A NEW MILTON cafe has been forced to close its zero-waste refill pantry shop after poor business. 

The Quench coffee shop and eatery says that since Covid-19 hit, it has struggled to pull in a profit. 

Opened in 2017, Quench owner, Kathy Sirl, opened the cafe later but has since found the secondary business to be more successful.

Kathy said: "We get people coming in and it's their first time in and we ask if they have containers and they say no and we tell them we've got some here that are all sanitized for free and don't bother and walk out. 

"Every other week there is a refill shop announcing they're closing. I messaged my stockist to say we're closing the naked pantry and she went 'Kathy, you are going to be my sixth zero waste shop that's closed this year."

The Naked Pantry floor space will be used to expand the cafe which Kathy intends to be as green as possible, to follow the mantra of the pantry. 

Kathy is also a pastry chef and makes her own dough and bread, sourcing all products locally.

She said: "We charged 30p for a takeaway cup and we give that directly to the Woodland Trust to offset the carbon footprint. 

"A number of people want to argue with us over 30p because they don't understand a paper cup has a massive carbon footprint as it's got plastic in and won't biodegrade.

"We've got a basket of donated reusable cups and we say to people to take one. It's clean, ready to use and free but they look at us like we've just asked them to chop their arm off."

Although sad to close, Kathy expressed she is immensely proud of what the pantry has achieved as the first zero-waste refill store in the New Forest. 

The store also won national awards in the Indie Retail UK Best Small Shops which Kathy went to Parliament to collect and also was named national park sustainability champion two years in a row.