Unicorn Grocery

04/06/2026

New Unicorn weekly email newsletter 👀🥕✨

We are launching our brand new email newsletter today! We have created this newsletter to take you beyond the aisles - to share stories of our growers and producers, the radical roots of our co-operative, and some practical tips and recipes to help you get the most out of your shop.

You can expect to hear from us most Thursdays, and will include our weekly Veg News (which you may also spot here as well as chalked onto our shop entrance every week), which is written by our veg team, who work closely with the people growing our produce, so the best way to stay in the loop with what's landing on our shelves and what it's like working on the land, as well as our regular supermarket price checks.

We are also giving away a little welcome gift for signing up - one of the enamel pins we had made to celebrate our 30th birthday this year (ps add 19th September to your diary for lots of birthday funtimes at the shop!). Sign up to the newsletter for instructions on how to claim your pin.

🔗 Link to the sign-up page (scroll down to near the bottom 👀) https://www.unicorn-grocery.coop/contact-us/?utm_source=Unicorn+Grocery&utm_campaign=1fa9eedf33-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_23_02_07_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a71b08bb2f-1fa9eedf33-352950620

02/06/2026

Veg news 2nd June

The UK broad bean season is officially starting! ☺️

Those lovely green pods are a real treat. The early arrivals are delicious fresh out of their velvety shell and a great addition to a spring salad. It's also worth spending a bit more time cooking them up. Treat them like any other legume, super versatile, they work well in pasta dishes, risotto or mashed to take a seasonal twist on avocado toast!

Check our website for a creamy spring pasta recipe:
https://www.unicorn-grocery.coop/recipe/creamy-spring-pasta/

Broad beans this week arrive locally from Kindling Market Garden, along with their spring onions and fresh garlic direct from Stockport. We're looking forward to Friday when we get the first arrival from the team at Strawberry Fields, Lincolnshire. They always look pristine. Fans of kohl rabi will vouch for the quality of today's first arrival of the season!

28/05/2026

Chorlton Open Gardens takes place the weekend 27-28 June 🌸

North Chorlton on Saturday, South Chorlton on Sunday

Take a peek into the area’s nicest gardens and raise money for two amazing charities

Unicorn’s roof garden will be open for free as part of the event on Saturday 27th (only) – just turn up!

For the rest you need a programme – these can be purchased in advance from the organisers who will have a stall outside Unicorn weekends starting 13/14 June and also on the day (we are not selling them in the shop)

We will be doing free sampling with some of our suppliers - including Wye Bakehouse, Suma kombucha, The Vegan Cheesemonger & Vinceremos wine

Limited mobility? Chorlton Bike Deliveries are offering trishaw rides around the gardens both days – phone them on 07561 737 986 to arrange

26/05/2026

26/05/2026

Veg News 26th May 🍓

Hope everyone is managing to keep cool today. With the weather far too warm to think about much cooking (or at least anything too ambitious!), we have all been grazing on cool Spanish stone fruits and slices of watermelon to stay refreshed and hydrated. Perfect straight from the fridge on a day like today!

There is a huge selection of Spanish stone fruits looking beautiful this week. With apricots, nectarines, peaches, plums and cherries adding plenty of colour and a proper taste of summer to the fruit stands.

Spanish watermelons are tasting wonderful already too, offering great value and making a perfect treat in this hot, sunny weather.

We are also incredibly excited to have a small amount of UK strawberries arriving today and Thursday from Kindling Farm. We have struggled with a consistent supply of organic UK strawberries for years, so we are really pleased and grateful to now be trading with Kindling at their pioneering agroforestry farm in Merseyside. Whilst they have been grown from runners using organic methods, they will be fully certifiable as organic from next year, so are 'in conversion to organic farming' this year.

After a slow and cool spring, the recent burst of sunshine has really accelerated ripening in the fields and polytunnels, with plenty more strawberries to come over the next few weeks.

A huge thank you to all the growers working out in the heat this week, as always we are incredibly grateful for everything they do.

19/05/2026

Veg News 19th May 🍋

We don't often talk about citrus at this time of year (usually reserved for the depths of winter), but this week we wanted to shine a light on Sicily’s spring lemon: the Bianchetto.

Named for its pale yellow peel, Bianchetto lemons are lighter and more delicate-looking than winter Primofiore ‘first flower’ lemons, which we receive from Agricoop in Sicily. Coming from the second flowering of Sicilian Femminello lemon trees and harvested between April and June, Bianchettos are known for their more delicate spring flavour and fragrance. Femminello lemons are particularly prized for their aromatic peel, rich in essential oils, making them ideal for zesting, baking, salads, marinades and homemade lemonade.

We have cultivated a close working relationship with fellow worker co-operative Agricoop in Sicily, who are providing us with an abundance of lemons this week, alongside a few other spring delights to complement our expanding range of new season UK produce.

Special mention also for their beautiful Sicilian courgettes, which are delicious sautéed with a squeeze of Sicilian lemon and some fresh mint for a simple flavour of spring. Excitingly, Libby Flintoff in Preston has also started her first cuts of Lancashire courgettes this week! Volumes will be small to begin with, but with warmer temperatures and a more mixed forecast of sunshine and spring showers this week, the rest of her plants should soon get going after last week’s cold snap.

Agricoop’s new potatoes are always an affordable and welcome addition to our range at this time of year, and we’re also expecting the first UK new potatoes to arrive in the next week or two from Wyn Evans in Pembrokeshire. Best enjoyed simply boiled with plenty of salt and pepper to really savour their fresh spring flavour.

Some of you may have spotted Agricoop’s white onions on the root stand over the last couple of weeks, alongside brown, red and spring onions, and wondered what they’re best used for. White onions have a milder, fresher and slightly sweeter flavour than fully cured brown onions, but with a crisper texture, making them great raw in salads, sandwiches and fresh salsas like pico de gallo or guacamole. They’re also a staple ingredient in many Mexican dishes, and a very welcome addition whilst we wait for the UK crop of spring and fresh bunched onions to really get going.

12/05/2026

Veg News 12th May 🍅

Isle of Wight tomatoes are officially in full swing and tasting fabulous. Grown on the sunny south coast, the island enjoys some of the highest sunshine hours in the UK, with light reflecting from the sea helping to create the warm, bright conditions tomatoes love. The island’s maritime climate also helps reduce temperature extremes, allowing for slower ripening and flavour development.

Founded in the Arreton Valley in 2007, Isle of Wight Tomatoes have really helped change the game in terms of what UK-grown tomatoes can taste like. Their focus on flavour, variety and growing conditions has made them a bit of a benchmark for British grown tomatoes, and a much-loved part of our summer range.

As well as producing incredible tomatoes, we are always impressed by their environmental commitments. They harvest rainwater to irrigate crops and make use of perfectly delicious ripe tomatoes that are unsuitable for travelling by turning them into jarred sauces to minimise food waste. We also now stock their puttanesca, pizza and shakshuka sauces.

They also take a soil-first approach, avoiding regular soil disturbance and favouring no-dig methods at a commercial scale. Over the years, they have increased soil organic matter from 3% to 20%, alongside producing around a thousand tonnes of their own compost on site each year.

Isle of Wight tomatoes are a treasured part of our summer range and will be with us all season. Enjoy! ☀️

07/05/2026

"Please join us for a special community screening: The People’s Emergency Briefing.

What’s happening with climate and nature, and what does it mean for everyday life in the UK?

The People’s Emergency Briefing is an eye-opening film bringing together nine leading UK scientists and experts with the latest evidence and why it matters for things like Cost of Living, our Health, Pollution and Flooding..

Residents and community members from across the Withington constituency have come together to bring three showings of this important film along with an opportunity to hear what others are doing and to have your voice heard.

THESE EVENTS ARE COMPLETELY FREE - bring your neighbours and friends!

Find out more and book your free place here: https://www.pppdidsbury.org/nebfilm

Please share this message as widely as you can…

For a taster:: https://youtu.be/JaI-dHgh65Q?si=metjIkm4PTVpHJzM "

05/05/2026

Veg News 5th May 🥬

Our seasonal highlights display is loaded with fresh, green spring produce this week.

There are plenty of crisp Little Gems available to add freshness and crunch to your salad bowls, grown by our Lancashire suppliers Libby Flintoff in Preston and Duncan Gielty in Ormskirk. Pam and the team at Strawberry Fields in Lincolnshire are also starting theirs this week, alongside their field-grown Oakleafs and Batavias.

Duncan’s show stopping, chunky heads of pak choi are looking picture-perfect and offering great value.

Duncan has also started on his mini cucumbers, always a very welcome arrival. Fresh, juicy and the perfect snack size, they herald the start of his Lancashire glasshouse season. Duncan’s glasshouse crops have become a much-loved part of our summer offer, and this year will include chillies, peppers, tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers.

The UK broad beans at Kindling Market Garden have just started setting their pods, but while we wait for the first harvest, we have some beautiful French broad beans available this week.

Last but not least, we couldn’t resist a special mention for Organic Pantry’s stunning tunnel-grown radish bunches from Jonnie, Felicity and the team in Tadcaster. These are a little limited until the next sowing comes along, but we’ll be getting another delivery in for the weekend, alongside some gorgeous bunches from Foskett in Suffolk. They’re perfect for adding a fresh, peppery crunch to salads this week. And don’t forget the leaves, they’re also delicious wilted in a pan with a little oil, garlic and lemon.

04/05/2026