Gaveta d'Ingredientes

Gaveta d'Ingredientes is a neighbourhood bulk grocery in Évora, on Rua Bento de Jesus Caraça, in Bairro dos Álamos. Sisters Raquel and Rita Cruz opened it in 2017: Raquel works in nutrition and Rita trained in food engineering. Rita had been a customer of bulk shops in Lisbon and missed something similar when she came back to Évora.

The shop sells a wide range of food loose, so that people take only the quantity they want. The idea, in the shop's own words, is to buy what a recipe needs and so cut waste and single-use packaging. Customers can bring their own clean containers and fill them. The sisters sum up their approach in the motto they repeat to customers, which translates as peel more, unwrap less.

The bulk range includes nuts, seeds, teas and infusions, flours, dried fruit, spices, pasta and pulses, next to packaged groceries and non-food products. The shop says it favours Portuguese production and, whenever possible, local or national suppliers, to reduce its environmental footprint and support the local economy.

There is more than the grocery. The kitchen prepares lunches from Monday to Friday, to eat in or take away, as well as weekly meal kits, cakes and desserts made without wheat flour or refined sugar, and naturally leavened bread. Rita creates the vegetarian meals and the cakes, while Raquel gives nutrition consultations.

The shop is closed on Sundays and public holidays. Orders can also be placed through the online shop and collected at the counter or delivered at home.