Customers at the newly opened Bill's Produce Store in Brighton can pick up a pound of purple potatoes or ‘try before they buy' with a slice of chocolate and courgette cake in the café.

Opened at the end of September on North Road , near the North Laines , the produce and grocery store, featuring a 60-cover café, joins the first Bill's outlet in nearby Lewes.

Bill's sells a range of everyday and unusual produce sourced from local farmers and foreign suppliers. The store claims to stock seven types of mushrooms, eight types of tomatoes, Thai basil, purple potatoes and yellow courgettes, among fresh and organic ingredients. The grocery section includes traditional deli products, such as olive oil, Bill's branded chutneys and jams, pasta and fresh flowers.

The cafe serves breakfast and lunches using the fresh produce on sale, with a changing menu of tarts, quiches, cakes and sandwiches, as well as soups, pizzas and pies.

‘We also do lots of smoothies and juices, which allow people to taste how good the produce is,' said store manager and co-owner Tania Webb . ‘I've just tried a pear, apple and thyme juice ready for tomorrow's menu.'

Bill's Produce Store measures around 2,500 sq ft including the kitchen. ‘The site was originally an old bus depot, so it's got really a high ceiling giving the whole place a kind of New-York warehouse feel,' said Webb.