A newly opened self-service vegetable shop will let customers pay for their food in a small cash box without any supervision.
Using an honour system, customers will be trusted to pay the right amount for the vegetables they take from the store before they leave. Set up in Maliha area in Sharjah, the project is called ‘Vegetables Without a Seller’ and is serving partially as a social experiment to gauge and encourage honesty, security and trust among all community members.
The shop opened its doors on February 24 an
d stocks fresh organic and local vegetables, often at lower prices than other food outlets. the owner and creator of the project, Salem Sultan Al Qayidi, said the new shop is all about honesty. “The purpose of this project is not to gain profit,” he said. The shop contains a variety of vegetables planted on his private farms and brought to the shop three or four times a day depending on customers’ demands.
The farm workers bring the fresh vegetables from Al Qayidi’s private farms to the shop at 8.30am and they continue bringing extra produce till 7pm, Al Qayidi said. “I heard about this idea in the European countries and I thought of implementing a similar idea in the Arab and Islamic countries to enhance values of trust and honesty,” he said.
“Once I got the idea, I went to the Maliha Municipality and provided details of the project. The municipal manager welcomed the idea, and gave me a licence for the implementation and decided to set up the shop on Sharjah-Maliha Road near Maliha medical centre. I am thinking of extending this project and opening other branches across UAE and also target popular shopping mall to implement the project,” Al Qayidi said
To build further trust, he said there are no surveillance cameras inside the shop.
The way it works is that customers select the produce, put it in provided bags, calculate the cost on the shop calculator and then put the money in the cash box in the shop on the way out. There is also a mobile number provided for any customer questions or feedback, he said.
Mohammad Ali Al Ketbi, a UAE FNC member, was one of the customers who came and went through this unique experience. He praised the initiative and thanked Al Qayidi for his idea. “I heard about the project and came to take part in it … it’s really a noble initiative and I am wishing the best for Al Qayidi,” he said.
Fatima Umm Ali came from Umm Al Quwain to have a look at the shop and to be one of its customers. “I heard about the project from my friends through Instagram and they advised me to come here and have a look. I am so happy that a citizen from UAE has adopted such a moral project to spread the message to the world that the UAE is a safe place,” she said.
Nasser Ahmad, a Maliha resident, discovered the shop through social media channels.
“I thank Al Qayidi for his great project which promotes the spirit of trust and honesty. I will bring my children here to give them a lesson in honesty and tell them how Almighty Allah is watching them,” he said.
Trust restored at veggie shop
There are no surveillance cameras, no staff to serve you and a cash box collects payment for your purchase
The price of the products is lower than in other outlets The shop contains local and organic products such as zucchinis, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, along with several types of pepper and buckthorn, and leafy vegetables
The plan is to soon provide the shop with fruits and date palms
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