The Fresh & Wild organic supermarket in Stoke Newington, north London, buzzes with hip young professionals and yummy mummies with Bugaboo prams. Hardly anyone comes here for a big weekly shop. Rather, it’s the place to search for a rice cake that might even be appetising (there are sesame, no-salt, Marmite-flavoured and many more varieties), stock up on eco-nappies and ponder six kinds of miso soup.
This successful format is about to be rebranded and rolled out to a much wider UK public, as Fresh & Wild’s parent company, Whole Foods Market, arrives in the UK with big plans to become a household name. In the US, Whole Foods has 194 stores - it should add a further 100 to that haul following a planned $700m-acquisition of rival Wild Oats Markets - and is opening 20 more stores a year. When it swallows up Wild Oats, it will be the biggest organic supermarket chain in the world.
