Whole Foods coming to London

[naebody]

Those of a financial bent will be interested to note that Whole Foods issued a profit warning today, with its quarterly earnings down 11.2% (missing Wall St forecasts) because of "costs to open new stores and increased competition from traditional grocers" according to Bloomberg. Oh, and the US anti-trust regulator is investigating its purchase of competitor Wild Oats markets.

Looks like there's not as much profit margin in a muddy £2 artichoke as we're led to believe.

Edited May 10, 2007 by naebody (log)

[brokentelephone]

I am personally overjoyed that Freish and Wild is opening. I hear they have a 'peanut butter bar' which will hopefully stock Maranatha Brand peanut butter... the worlds finest!

I don't have the time to shop from market to market, and I like the fact that Whole Foods trys to support as many organic/small farm-type producers of goods as possible. I would prefer to see small markets close down than have the small producers close... in the end, its all about the food quality, rather than the shopping experience!

[Foodie_Penguin]

... and we should not so dogmatic about our approach to a sustainable planet.

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All very true, but organic food in London is likely to taste just like organic food in New York. I'm depressed by world-wide predictability.

←

I may be mistaken but organic standards in the UK (and probably Europe too) are different to the organic standards in the US. Consequently, the produce or food may taste different.

One noticeable difference is that organic produce in the US is quite a bit bigger than the same organic produce in the UK.

[brokentelephone]

... and we should not so dogmatic about our approach to a sustainable planet.

←

All very true, but organic food in London is likely to taste just like organic food in New York. I'm depressed by world-wide predictability.

←

I may be mistaken but organic standards in the UK (and probably Europe too) are different to the organic standards in the US. Consequently, the produce or food may taste different.

One noticeable difference is that organic produce in the US is quite a bit bigger than the same organic produce in the UK.

←

UK produce is SO superior to produce you find in the US. Americans grow a lot of their own produce in regions not especially suited for it, or otherwise, import it from Mexico. The UK, and the rest of Europe, seem to import from a far more varied number of countries... which in my opinion, results in far better products. In my fridge right now, i'd imagine that over 10 countries are represented in the produce bin....!

[Foodie_Penguin]

... and we should not so dogmatic about our approach to a sustainable planet.

←

All very true, but organic food in London is likely to taste just like organic food in New York. I'm depressed by world-wide predictability.

←

I may be mistaken but organic standards in the UK (and probably Europe too) are different to the organic standards in the US. Consequently, the produce or food may taste different.

One noticeable difference is that organic produce in the US is quite a bit bigger than the same organic produce in the UK.

←

UK produce is SO superior to produce you find in the US. Americans grow a lot of their own produce in regions not especially suited for it, or otherwise, import it from Mexico. The UK, and the rest of Europe, seem to import from a far more varied number of countries... which in my opinion, results in far better products. In my fridge right now, i'd imagine that over 10 countries are represented in the produce bin....!

←

Wholefoods or "Whole Paycheck" as it's know by some in the US may have a greater variety of fresh fruit and veg but the US stores I visit (I live in the US) also sell conventional produce too. Where I live, the local supermarkets have cottoned onto the consumer's interest in healthier/organic/locally grown food and produce so I can also buy limited varieties of what Wholefoods sells more conveniently.

My local Wholefoods is a 20 mins drive from my home and if I go there, it's just for that because it's not near other businesses that I'd go to. Therefore, I tend to buy more organic produce from my local supermarkets than Wholefoods.

As for the country of origin for produce, much is from Mexico but a lot is from Canada (like British style cucumbers) and other South American nations. It does bother me that US organic strawberries are pretty much no different in size than conventional strawberries and flavorwise, they don't taste that much different.

Oh how I miss the annual family day trips to Tiptree to pick strawberries...

[brokentelephone]

... and we should not so dogmatic about our approach to a sustainable planet.

←

All very true, but organic food in London is likely to taste just like organic food in New York. I'm depressed by world-wide predictability.

←

I may be mistaken but organic standards in the UK (and probably Europe too) are different to the organic standards in the US. Consequently, the produce or food may taste different.

One noticeable difference is that organic produce in the US is quite a bit bigger than the same organic produce in the UK.

←

UK produce is SO superior to produce you find in the US. Americans grow a lot of their own produce in regions not especially suited for it, or otherwise, import it from Mexico. The UK, and the rest of Europe, seem to import from a far more varied number of countries... which in my opinion, results in far better products. In my fridge right now, i'd imagine that over 10 countries are represented in the produce bin....!

←

Wholefoods or "Whole Paycheck" as it's know by some in the US may have a greater variety of fresh fruit and veg but the US stores I visit (I live in the US) also sell conventional produce too. Where I live, the local supermarkets have cottoned onto the consumer's interest in healthier/organic/locally grown food and produce so I can also buy limited varieties of what Wholefoods sells more conveniently.

My local Wholefoods is a 20 mins drive from my home and if I go there, it's just for that because it's not near other businesses that I'd go to. Therefore, I tend to buy more organic produce from my local supermarkets than Wholefoods.

As for the country of origin for produce, much is from Mexico but a lot is from Canada (like British style cucumbers) and other South American nations. It does bother me that US organic strawberries are pretty much no different in size than conventional strawberries and flavorwise, they don't taste that much different.

Oh how I miss the annual family day trips to Tiptree to pick strawberries...

←

Canada??? I am actually from Canada, not US, and truth be told, Canadian produce is horrible. Tomatoes are grown in 'hot-houses' which results in a beautiful, albeit tasteless speciman.....peaches have the texture of a hard apple which has been bruised all around, as do nectarines. Apples and pears are really our only saving grace, and even those, are not exceptional.

Mexican produce...its alright, but the large scale farms owned by american businesses there trump anything else you'll find elsewhere, and in my opinion, the quality definitely suffers. American strawberries are, again, tasteless. Californian farms pump out enormous strawberries, with a brilliant red hue, but the flavour is always disappointing (plus u never know if they are GMO)...!

I recall moving to the UK a few years ago, and going to my local Waitrose. I couldn't believe how excellent everything tasted. My father, a South African native, was equally surprised.... said he hadn't purchased produce so delicious since his youth in SA. Perhaps the UK doens't have the world best produce.... but i contend it is far better than in North America.....!

[Izabel_blue]

hey Telephone...

As a native of Alberta I'm with you about Canadian produce - urgh! Where I come from the only thing that seems to grow naturally around the area is sweetcorn, which we only get for about two months of the year. Everything else is from a hothouse in B.C. or California- and it's all bloody expensive too!

The produce here is soooo much better....I am right now glutting myself on asparagus, which is delicious just from my local Waitrose!

cheers

Elizabeth

[gnoos]

So I checked it out, triumph of marketing over substance me thinks. Was surprised to see that not all produce is organic or local and majority comes from Europe or US - not what I expected?!

Did buy a melon and parma ham though, not as good as what I pick up from my local Tesco Metro when I'm rushed....

And AA Gill gave the eat in food there a good hammering today in the Style mag (Sunday Times).

Edited June 24, 2007 by gnoos (log)

[Scott]

And AA Gill gave the eat in food there a good hammering today in the Style mag (Sunday Times).

←

AA Gill long stopped caring about food.

[ameiden]

To me, this is some kind of Walmart on a higher scale. It feels very much like an American department store, a little bit sterile that is. There is massive choice, but is bigger always better? I kept thinking how much nicer, say, Fortnum & Mason is. AA Gill is right in his report that most of this extravagance is about wastefulness. The amount of food that goes to waste from those incredible displays of fish, meat, cheese and salads (let alone the hot food buffets) must be incredible.

True, not everything is organic, but they certainly draw in the public with the idea that everything would be. Looking closely at the prices, it is not as bad as some of the press has reported.

The wine department contains undoubtedly one of the best selections of Californian wine in London. But the really serious bottles are still to be found elsewhere. If AA Gill wrote a sceptical report, then Michael Winner praised this new foodie store in the same issue of the Sunday Times. No wonder, Whole Foods seems to be targeted at posh Holland Park housewives and the likes of Michael Winner.

Edited June 25, 2007 by ameiden (log)

[naebody]

AA Gill long stopped caring about food.

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Can I ask what are you basing that opinion on? If it's the old "he never writes about the restaurant" thing, it's been covered already.

Personally, I thought his review skewered the main points of the argument, namely: it's a culture clash. It's a temple to the American ideal of plenty, dumped into Kensington seemingly without a moment's reflection about the British ideal of frugality. That it's trading on the same cultural bandwagon as Acorn House shows just how stupid the concept of "environmentally friendly" has become.

I'll bet dollars against doughnuts, organic or otherwise, that it can't survive six months without a major revamp.

Edited June 25, 2007 by naebody (log)

[brokentelephone]

AA Gill long stopped caring about food.

←

Can I ask what are you basing that opinion on? If it's the old "he never writes about the restaurant" thing, it's been covered already.

Personally, I thought his review skewered the main points of the argument, namely: it's a culture clash. It's a temple to the American ideal of plenty, dumped into Kensington seemingly without a moment's reflection about the British ideal of frugality. That it's trading on the same cultural bandwagon as Acorn House shows just how stupid the concept of "environmentally friendly" has become.

I'll bet dollars against doughnuts, organic or otherwise, that it can't survive six months without a major revamp.

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I am assuming u dont live in South Ken, Holland Park, Chelsea, etc.? People around here are wealthy.....their levels of excess far trump the populations around most Whole Food locations in the US (aside from maybe the Beverly Hills store). Perhaps the store won't appeal to *most* British Consumers, but to survive they simply need to appeal to wealthy upper-class West/South West London families.......an easy feat for such an expensive store.

[naebody]

I am assuming u dont live in South Ken, Holland Park, Chelsea, etc.?  People around here are wealthy.....their levels of excess far trump the populations around most Whole Food locations in the US (aside from maybe the Beverly Hills store). 

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Actually, I do -- albeit on the wrong side of the Shepherd's Bush roundabout. I would not question that there's the wealth around the SW postcodes to support the £2 gala melon. However, I also suspect that even the absurdly wealthy will be put off by the thought of 10,000 of said melons rotting in a skip outside the staff entrance. It's a character argument, not a pecuniary one.

[Izabel_blue]

I'm with Naebody on this one.

I live locally (though my 'levels of excess' are hardly high - my partner bought in the 90s in Earls Court, back when it was still affordable: please don't assume that a SW postcode means unbridled extravagance) and I've been into the new WholeFoods twice now and it's completely defeated me- I've left both times without buying anything, despite the array of stuff on offer. The second time we went in we wound up in Sainsbury's on Cromwell Road afterward which seemed like an oasis of sanity in comparison.

It's confusing, overwhelming and tacky - and my main problem was that you could to buy stuff like baking in *every* department, on the ground floor and the lower ground - just when you thought you had found the biscuit department there's another one....

I'm originally from Canada so not unfamiliar with the concept of this sort of store, but I found WholeFoods completely sapped my energy. My BF who works nearby says that the coffee and cake in the upstairs eating area is rubbish too, especially the coffee.

I miss Barkers. Come back- all is forgiven!

[brokentelephone]

I am assuming u dont live in South Ken, Holland Park, Chelsea, etc.?  People around here are wealthy.....their levels of excess far trump the populations around most Whole Food locations in the US (aside from maybe the Beverly Hills store). 

←

Actually, I do -- albeit on the wrong side of the Shepherd's Bush roundabout. I would not question that there's the wealth around the SW postcodes to support the £2 gala melon. However, I also suspect that even the absurdly wealthy will be put off by the thought of 10,000 of said melons rotting in a skip outside the staff entrance. It's a character argument, not a pecuniary one.

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I reread my inital post and I hope I didn't sound like a jerk in assuming u didn't live nearby.....! I didn't mean that in any way defamatory, but rather, was making a point that the people around Whole Foods probably don't care a damn about hte high prices, wastefulness, etc. The ex-pat American Wanker-Banker community could probably sustain this store alone, without a single Brit ever entering!!! The population around there is so diverse I think that holding the area to any british standard would be useless..... i know more americans on my road than brits..!

I guess I am alone in loving this store....i was able to find smoked chipotle paste, and decent peanut butter.......to me, thats enough.

[Scott]

AA Gill long stopped caring about food.

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Can I ask what are you basing that opinion on? If it's the old "he never writes about the restaurant" thing, it's been covered already.

umm... ok. but I fail to see the relevance on any level.

I agree the % of food talk is a furphy, though the fact remains when measured he is still bottom of the weekly league table. as I suspect you well know

on an absolute level, he does not talk about the food or offer anything constructive on a culinary level. he is however, as you make the point in the other thread, entertaining. fine, but so what?

what is pertinent is the slap dash commentary in the name of entertainment. which again is fine, often funny. but it long stopped being about food, it makes him a satirical spot, not a food guy.

Edited June 28, 2007 by Scott (log)

[dharold]

I'd been pretty disappointed with the baby store in Soho (which used to be a Fresh & Wild). I'd pretty much written it off as having, for the most part, the same smug range of chocolate from South America and nicely labeled but blah-quality produce as the average aisle of Waitrose.

I still got caught in the hype for the mega-store and made a special trip to check it out. ***I'm an idiot***.

For those American's reading, what we've got is a glossy, flabby, (even more) pompous version of the US version where the shelves have been stocked with shotgun disregard for logic and the products are going to turn a generation off the funkier end of the food supply market once they've been tarred with the same brush as this folly.

What did I try? Well, a decent enough but overpriced espresso, some vinegary olives and a slice of self destructing pizza.

I looked at the butcher and the fish but it was all depressingly "supermarket."

I really did want this to be better than it is... pah. Mind you, if you really felt your life was empty without the option of buying a tofu sandwich for nearly £4, then maybe you should still give it a go. ***takes deep breath***

[adey73]

Just read that Whole Foods may well be on the way out in the UK.

Anyone else been there recently?

[muichoi]

I go when I'm passing. There are some good things-the bread is excellent and fairly priced, some of the cheese is good, ok-ish veg when prices aren't silly, and meat that's not too terrible for London. The pre prepared food is a sick joke, though, and the appalling stench gives the whole place rather a grim feel. There's a whole lot of stuff that's just entirely redundant including the whole first floor.

[Scott]

as I understand it. this was a statement store, which was always expected to lose money. though perhaps not this much.