An organic grocery shop in Clifton has been forced to hide chocolate bars behind the tills after suffering a spike in shoplifting.
Paul, a retail assistant at Betterfood says they are subjected to shoplifting daily and the branded ‘Tony’s’ chocolate bars are stolen twice a day.
Now if customers want to purchase the premium chocolate bar they will have to ask for it at the counter.
Paul said: “When the bars were out, we were getting hit twice a day.
“It was as bad as someone would put them out in the evening and sometimes they (shoplifters) would come in pairs.
“It is obviously an absolute nightmare at the moment for retailers.”
Betterfood also lose a lot of wine, meat and cheese from shoplifting but urge employees not to retaliate or challenge it, as some of the thieves have been dangerous in the past.
However, shopkeepers in Bristol can apply for a £2,000 grant to help tackle with the damages from frequent shoplifting through a new West of England Combined Authority (WECA) campaign.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris says his Safer Shops West scheme will help shop owners with the current ‘shoplifting epidemic’, which is affecting hundreds of businesses across Bristol.
Shoplifting in the West of England has risen by 41% in 2022, with Bristol being among the worst cities for shoplifting.
Independent shop owners can apply to WECA to financially match security measures like cameras to identify shoplifters. Money from the scheme can also go towards body cameras and other in store anti-theft measures.
Paul from Betterfood said the Safer Shops West scheme would be very helpful for independent retailers.
“We can’t afford the security measures that large shops can, we are planning to introduce body cams that can be activated whenever there’s an incident in the shop”.
