“Cakes for Honest Buyers” from Scotland have conquered the Internet (7 photos)

You may have heard about “honesty libraries”. This is when you bring and put on the shelf the books you have read, and in return take those that you have not yet read - and all this without the participation of a librarian. The system works on trust. It turns out that you can trust people not only with books, but also with delicious cakes! Just open the refrigerator, honestly choose dessert and honestly leave the money...





The world may have become accustomed to “honesty libraries,” but the “honesty refrigerator” for selling cakes took it by surprise



It turns out that on the Shetland Islands in Scotland there has been such a refrigerator for a long time, and more than one. He became widely known thanks to the detective series “Shetland”.

X (Twitter) user TheSassyBirdie saw the “honest cake refrigerator” in the show, did some research and found out that it was a real thing. She wrote about it and received a lot of responses.

“I just found out that there are cake fridges in Scotland that sell cakes without a salesperson, based on trust and honesty. Why the hell do we need all these little free libraries when we can have refrigerators full of cakes?”





The post, which has been viewed nearly 234,000 times, sparked heated discussion. Many people fell in love with this idea as much as the author of the post and wanted to know more about it. Others have reported similar refrigerators and vending boxes that have worked successfully in other locations.

Critically thinking people, of course, immediately noted that such a system can only work well in sparsely populated places, where “everyone is familiar”, in close-knit communities. In large cities, this will be very difficult to achieve, and even a video surveillance system installed at such points of sale is unlikely to help.



The episode that first introduced the world to the “honest” cake refrigerator aired over 2 years ago. This was followed by a post from A Taste Of Shetland featuring The Original Cake Fridge, its owner and staff.



Judging by the profiles on social networks, the business has been operating since the beginning of 2018, and its activity has not dropped at all since then. Refrigerators are replenished daily, so customers can always enjoy fresh desserts made from local ingredients. They also have a lovely tea room and cafe.



The Original Cake Fridge is part of a larger organization called A Taste Of Shetland. Taking pride in its islands, which are widely acknowledged to be some of the most beautiful in the world, the organization aims to promote Shetland-based businesses and food and drink products and help export them beyond the islands.



Well, initiatives like these make Shetland seem like a great place to visit or even live. Natural beauty, close-knit community, wide variety of food options.

And the icing on the cake is refrigerators selling cakes from a seller who completely trusts you.

What do you think about this idea? Have you seen anything similar in other places?