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Food Industry: Aamer and Nihal, Green Valley Grocery

In a nutshell – The Food Industry 

There are five common locations where potential consumers engage with the food industry. These places are convenience stores, foodservice facilities, merchandisers, grocery stores and to a lesser extent, food served at chemists. The retail grocery store industry considers both grocery stores and supermarkets interchangeably. 

A grocery run with Aamer and Nihal

Aamer and Nihal’s journey has been nothing short of incredible. Experiencing daily conflict in Syria provided difficulties for Aamer and Nihal’s newly married life. In December 2016, Aamer and Nihal arrived in Australia together with the intention of starting a fresh life. 

With the business support, mentorship and business financing from Thrive, Aamer and Nihal were able to fulfil their ambition of opening up their own Middle Eastern grocery store, Green Valley. Green Valley is a grocery store providing Middle Eastern food to the Gladstone Park community. Since its opening, it has become a small cultural community hub for people of Middle Eastern backgrounds and other cultures alike. 

Today, Aamer and Nihal are extremely grateful to run a successful business with their hard work. With this constant dedication to their business, they are able to comfortably support their two children who are their main priorities. 

The future of the food industry

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the strain on larger supermarkets has become more evident as people are ordering more food online for home delivery. The crisis has made consumers reimagine how they procure their groceries and where they come from. With the recent rise, in the desire to cook for oneself and become more self-sufficient, any post lockdown trends would suggest that smaller grocery stores will be more positively affected as people want to go out and build their community again while shopping, especially as larger grocery stores become more and more overwhelmed. Coincidentally, smaller grocery stores also offer products that most supermarkets do not. In the case of Aamer and Nihal, they offer a great arrangement of Middle Eastern delicacies at reasonable prices to their community that consumers are unlikely to find at one of the major supermarkets. 

“I am happy I have my own successful business. I have a lot to be grateful for” – Aamer Alashkar