WHAT IT IS?
Pigs are used in many more products than we can imagine. According to the research by Christien Meindertsma, represented in a an Oxford TED-talk (2010), pig parts occurs in no fewer than 185 different types of products. From contact lenses to desserts, from face masks to cadmium batteries, from ceramics to wax. Many customers, and even farmers don’t know.
The owners of the pig shop ‘Oijnk’ in Veghel, the Netherlands, saw this as an opportunity. It’s the only pig shop in the Netherlands, and probably in the world. It offers over 500 products with pig parts in them. At the same time it teaches all visitors in a honest and transparent way that pigs are ending their useful ways in a far great variety of products than imagined.
WHY IT’S COOL?
Pig store Oijnk encourages positive word of mouth for the pig sector. They sell gift packs, artsy items, candy-making workshops, children’s games with a farmer theme and items from the children’s figure ‘Peppa pig’. The store owners who are also pig farmers, can tell people about how the pigs are raised and cared for. The store knows how to draw attention to the fact that everything from the pig is used and nothing is thrown away in a fun and educational way. It’s edutainment in action. With the pig as the sustainable king of re-cycle.
WHY IT HAS FUTURE GROWTH POTENTIAL?
Knowing what you eat and use is an increasingly important topic in society. Pig shop Oijnk gives the pig sector a familiar face, where people can go with trust and ask their questions. The fact that animal activists have demonstrated in front of the store several times shows that people do not know how important the pig is in our lives and that the animal should receive more and well-deserved appreciation.
For further information about Oijnk please click here!
Elie Daccache
Carl Rohde
Aya Mheidly
Cornelia Natasha
Suzana Piazza