Argentine packaging-free supermarket chain Cero Market comes to Uruguay

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Cero Market, the packaging-free Argentine supermarket chain will come to in Montevideo and will open its first store in Pocitos, on José Martí street, at the end of the month.

The master franchise comes to Uruguay thanks to entrepreneur Maximiliano Techera Moreno, who plans to expand it throughout the country and projects the opening of between 10 and 15 stores over the coming year.

The first Cero Market required an investment of US$70,000 and its 170 m2 will offer over 400 products in areas such as beauty, personal hygiene, cleaning, fresh and frozen food, pet food, among other products.

“The distinctive feature of our local store is that it will have the same products as a self-service or traditional supermarket, but with a new shopping philosophy: no packaging, no minimum quantities and promoting local production and the excellent quality of each item,” Techera Moreno explained.

To shop at Cero Market, customers must bring a container that will be weighed at the entrance. The products will be placed in dispensers from which shoppers will be able to select the desired quantity. Then, they must write down the code of the chosen product on their container and, once at the cash register, they will pay according to the weight purchased (deducting the weight of the container).

“In order for our customers to enjoy an environmentally friendly shopping experience and feel comfortable, we will offer a warm, clean and disinfected environment,” the entrepreneur added.

THE BEGINNING

“As we became aware of news about pollution, mainly from plastics, as a family we questioned the way we shopped. Not only in what we consumed, but also in what packaging we bought it. Being in the self-service sector, we saw the amount of nylon and plastic generated in the supply chain,” the entrepreneur said.

With this motivation, he set out to eliminate or minimize the plastics used: “At the end of 2020, we met Cero Market; they had opened their first store in Argentina 6 months earlier and were starting to franchise.”

In Uruguay, Cero Market will target a diverse public. “Those who are attracted by the novelty, those who have started changing their consumption habits for a more responsible and sustainable one, and also those wanting to start this change will come,” Techera Moreno explained.

He added that the option of acquiring the quantity each customer chooses will be another attractive feature of the store. “Other customers will be attracted because they will find a comfortable place that will allow them to make their purchases without haste, they can even have fun refilling their containers, making conscious purchases that generate less waste.”