, tea, handmade soaps, fragrant Christmas candles, aromatic aromatherapy and earthy food choices. They started well, then went onwards from strength to strength.

The original shop.

PLEASE TAP ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS BELOW TO ENLARGE.

First shop
Undergoing new shop preparation
New shop just opened

In March, 2020, Covid saw them having to massively adapt to the service they offered. They began to follow the rules of safe distancing and served every customer from the doorstep. Many people in isolation used to order their requirements by phone, text, email, Facebook messenger, etc. Then they would either pick up goods ordered from outside the shop or get their order delivered to their door. Of course, customers also turned up to simply buy without prior ordering. A list held in their hands, read out and the staff collecting the goods from the shelves. A routine that was considered and updated daily to follow ongoing changes with infection control guidelines and safe distancing. This professionalism brought a new found respect and confidence in the shop from the local community.

The First Shop.

On the 30th of September 2022 they closed the door on the small, now iconic, shop to move to larger premises down the road. On October 3rd, 2022 the doors to the new premises opened. The customers loved its ambience. Also, it’s more friendly ergonomic open space! Room now to stop and chat with each other without feeling that they were in the way of other customers. It provided a buzz of well being in conversational exchanges.

So……It will be one year soon from opening up the new shop. And a crazy year it was too. The wonderful support from the community continued and actually grew. New local faces appeared too. A new introduction of selling locally baked artisan bread choices and fresh organic local vegetables added to the range of Wholefoods and other types of goods. Everything is based in ethical considerations. Holistically they support fair trade principles and eco friendly practices. A vegetarian philosophy has always been the main ingredient to the shop’s recipe and ethos.

Local baker supplies these………yummy.
Taken after having just opened the new shop back in October 2022.

PLEASE TAP ON INDIVIDUAL PHOTOS BELOW TO ENLARGE.

The little town has many outside visitors too. Tourists and people from the surrounding villages and towns do tend to find their way to Machynlleth. Festivals, a weekly market, outdoor workshops, child friendly playground facilities, sport centre with swimming pool, the Centre for Alternative Technology, the Osprey Centre, several cafés, delicatessen and small restaurants, interesting monthly events of all kinds, an exciting diverse/eclectic/artisan choice of shops in town and a friendly community that always stop and chat with each other. All this creates a positive atmosphere. The town’s aim is to become one with Zero Waste too.

PLEASE TAP ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS BELOW TO ENLARGE.

So, my little homage to Dyfi Wholefoods. My wife and her business partner, alongside their amazing friendly staff (past and present over the past 10 and a half years), have produced a little gem of a shop.

I wonder who wrote those two little bag signs! 😊

21 thoughts on “Dyfi Wholefoods. 10 years and six months since first opening.”

    1. Thanks Destiny. It was nice to be involved with painting and setting up the new shop last year. I hardly visit the town nowadays. I tend to see more when Facebook has uploads. 😊 So when I do go into the actual shop, it all feels like a new sensory experience again. The date October 3rd will be one year since opening up this new adventure. I’m sure they’ll celebrate. All the best.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      4. It certainly isn’t easy. And yes, pride is very much present. My wife can put in regular 12 hour days and more. But still loves her shop. I retired from nursing two years ago as a proper pensioner. But I have a feeling my wife is going to carry on with her shop whilst being able to retire. And for a very long time. 😊

        Liked by 2 people

      8. The community are extremely supportive. It has an air of alternative thinking too. The Centre for Alternative Technology attracted so many people (started in 1973) with foresight to what we are witnessing currently re: climate change, sustainability and ecological/green philosophy. They currently run high end courses at the Wise building. I remember them in their early days. Bought my first potter’s smock from them when I made ceramics. 😊 And tourists give fantastic feedback too. Cheers Destiny for the feedback and insights. 🙏🏽

        Liked by 1 person

    1. The atmosphere in the shop is really special. A positivity exists. I have stood with people I know from my nursing days (patients’ family members) and chatted about subjects far removed from health matters. Those baker’s pastries actually sell out within a couple of hours. I’ve tried all of them too. Really moreish. Cheers Sheila.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. That is sooo exceptional, Gray, about getting the vibe and energy to speak with your patients’ family members about various subjects when you run into them at your wife’s store! WOW! Incredible! It’s like it “opens a space” for that in the multiverse space time continuum! Cool stuff.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I meet people out on the streets that have now become acquaintances. They do not reflect on the past but talk about the here and now with a naturally expanded subject choice. May be about music, books, or how they love the new shop. Well….Mainly about how the shop is doing really. I talk about what I found in the charity shops! Profound stuff indeed. I have read your recent uploads. Interesting indeed. All the best Sheila.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Yes, Gray, meeting people where they are at (in more ways than one) and finding out their likes/dislikes can really connect us (for a few minutes or more). I love that your conversations focus on the Now, more current than past. I am often circling (on my spiral path) to learn lessons from my past and hopefully not repeat it. Ha!
        I love that folks are excited about Angie’s shop. If we ever fly again, we will have to visit. Wales and Greece are still both on my places to see.
        I love charity shops too!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Great reply as ever. Sometimes you return to past endeavours. Hence my agreeing to get back to playing live next year and picking up the bass guitar again. I’ve written a new idea for a song today. So inspiration can come from the dynamics if last experiences. That is a completely different view though than focusing and regretting or reflecting the past. You just find the vibe again, but with a different approach. You’d love Wales weather at the moment…….Not! Rain is a bit persistent. Now you mention it, I need a charity shop jaunt sooner than later. Good to see you like the eco values of finding a re-use for items too.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Oh, yes about your new song in the works and picking up inspiration from past experiences—bravo!
        Yes, I am a big “re-purposer” and “re-user” of things, if those are words. Ha!
        Hubby and I are working on a new song too—inspired by a 007 documentary we watched the other evening.
        I hear it rains a lot in the UK. And I am quite sure that’s why the gentleman at customs (Dublin airport in 2019) made the joke he did (about not many people come to Ireland for the weather) when I answered his question “what brings you back to Ireland?” (I won the Newgrange entry lottery for Winter Solstice after visiting in July of 2019, thus we went back in December.)

        Liked by 1 person

      6. I get all the charity shop ethos about recycling. Sometimes I try to support companies that make new items ethically are to be supported too. Good you are still in music. It gives a real lift when playing or singing. To be honest regarding weather, it seems a Worldwide problem presently. There are gales and rain here presently. Winning prizes is so nice. We won a holiday to Switzerland once. A choice we possibly would never had made otherwise.

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment