Narture is one of a kind, fusing art projects with good healthy eating, supporting artists and providing food as it should be - fresh and natural. Ayr is one of Scotland’s most scenic towns with great historical and cultural significance, so it is great to hear from a dynamic business at the heart of its renaissance. We had a chat with owners Robert and Saskia to tell us more about this unique CIC.
Tell us a little about how you started and what you do
Narture is a Community Interest Company set up by a father and daughter artist duo in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The project evolved from successfully occupying empty town centre spaces over the past three years and activating them with cultural purposes.
Narture’s objective is to become a truly inclusive creative hive, making participatory cultural activities available to all members of society and breaking down the exclusivity that can be alienating for some people.
Narture CIC currently has The Sourdough Bakery on Cathcart Street and Artisan Café across the road on Sandgate. The social enterprise specialises in sourdough bread, sweet and savoury pastries with an emphasis on local, sustainable, healthy ingredients, championing local produce and supporting local business.
How does the business support art projects in Ayr?
Narture’s objective is to create the highest quality produce and invest all surplus profits from the bakery and cafe to reinvest in creativity and the arts in Ayr and surrounding areas, to improve the health, wellbeing and education for local people.
Narture’s vision for the future is to develop a significant disused property (Old Toy Town on Newmarket Street) into a ‘People’s Art School’, where a fusion of food and art will be the progenitor of town centre regeneration, focusing on experiential retail and cultural tourism, with 3 pillars: Sustainability, Creativity, and Wellbeing.
Tell us about your customer base and the food scene in Ayr
Our USP is organic sourdough bread, baked and sold locally along with our social mission which is to bake real bread to earn the dough to fund arts projects. Part of our credibility is ourselves – a family business of artist makers with an entrepreneurial streak and social conscience.
What is your favourite local brand or product and why?
We love Blackthorn Salt - local salt legends based near us, who have a similar artisan ethos and create one of the 3 essential ingredients for our sourdough bread.
Why do you use Greencity as a wholesaler?
We have used Greencity for a number of different projects we’ve run over the years now and are loyal to them for their supply of ethically sourced food and drink, which is so important for our products and small business.
What are your plans for the future?
We have exciting plans for 2023 across the three venues we currently occupy. The Sourdough Bakery is now gearing up to do wholesale orders and we’re taking on more clients to fulfil this mission; please get in touch if you would be interested at info@narture.co.uk. The Cafe has had a recent makeover and is currently awaiting planning permission to transform yet again into its next arts installation, from cafe to wine bar, focusing on local produce. The big plan for 2023 is developing the People’s Art School just round the corner from both units on Newmarket Street, which will eventually have a cafe/deli, as well as exhibition/events/gig space, darkroom facilities and print studio, with 2 flats above for artists in residence. It will be a fusion of food and art to generate income streams to support arts projects as a regenerative force for revitalising Ayr town centre.
Thanks to Robert and Saskia for answering our questions! Find out more at www.narture.co.uk
