The most fashionable Shanghainese are squeezing on Huaihai Road to buy loose soy sauce.

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Life always unexpectedly shows a tendency of "going backwards as one lives".

This time, The supermarket bulk section that you may have visited hundreds or thousands of times since childhood has transformed into a "dry food store", becoming popular in China from the distant Australia through the internet.

Australian Dry Food Store

Beyond the limitations of dried fruits, rice, and flour, the product category has expanded to include snacks, cosmetics, and daily necessities. In short, "everything can be sold in bulk". With an eco-friendly label, not only are the products from organic farms, but the packaging is also recyclable and plastic-free. Moreover, without the unified specifications of traditional supermarkets, you can buy as much as you need, effectively eliminating waste.

From only being able to browse and experience it through videos of Australian bloggers to the opening of stores in Shanghai and Taizhou, what kind of magic does the dry food store have that makes people fall in love with "bulk buying" again?

The Dry Food Store in Australia Dominates Domestic Social Media

"Do you know how casually you can DIY Dubai chocolate in the dry food store in Australia?"

KK, a blogger who specializes in shooting videos about food and drink exploration in Australia (formerly known as "KK Eating, Drinking and Having Fun in Sydney"), posted a video of going to the dry food store to buy ingredients for a yogurt bowl on Xiaohongshu at the end of last year. Unexpectedly, it received 143,000 likes and sparked more than 1,000 discussions. Everyone's focus was on the dry food store.

Since then, KK has become the "queen of the dry food store track", and she will say this slogan at the beginning of each video.

Now with a total of more than 3.7 million fans on Douyin and Xiaohongshu, KK is also known as the "Casual Sister". Even the name "dry food store (granola)" was made popular by her, although the Australian clerk once explained in the video that "we call it cereal (muesli)".

The clerk corrects KK's wording, image source: Xiaohongshu @KK Eating, Drinking and Having Fun in Sydney

Through KK, young people in China have learned about this new retail model: the dry food store, which is very similar to the bulk food section in the supermarket where you can buy rice, mung beans, and flour by filling your own bags. However, the product variety in Australian dry food stores is more abundant. In addition to rice, flour, oil, and grains, snacks, cosmetics, and daily necessities are also sold in bulk, making it more like a bulk grocery store.

The products in the store are mostly from organic farms, and the "bulk" sales format also achieves "zero waste" to the greatest extent - guests can bring their own or use the non-plastic containers provided in the store to pack the goods as needed, taking as much as they need.

The innovative format and environmental protection concept also mean that it is much more expensive than ordinary supermarkets in Australia. Taking a pound of dried fruit as an example, The price of the dry food store at 46.25 Australian dollars is more than three times the supermarket price of 15 Australian dollars. In KK's videos, the total price of each checkout is almost never less than 30 Australian dollars (approximately 140 yuan).

In the Australian dry food store, chocolates are neatly placed in small drawers sorted by flavor; oils and honeys and other liquids are stored in large jars with taps at the bottom; Even shampoos and body washes need to be dispensed; and you can even choose your favorite colors to create a customized eyeshadow palette...

Chocolate

Body Wash

Eyeshadow

Since mastering the "dry food store" traffic code, KK's shooting has been firmly fixed into two parts: Shopping in the store and DIY production after returning home. Every frame of the video can firmly grasp people's pleasure points, and the number of likes is basically stable at around 100,000.

"KK Eating, Drinking and Having Fun in Sydney" has become KK who lives in the dry food store.

One of the Australian chain dry food store brands that KK frequents is Scoop Wholefood. The warm yellow lighting, solid wood counter, and countless bottles and jars filled with spices, flours, and syrups that you've never heard of, And each product also has its own paper label indicating the name, origin, and usage.

Scoop Wholefood, the dry food store KK often visits

Just these elements combined are enough to dominate Xiaohongshu. With an eye-catching title like "No one can leave this store empty-handed", it's friendly to obsessive-compulsives and delights J-types. It can easily become an internet-famous store that everyone wants to check in at.

Not to mention the in-store shopping experience that is full of satisfaction - first, take a few paper bags at the entrance, then go find the products you want to buy, write the corresponding number on the bag, and finally use a shovel or food clamp to take the required amount. If you're not sure, the electronic scale next to it can help you weigh accurately. Every time I see KK folding the paper bags with her delicately manicured hands and stacking them one by one in the shopping basket, I can't help but feel a sense of comfort.

This slightly old-fashioned shopping method always awakens childhood memories of accompanying parents to the supermarket. Especially when hearing the "rustling" sound of the shovel inserting oats and dried fruits, it reminds people of the feeling of poking rice with their fingers.

In KK's videos, the most fun part is to "dispense" various viscous liquids. For example, for honey, first choose a Glass jar priced at 2 - 5 Australian dollars (approximately 9 - 24 yuan) according to the capacity, then write the product name on the label on the bottle, and then aim one hand at the liquid outlet and open the valve with the other hand. Due to the pressure, the honey will instantly gush out like a waterfall, stacking up layer by layer from the bottom of the jar.

KK dispensing orange blossom honey in the dry food store, image source: Xiaohongshu @KK Eating, Drinking and Having Fun in Sydney

I don't know if it's a psychological effect, But this honey packed by hand in a Mason jar seems to be fresher than the ones sold in supermarkets.

After selecting products in the store, it comes to the second part of KK's videos: DIY home cooking. Yogurt bowls, nougat, Dubai chocolate; bath bombs, face masks, body scrubs, KK has tried everything from food to daily necessities. There are also some failed cases, and even the more disastrous the failures, the higher the traffic. Some people even commented, "Sister, your hands-on ability is so poor. I really want to rush into the screen and do it myself."

With the explosion of the videos, there are more and more Chinese faces in Australian dry food stores. Melon, who works and lives in Sydney, is one of them. When her mother came to see her in June this year, she also saw KK's videos and asked Melon to take her to the dry food store. However, after the experience, Melon's mother commented: "Australia is really backward. So many people are checking in at this place. Living in Australia is so boring. A little fresh thing is considered amazing."

Taking Scoop Wholefood as an example, Melon also introduced the positioning of the dry food store in Australia to TIDE: "The dry food store is almost never opened in the Chinese district, and it is also rare in the city center or areas with concentrated supermarkets. Instead, it is generally gathered in the wealthy area or a seaside location with a better environment. It is a small and beautiful grocery store with an area of no more than 100 square meters, but the price is slightly higher. In the current popular terms, It is more like a choice for the Australian middle class."

Melon's spending of 50.51 Australian dollars (approximately 240 yuan) in the dry food store, image source: @Melon

Yu Chuochuo, who is studying in Melbourne, also said, "After watching KK's videos, I really wanted to go and have a look, but in the end, I didn't go there specially. Instead, when I happened to be doing something nearby, I went to have a browse." She explained to TIDE, "Because there are free trams in the central area of Melbourne, but outside this area, a round trip within two hours costs 5 Australian dollars (24 yuan), and if it's longer, it costs 10 Australian dollars (48 yuan). The location of the dry food store is in an area where it is difficult to complete shopping and make a round trip within two hours."

The red dots with shopping carts in the map indicate the location of the dry food store in the city of Melbourne, image source: @Google Maps screenshot

The additional transportation cost makes Yu Chuochuo feel it's not worth it. However, netizens in China are carried away by the strange and wonderful products and the hands-on experience, coupled with an inaccurate perception of prices. Every day, someone in KK's comment section calls for the dry food store to be opened in China.

In fact, at the beginning of August this year, A grocery store similar to a dry food store, STOP SHOP, really opened in the newly opened shopping mall HAI550 in Shanghai.

To Insist on Environmental Protection or to Keep Cost Performance?

STOP SHOP is located on Huaihai Road, the most fashionable central area in Shanghai and a gathering place for trendsetters.

The store is divided into two areas, One side is the dry food store, and the other side is the commodity area selling handmade fabric and environmentally friendly fabric clothing; the store looks to be more than 70 square meters in total, but the area allocated to the dry food store is only half.

The dry food store of STOP SHOP

In addition, From the decoration style, the display method of goods to the customer's purchase process, it can be said that it is a complete copy of the Australian dry food store, looking like a mini version of Scoop Wholefood at first glance.

However, the real experience after entering is disappointing. First is the core of "environmental protection and organic".