Whole Foods and Waitrose

Some people have asked me why I have such a visceral dislike of Whole Foods. Fundamentally my issue is that Whole Foods sells a myth and so many people buy into it. The most obvious example is that despite the perception all the food is organic, large amounts of it are not.

It now turns out we shouldn't be so surprised that all is not what it seems at this bleeding-heart mecca. Chief Executive John Mackey has been posting anonymously on Yahoo finance forums playing up his own company and it is receiving lots of coverage. This kind of slightly dodgy, slightly sinister behaviour, is indicative of the wider issues I have with the company and its stores.

Whilst I'm on the topic of shops getting it wrong, I feel the need to unleash my wrath on Waitrose's redesigned store in Marylebone High Street. The place is hideous. The first thing I noticed on walking in are the copious quantities of pre-packaged fruit and vegetable in homely wicker baskets. I find it very odd, that in the heart of food obsessed London, so much of the food is wrapped in plastic, especially when they've got The Natural Kitchen breathing down their neck, a few doors up the street. If their harping on about all the market research is true, I fear for the way my fellow shoppers shop.

Comments

[Chris]

Fair points - Whole Foods does strike me as a bit dangerous. However for those people not lucky enough to live near a Natural Kitchen or Fresh & Wild - especially around the country - Waitrose is often the next best thing. My parent's place in Liverpool is near a Waitrose that does a new 'local foods' section, using suppliers from the North West. Surely that indicates a concern for the environment?

[LoseTheFlab]

Am really excited to have come across this blog site in my quest for kosher organic chicken.....which I am yet to find. So if anyone knows where to find that elusive bird, I would really appreciate the pointer.

Anyhow, saw the mention of the Natural Kitchen which I stumbled into the other day and thought it was worthy of a mention. They have a decent selection of veggies and fruit, but in similar vein to the supermarkets, much of it is imported and not local, which kind of defeats the objective of eating fresh stuff that hasn't done more miles than the captain of a jumbo. But I guess that if we are adamant of eating produce out of season, then we can't really complain. On a positive note is a range of breads from www.allnaturalbakery.co.uk which feeds my fetish for bread that is not from plain wheat. It is expensive, over £3 per loaf, but it really does taste different. They also have a range of great pasta from Biona, though I was flabbergasted to have paid over £4 for 1/2 kg when I purchased exactly the same product through the internet for less than half the price. I suppose that the hefty mark up is due to the location, so I hope they have sufficient clientele who are not price sensitive.

[Silverbrow]

Chris - you are right, Waitrose are far from bad - I use them really frequently. My point was more that their Marylebone store is supposed to be a flagship but for me it misses the point. I find it really bizarre that they have so much packaged food in their folksy fresh fruit and veg stalls at the front of the store. It's a bit depressing.

LoseTheFlab - welcome, please come again. On the organic kosher chicken point, you won't find one. The Soil Association which gives the organic certification in the UK won't allow anything killed under kashrut laws to be certified organic. They want all the animals to be stunned prior to slaughter. As for Nature's Kitchen, you're right it is expensive, but they do have a good range there.

[Stempel]

John Mackey is a funny one. In the US Whole Foods has agreed to buy out its smaller organic/natural rival Wild Oats (such a great name...). The US antitrust regulator has taken the merger to court, having allegedly found documents from Whole Foods in which Mackey talks of putting up prices and closing down a bunch of Wild Oats stores once the deal is complete. Perhaps not the best thing to say when you're trying to buy out your rival.

[John Whiting]

Our small local Waitrose at Temple Fortune has been cutting back the space allotted to ingredients, such as their previously wide range of raw fowl, and giving more space to prepared ready-to-cook packages. In the growing market for "gourmet" food, we lose sight of the fact that the income (and kitchen labour) gap is getting wider and wider.

[David Cousino]

I actually like Whole Foods because of all the selection. Your comment assumes the consumer is too dumb to figure out by reading the back label is something is organic or not. I don't assume everything in the place is organic. Even a place like the Natural Kitchen has a mix of organic and non-organic items. Not everyone shops like a drone.

Your comments about the newly designed Waitrose ring true with me as well. I didn't even factor in your comment until I read it on your site, but you're completely right about all the plastic wrapped fresh items. I just can't get beyond the horrible layout and design of the place. It appears to me they're only interested in boosting their alcohol and wine sales with the new configuration.

I don't think the Natural Kitchen down the street is all that much of a threat to Waitrose nor La Fromagerie. So far, I've yet to find a better place for produce and cheese than the latter. Additionally, the staff are so knowledgeable and passionate about food. We'll see how their expansion impacts the business as they've taken over the space next door when the organic produce market closed up and moved out. -David

[Silverbrow]

David, I'm not saying the consumer is too stupid, rather they are lulled into a false sense of security so it doesn't dawn on them to check what it's all about. They simply assume it is all organic and therefore must be the best money can buy. I also think there is some marketing truth to the concept of "reassuringly expensive." Some consumers assume it must be better because it is more expensive. Those consumers are often the same, or closely related to the stupid snobs who buy it because it is the latest and greatest thing.

As for La Fromagerie, I agree, it's a great place. The Nautral Kitchen clearly has a much wider product range but i agree it's no great threat to La Fromagerie. Rather, it is complementary, same vein as it. I do think though that a combination of Whole Foods and Natural Kitchen got Waitrose spooked and their Marylebone High Street store was the obvious one to introduce in the new format. Shame they got it so wrong. You're right also about boosting alcohol sales. The main thing I remember about that store are lots and lots of Laurent Perrier marketing.

[Bill]

It honestly sounds like you have issues with the people who shop at WF not the store itself. WF offers a consistently high quality product and a great shopping experience -- what is not to like.

And you are very much misguided re the implications of the Mackey posts -- if you took the time to read the posts, you would have learned that any comments re Wild Oats were made years before the decision to buy the company...a lot had changed in the competitive landscape.

And as a judge recently ruled in his ruling against the Rocker Partners' suit vs. anonymous message board posters: "Anonymous information on message boards isn't really much different than the handwriting the wall of a public restroom. Use it at your own risk!"

[hampers]

Its been a while since this post but I would like to say my side about organic and more...
Buying organic and toxic-free foods nowadays are rare although there now exists businesses that caters to these type of healthy foods. One example is the fabulous food hampers by bradfordsbakers.com - they are into this toxic-free food hampers business since the 1920's and your dislike for whole foods I know will just be a thing of the past...

[Anthony Silverbrow]

@hampers, thanks for that. Not sure why you refer to Bradford Bakers in the the 3rd person, it's clear that's who you're posting on behalf of. No problem with that, but let's just be clear about these things pls.

[hampers]

hi! Thanks for informing me. But I just want to emphasize a sample of a business that caters to toxic-free and is into organic thing only. I know there are more out there but it will consume time and space (lol) but anyway, you're such a nice person..thanks for this "clearing".

[Anthony Silverbrow]

Thanks but don't quite understand your point @hampers. Let's leave it at thanks. Your comments are feeling a lot like spam so please keep make sure any future comments are on-topic.