WFM Brings UK Bio Food Via USA
By Ian McGarrigle

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Whole Foods Market brings its flair for merchandising natural and organic food to the high-fashion Kensington neighborhood of London. Its arrival sparks envy and debate.

This has been the year–2007–when some of America’s biggest retail names have launched their assault on the United Kingdom and European market. For the ‘fashionistas,’ the eagerly awaited arrival of Abercrombie and Fitch finally took place on Savile Row, in March.

If that has kept the fashion buyers and commentators happy, then the long awaited arrival of Whole Foods Market in June was greeted with wall-to-wall coverage in much of the UK media.

The timing by Whole Foods seems to have been well judged. Since it first acquired a foot-hold in the UK with its acquisition of the Fresh & Wild chain of organic and healthy-eating food stores in 2004, the underlying trend towards natural food and sustainable retailing has been inexorable.

For Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, the last two years have seen them battling it out, not so much on price, but on their healthy-eating ranges, their organic produce, their environmentally-friendly policies and their support for small, local food producers. All of these areas were well known by UK retailers to be the foundation stones for the WFM business. It was therefore unsurprising that when it opened the doors of its 80,000 square feet UK flagship on London’s upscale Kensington High Street, many of those first through the door were retailers and industry representatives anxious to see if the most talked about USA food retailer might bring a revolution to these shores.

The local competition was taking no chances either, with Marks and Spencer using staff from its store in the next block to hand out vouchers and free samples of produce in an attempt to lure passing customers to visit their store. Waitrose has also just finished a timely refit of its store closest to WFM. And on a wider front, Tesco caused controversy by registering the ‘Tesco Whole Foods’ name for use on a range of health food products such as nuts and dried fruits.

The scale of the store, which occupies three floors of the former Barkers department store building, is truly impressive. Utilising the fabric of the art deco department store building, WFM has moved away from its normal style and uses all of the store windows to mount impressive displays and visual merchandising to entice the passer-by. Once through the heavy, art deco style bronze doors, the customer enters what WFM call the Provision Hall. Here can be found the bakery, cheese area, olives, charcuterie, wine, flowers and chef-prepared take-away food bars as well as the 28 check-out tills.

On the lower level is the Market Hall, which in a similar way to the New York Columbus Circle store, takes customers down the escalator to be confronted by the eye-catching displays of fruit and vegetables, dairy, fresh fish, coffees and teas as well as large areas given over to non-food lines as seen in the US including natural remedies, eco adult and baby clothing, home, body care and treatment and community rooms.

The upper level, called ‘Upstairs at the Market’, is devoted to dine-in eateries including a ‘Pub’ with seating across the floor for more than 350 customers.

As in the US, there is plenty of literature and merchandising posters and information points throughout the store that set out the WFM creed with particular focus on its values, namely the quality of the food and its ethical standpoint on sourcing and the way it operates its business. The store also pays great attention to its London foothold and the in-store brochures open proudly with: ‘Welcome to Whole Foods Market London.’ They also contain a welcome message from the director of the UK Soil Association, the guardian of the UK organic farming sector.

UK Own Brand

The biggest difference between the UK and the parent business in the US is however in the private label programme. Rather than the retailer’s 365 Everyday Value brand that is used in the US across 13 product categories and 11 in its organic 365 range, WFM has opted to work with the brand it bought in 2004, Fresh & Wild.

Now trading from five UK stores, the original Fresh & Wild was launched in 1998 and was a truly pioneering retailer in the then fledgling natural food retail sector. With four of its five stores trading in London, WFM clearly decided that the Fresh & Wild brand had established a strong enough level of recognition for the company to use it for its private label alternative to the branded products it stocks in the UK flagship. Just as with the 365 Everyday Value and 365 Organic Everyday Value ranges sold throughout the US business, Fresh & Wild has been transplanted and trades under Fresh & Wild Organic Everyday Value and Fresh & Wild Everyday Value. The 365 graphics have been retained and the name simply replaced by Fresh & Wild.

WFM describes the Fresh & Wild organic range as offering ‘all the benefits of organic food at great value prices’ whilst the Fresh & Wild Everyday Value brand is stated as existing “so that, where we are unable to source organically or at competitive prices, we are able to offer you a natural alternative–at great value prices.”

The WFM sub brands, Whole Kitchen and Whole Pantry are not yet in evidence, although Whole Pantry can be found for very limited additions to ranges such as crostini.

The reaction to WFM since its opening has already divided commentators. Many who have seen the store have been ecstatic about the attention to range, display, quality and merchandising throughout the store. For many of those retail commentators, it is this which is the most exciting, setting new standards in food retailing. One senior UK retailer said that: “great displays, merchandising flair and the other things that induce customers to buy–Whole Foods does these things brilliantly.”

Others, media commentators in particular, have picked up on the premium prices charged by WFM. It has not gone unnoticed in the UK that in the US, many have nicknamed Whole Foods, ‘Whole Paycheck’ as a comment on the high cost of shopping there. Perhaps this will not be an issue in wealthy Kensington where the store is located.

What is certain is that with sales of organic food forecast to grow from £1.16 billion in 2005 to £2.7 billion in 2010 on the back of mounting consumer anxiety about the source and quality of food, WFM has arrived at the right time. It has also already crystallised the debate in the UK, with media coverage only increasing on the issues of food safety, organics and food miles since Whole Foods opened in June.
The question is whether Whole Foods Market can quickly establish its brand credentials in the UK. It already has a head-start in Fresh & Wild which holds a strong place amongst the hearts and minds of affluent, aware shoppers in London. The combination of the two brands may yet prove to be a powerful bridgehead in WFM’s plans to dominate the natural and organic food sector in the UK–just as it has done in the USA.