Can the much-trumpeted British food revolution survive?
It’s a Tuesday evening and I’m wandering around the Whole Foods Market in Kensington, west London. It is a feast for all the senses. Thousands of bottles gleam on the shelves; the rich smells of baking, chocolate and cheese float on the air. In the basement, dazzling pyramids of tomatoes (almost £8 a kilo), jewel-bright peppers and apples sprayed with water to make them look dewy are prinked by soft-fingered handmaidens. Yet down the 80,000 sq ft of gleaming aisles, which should be packed with slavering commuters, the tumbleweed is blowing. In fact, I see more staff than customers. It is the day Whole Foods Market announced a first-year loss of £10m for the store. And already the doomsayers have clambered onto their soapboxes. According to them, it’s not only Whole Foods Market that’s in trouble (according to one retail analyst, “It’s just not economically viable”), it’s the whole much-trumpeted British food revolution. The credit crunch has taken a giant bite out of our spending power
