Have you ever moaned about supermarkets pushing out smaller operators, and how all the interesting grocers have pretty well disappeared?
If you have, then how many of us have done anything about it?
North-west Londoner David Josephs, co-owner of four greengrocery/grocery stores has, and is determined to promote quality produce from artisan producers.
"If we can encourage more passionate people to open up independent stores, butchers, bakers or fishmongers, or start artisan food businesses, this will help to give life back to local communities," he says.
Until fairly recently, Josephs' interest was purely as a customer; his living was made heading Lewden Electrical Industries, which manufactured large-scale electricals for operations including the British Armed Forces, for the camps in Iraq and Afghanistan (where he travelled for the installation) and the London 2012 Olympics.
"I used to drive from Primrose Hill to work in Leyton and passed a small grocery store in Newington Green. In 2009 I went in and it was horrible," he recalls. "I vowed never to return."
Later that year, however, the shop looked different.
"I went in and sure enough, there was a new owner - Kurdish Muharrem Bora. We got chatting and over the next few years, I started to advise him on his business."
The two became friends, and over the next three years, the grocery's turnover steadily increased.
"I persuaded Bora to go upmarket - and to buy certain products at Spitalfields - by agreeing to underwrite any losses on them."
There were no such losses, and in 2013, Josephs - still running LEI - suggested he open a similar store closer to north-west London. He asked Bora and his two Kurdish business partners, Kamil Demir and Ali Agca, to team up with him.
"They agreed, and we found a site on Clifton Road in Maida Vale, which opened as Clifton Greens in October 2013."
The stores were predominantly greengroceries, with a decent contingent of artisan foods. "I sorted out the design and the commercial aspects of the store with the help of my sister, Tracey Josephs, and our amazing design consultant, Jane Withers, finding alternative suppliers of unusual foods. I introduced the guys to Covent Garden Market and Western International Market near Heathrow, another huge wholesale market."
By 2014, Clifton Greens had taken off, so the partners decided to scale up, allowing them to bring in produce from a wide variety of producers and places. The Newington Green store became Newington Greens, and a third store (Parkway Greens) was bought in Camden.
Josephs was living the foodie dream.
"I had decided that before I was 50 I would change my career. A month before my 50th birthday I sold out LEI to run the food businesses full time. Now I visit artisan food producers in France and Italy throughout the year and have buyers at Rungis Paris (Europe's biggest wholesale market) and Milan, shipping weekly to our stores.
"I was in Sicily in December, and in France earlier this year. We have amazing chocolates from a tiny Italian producer, amazing ice cream made by Ruby Violet here in London and the 'best Parmesan in the world' - Vacche Rosse, made from the milk of the Vacche Rosse cows to a traditional method unchanged in centuries and matured for at least two and up to three years," he enthuses.
"A lot of producers don't come here, because British people generally won't pay the price. So we go to them. I have found the most amazing melons, cherries, courgette flowers and frutti di bosco (wild strawberries). The fruit and vegetables are of a completely different quality."
Their most recent acquisition has been Panzer's. The St John's Wood deli/grocer/greengrocers with narrow aisles packed with interesting foods had been trading for more than 60 years.
"I'm the third generation of my family to shop there. When I heard Peter Vogel, whose family had been trading there for more than 50 years, was looking to sell up, but that large supermarkets were buzzing about, I had to contact him."
In May 2014, Vogel accepted his offer. "I've been regularly threatened by customers that if I change the place, someone will commit hari-kari on me," laughs Josephs.
Josephs' love of food goes back to his childhood. "I was a precocious food critic and at seven years old would keep a notebook and review restaurants. I'd insist on going into the kitchens."
He and his business partners - all Muslims - are equally proud of their food traditions: "I've introduced them to smoked salmon and bagels but Kurdish food is always better. Every meeting starts with vast quantities of delicious food. Kamil's wife, Hatice, makes the most amazing yoghurt and Muharrem's family in Turkey grow fantastic apricots - which we'll be selling.
"Eating well is an important part of our working environment. After an early start, when the stores have been set up, we lay on a Kurdish breakfast of feta cheese and wonderful salads. At lunchtime they take turns to cook up a fantastic meal. Once the new kitchen is set up at Panzer's we'll do the same there."
A chef has been installed and they now offer salads, seared tuna, salmon, pasta dishes and other cooked foods. "We've developed muesli and granola recipes which are branded Panzer's and sold in all four stores."
Josephs knows he and his business partners have a hard battle to fight: "If we can show the general public that there is a life beyond the supermarkets and it's a much nicer one, then we will have delivered on a great part of the vision."
