Whole Foods Market, Kensington
Has anyone been to the new Whole Foods Market in Kensington yet? I’m popping along at the weekend to check it out as I’m curious to see how the American store goes down with British shoppers. The BBC has an overview here:
the in-house bakery has 35 varieties of bread, the huge salad bar offers treats like “iceberg wedges with gorgonzola” and there is also a wine department, a cheese room and an Indian takeaway section and even an in-store pub, The Bramley. Shoppers can make their own muesli, grind their own peanut butter and choose from one of 44 varieties of sausage.
Sounds great. The store also seems to have an environmental edge over its competitors:
Certainly, the environmental credentials of the new store are impressive. The lack of packaging on many products compared to British supermarkets was striking. Customers are paid 5p for each carrier bag they supply themselves and can also bring their glass, tin, paper and plastic for recycling. The store has partnered a wind power supplier to offset 100% of its electricity and even offers shoppers its waste coffee grinds to use on their gardens. Whole Foods also professes to be a humanitarian company, contributing at least 5% of its net profits to charity and encouraging staff to do community work.
Although further down the article the Beeb do raise concerns over just how organic and local some of the produce is.
What do you think?
Is this a step in the right direction or just another example of the Americanisation of London? There’s one store now, but will we see a proliferation of Whole Foods if the flagship is a success? Would that be a bad thing? You can read the company’s press release here.
I must admit that I regularly use Whole Foods when I’m in the States and am quite excited about the prospect of checking out this local version. But I was also a big fan of Fresh & Wild which Whole Foods has displaced…
Let us know what you think in the comments, or better still if you’re planning on going along to check it out yourself then write us a review. And let’s not forget all the smaller delicatessens and organic food stores. Do you already have a favourite that you’d like to share with us?
June 11th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
As a supplier to Wholefoods Market and Fresh and Wild I don’t think you need to worry about F&W being displaced … since Wholefod owns Fresh and Wild, and at least so far as we have been told nothing is going to change for F&W…
On a personal level - I hope Wholefood thrive on this side of the pond!
June 11th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
I went up last week to London and dropped in - a few niggles like checkout layout but produce and service in a completely different league
June 19th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I popped in to Whole Foods Market the other week, out of curiosity and also the fact that there were hoards of people going in and out.
I can’t say that I was particularly impressed, mind you I doubt that I’m their target audience. £5 for half a baguette isn’t my idea of fun, mind you it would explain how there’s so many skinny people round there.
Not doubt the first of many places like this to hit the ‘well to do’ areas of the capital.
July 20th, 2007 at 11:35 am
This business is a disaster in the making! The prices are generally higher than any of the local alternatives, and if anything the product range is more limited than Waitrose or Sainsbury’s. I live about fifty yards away, and so have wandered in a couple of times just to see what’s happening - the first time to see what all the fuss was about (answer: nothing, as far as I could tell….) and the second time, a month later, to see just how low in the water this particular Titanic had so far sunk. Well, all I can say is, if you’re looking for somewhere to take a peaceful nap around Central London, then this is the place for you….in all of it’s 80,000 square feet there might have been forty people wandering around, most of whom appeared to be just looking; in all, I saw perhaps half a dozen people with baskets in their hands, with a couple of things in each. For all its shining pyramids of fruit and veg and row upon row of carefully laid out beefsteaks, this shop is devoid of customers! At 10.30 on a Friday morning, I saw as I was leaving, there were half a dozen cashiers (leaving most of thirty check-outs empty) and not a single customer actually buying anything. Not one!
If you really are planning to take a look, I’d do it pretty quickly - the place won’t be around for much longer!
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Well I went yesterday lunchtime (a Sunday) and was very impressed - especially by the pay-by-weight deli section - a huge range of hot and cold food for £1.79 per 100g…OK, pretty pricy for some of the offerings, but not bad for the pieces of salmon etc…
I didn’t see any £5 half-baguettes…I managed 1/2 a smoked salmon and cream cheese wrap, various bits of salad and a smoothie for £6.10 - more than I’d normally spend on lunch, but very yummy. The place was pretty busy, mainly with picnic buying, but there were a few trolleys piled sky-high. It’s the far side of the park from me, but I’ll certainly be back.
August 4th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
I agree with the first andrew. Their pricing is frighteningly off the mark - £3.50 for 4 cookies - £1 per sharon fruit. Some items I regularly buy in Waitrose are more expensive here. Its a nice novelty store but will not compete with the likes of Waitrose for most peoples regular shopping. I would only purchase their more exotic offerings - baccalao, black cod, meats etc because my local waitrose doesnt stock these!! All in all I think it wont last long without a drop in prices……
August 11th, 2007 at 10:31 am
I would question their environmental credentials. They have a policy of not discounting, so when food reaches its sell by date it is thrown (a member of staff proudly told me that it was all recycled i.e. composted). What a waste that is and it explains why their prices are nearly double the supermarkets.
August 17th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
As an employee for Whole Foods, I have a few things to put right…. I joined the company as a sceptical Londoner, wondering if Whole Foods could “walk their talk”, but three months on I am a total convert.
£5 baguette - doesn’t exist! I have no idea where this came from - we sell baguettes for 99p, all freshly baked from scratch on the premises daily (none of the pre-cooked frozen stuff here). And mighty fine they are too, got one for my dinner tonight, perfect with their gorgeous mozzarella, organic plum tomatoes, and potted basil (£1.99 per plant - great value in my opinion).
The left over food - what we can (i.e. what’s packaged sufficiently to allow it), we donate to local charities, nuns who run shelters for the homeless and more, basically any charity with a van that can collect. Any bruised tomatoes, veggies that don’t look picture perfect, get turned into home-made soups (again, £1.99 per 500ml, good value when you consider they’re all freshly made, on the premises, by trained chefs), salads or stocks.
Oh, and without sounding snide, 10.30 on a Friday morning is hardly “prime time”. Have you ever seen a supermarket full at this time??! Silly….
Whole Foods show respect for their vendors, allowing smaller vendors as little or as much shelf space they can deal with. They never lock suppliers into exclusive contracts (unlike other supermarkets). They source and stock only “clean” products, free of artificial colours, preservatives, flavours and nasties - one of the best things about shopping at Whole Foods is you don’t need to read the labels to know you’re not eating crushed beetle shell (yes, this is actually put in food, look out for “cochineal” on labels). Every product I have ever bought has satisfied my expectations, and if it doesn’t, take it right back and you will get a full refund, no questions asked. Yeah, prices can be high, but they’re high because a lot is invested in staffing, plus they pay fair prices to their suppliers (unlike other supermarkets). And, if you do some looking, you can get some great deals, check out their own brand range…
Plus, they treat their staff amazingly, some of the best paid rates for front line staff I have seen in London. The staff training is fantastic, company perks are wonderful (free gym passes, discount cards, paid volunteering missions in South America, great holidays), and the cultivated “family” culture of mutual respect, trust, empowerment and love is refreshing to work within.
If you have any other questions, would love to answer them! PS - I didn’t get paid for writing this - was just a little annoyed to read all the negatives when there are so many positives!
November 16th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
We love this shop and we come at the weekend when we can, to stock up. We live 25 miles out of london and wish we had one near us, we would shop there every week. Really good choice of fruit and veg, fantastic meat and pies, my 12yr old is a real fan and really enjoys the salad and pizza bars.When we go to the States we always make a point of finding the nearest one and going for breakfast, lunch and tea. Good luck wholefoods.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:00 pm
My daughter and I visited Whole Foods store yesterday and loved it. My daughter has recently moved to London (we are from the North East of England) and were very excited at visiting the store. We weren’t disappointed. Loved everything - although some prices were a bit on the high side.
Will be visiting London again soon and can’t wait to go back to the Whole Food Store (will come down in the car next time to stock up). Please come to Newcastle on Tyne.
October 28th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I went yesterday and was fairly horrified by what I saw…
I was expecting something pretty pioneering given all the hype, but what I saw was not what I had expected.
There were LOTS of plastic containers/packaging for take away food, some of which is kept on hot plates all day literally ‘eating’ energy. Pioneering would be to offer returnable, washable, reuseable dishes. In the restaurant I saw plastic disposable cups. WHY? What is wrong with washing up? Recycling is great, but better not to create it in the first place.
I saw avocados piled high…not organic….shipped or flown, either way they are not what environmentally friendly is about.
The fresh flower stall was a joke. Apart from two British flags sticking in a couple of pot plants there were no low carbon flowers, let alone fair trade. If Waitrose can manage it why can’t they? There are loads of alternatives to hothouse flowers with airmiles (just search the web). A great way to set an example and set a trend would be to sell British seasonal flowers, bulbs and greenery instead of imported stuff. Go with the seasons. It would keep the prices realistic too.
I felt bombarded with Greenwash from all the smiling signs all over the shop, but felt cheated by the stock and the reality. Frankly, the ethos of the store is way behind the informed eco bod here. Wake up, get real and do something amazing. You MIGHT be in with a chance.
p.s Ordered the vegan pasta upstairs at the Italian restaurant and it came covered in cheese! Asked for a green salad and was told they didn’t have one…I had to ask for it in Italian to get it!