Here at the Better Food Company we historically haven’t had much time for the big Supermarkets, mainly because of the complete lack of ethics involved in the way they do business. Because of this we’re often asked about our opinion on the expansion of what was once a little vegetarian ‘natural’ food company called Safer-way, now the juggernaut of the ‘health food’ industry that is Whole Foods Market.
For those of you who have never heard of them, Whole Foods are a big American multinational company who have recently entered the UK under the guise of Fresh & Wild. Started many moons ago as a solution to the American supermarket Safeway, Safer-way couldn’t have had stronger principles. And because of this they became quite successful. I’m not sure anyone back then could have imagined how different it would all become though. They now have stores to match Tesco’s worst, and stock food from the four corners of the world, a claim which is only surprising in the fact that the world is actually round. And they recently just bought out the US’s other big health food chain, Wild Oats, giving them as much as is possible of a monopoly in the US market.
So when asked what we think of them and the whole concept of the juxtaposition that is a huge ethical multinational company, we’re a bit stuck. Yes it’s better than a Wal-Mart (ASDA in British terms). But only in degrees. The food is better, though a lot of it is not organic or local. But its size is now making it into the Wal-Mart of the ‘natural’ food industry, and hence killing off the independent local traders in the process, whilst driving down prices for farmers in pretty much a similar fashion to the mainstream guys. This we unequivocally state is not healthy, for communities, farmers or the environment. As I stated earlier they now have entered the UK market through Fresh & Wild, and you may have spotted their logos and ‘Core Values’ all over their store in Clifton. And with the logo came the conventionally grown produce and move towards non-local and non-organic. This is what I’m worried about. I foresee that over the next 10 years Whole Foods Market will proliferate at the rate it has it the US, and not only kill of some of the oldest and most traditional independent organic and health food stores in the UK, but also add to the increased Americanisation of British culture, something equally as scary. So I think instead of asking us what do you think, the British public need to make up its mind what it wants. The choice is simple.
Big and superficial or small and truly wholesome?
As Fritz Schumacher once stated, “Small is beautiful.” What will the British public state?
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