SCOOP Wholefoods is a goldmine of unpackaged wholefoods, with an overwhelming array of containers filled with all kinds of flour, sugar, legumes, chocolate, tea, spices, everything in between, and plenty of stuff you've never even heard of.

Grab a paper bag, glass jar or a container of your own, scoop a bit of whatever takes your fancy, and write down the code.

It's a pay-by-weight system that attempts to eliminate unnecessary packaging and food wastage.

There's a vibe in the store of excitement not often associated with grocery shopping and, at 10 in the morning, it's already bustling.

Customer Melanie March, 39, from Rankin Park, is paying for her trolley full of paper bags.

"I've been here maybe a dozen times," she says. "This time I'm getting soapberries for the washing machine, ingredients for dishwasher tablets and snacks for the kids."

Manager Daisy Kirk says SCOOP has been a booming success in Newcastle, the business's fourth location.

She says the customers have been "dying for this sort of shopping to become available".

Daisy's parents, Bettina and Jeremy Kirk, founded SCOOP in Mosman, after the whole family moved from Malta to Australia about six years ago.

They had found it hard to get a job in their new home, but with 20 years of experience operating a supermarket in Malta, Kirk says the answer seemed somewhat obvious.

"We're so used to markets and buying our own stuff fresh from the growers and scooping up just as much as we need," she says.

"It's kind of a normal thing we're used to in Europe, so we thought 'ok, let's bring that eco-friendly packaging-free shopping to Australia!'

"We didn't know if it would work and it was really scary!" she laughs, "But the whole market-meets-eco-friendly in a really clean environment was really popular."

While her parents were the founders of SCOOP, Daisy and her two sisters, Emily and Amy are immersed in the business.

Tasked with opening the new store in December 2016, Kirk and her partner Oliver Clasper moved to Newcastle. Noting the beaches, rental prices and farmers' markets, Daisy says they love it.

"People actually come up to us and say 'thank you!' " she says, sounding earnestly surprised. "It was the fastest of our locations to take off."

The store is meticulously clean and organised, and Kirk says that's part of the charm.

The price point is certainly competitive.

"We give the jar for free with our peanut butter, for example, so it makes it competitive against the supermarkets," Kirk says.

The peanut butter in question, among other nut varieties, is made  on site, in a small machine. Nuts go in; nut butter comes out.

SCOOP enjoys significant patronage from regulars as well as once-in-awhile customers, and the percentage of regulars is increasing all the time.

Kirk says one of the best parts about the concept of scooping-your-own is that much less food is paid for and wasted. There are 300 bulk items and many other products that are packaged only in paper or glass. An example of the variety: their website lists 11 types of almond products.

"You can buy exactly what you want for a recipe, so it's great when trying out new healthy foods. You don't want to buy a whole bag of millet flour when the recipe just asks for a cup."

Walking into the shop can be as overwhelming as it is exciting, with over a thousand ingredients, many of which are decidedly not a household staple.

It's reasonable to imagine most customers might not know what to do with bee pollen, tigernut flour or hemp seeds.

Kirk is on the case, with an Instagram blog, (@daisy_scoopwholefoods) filled with inspiring recipes made using products available from the store.

"I experiment and then I share my experiments," she says.

A variety of breads, pancakes, biscuits, blissballs and a number of other recipes can be found, already measured and set out like decorative bathsalts (which are also available) in a large, reusable jar.

She says the most popular ingredients purchased are usually flours, grains, muesli, dried fruits, nuts, and seeds.

But casual employee Kate Harvey says it's the chocolate that flies off the shelves.