In Organico, Bantry, we have noted a dramatic raise over the past few years in the demand for Organic food from our Irish customers. When our shop first opened in the early 1990's our customer base was nearly exclusively non-Irish - known as 'Blow-ins' in West Cork terms. Now we have more that 75% Irish customers. This shift has occured as Organic food, herbal remedies and natural cosmetics have become more mainstream, and also as our shop has become more familiar and accessible to the local community.

Our father, Alan Dare, who started the shop in the early '90's, became well known for his free advice on how to stay healthy and how to use simple and affordable remedies such as cider vinegar to achieve and maintain health. Alan set the tone for Organico Shop from the very beginning as a place where customers are not urged to buy the most expensive product but instead are given all the options and information they need to make informed choices about their own health.

Organico was one of the first, if not the first, healthfood shops in Ireland to sell Dr Vogel's outstanding Echinaforce (which Alan had to import from the UK as no supplier here in Ireland was selling it). Alan was also one of the first people in the country to recommend Citricidal or Grapefruit Seed Extract. And all this was despite the fact that when he first opened he was determined to sell only foods. Such was the demand that now we have an extensive range of non-food products.

But we are still completely committed to Organic food. Opening Organico Cafe recently is us putting our money where our mouth is. All our veggies, pulses, grains, flours, sugar, coffee, and milk are organic. We use organic mayo, ketchup, vinegars, yoghurt, juices, soya milk, & teas. Click here to see our Menu.

Whether to go for Organic certification for the cafe is an onging question which is complicated by the fact that many of our local organic suppliers are not certified and we like to be able to buy locally. Also there are some items which are not available in the quantities we need in Ireland and which, if we used them now, would mean we had to charge much higher priced for our food. Butter is one of these products - if anyone out there knows of an Irish organic butter supplier who would supply us in bulk please let us know!