I have just finished most of the stuff I bought at WFM. It was brought to my attention by the coffee I mention in the opening thread. On the day the coffee expert said "Kensington" blend, blended exclusively for the store was even better at the same price of £3.39 for 250g. It is bland and I needed to use 50% more than any blend I have used in recent times to get any flavour out of it.

For the rest it is simplest to compare the following to M&S and with the exception of the peaches all were inferior and either the same price or more expensive than M&S.

Peaches - good

Jazz apples - watery and not very crispy

Organic orange - very disappointing, tasteless

Red bananas - still rock hard and not showing the slightest sign of ripening

Organic yogurt - most promising from a large display and poor

Ogen melon - very poor, tasted like mildly sweetened water and flesh was unattractive blend of two colours

Do remember that this is all I bought because nothing else appealed to me when I put it into the context of its 'reassuringly expensive' price.

If you like good to excellent food and organic food and want to see often well to beautifully displayed food in lovely surroundings over a number of floors then it’s well worth a visit. Sadly the majority is a triumph of style over substance so to speak, at high prices – with all the hype about top class at top prices er… what’s Tropicana OJ doing on display? The sign posting is presumably intentionally poor so you’ll stay longer and buy more. I began to lose my sense of humour when I couldn’t find the checkouts twice. First because there are none on the major lower ground floor (basement?) and second because they’re not in line of sight on the ground floor. If I was wealthy and lived round the corner I wouldn’t use it very often and then only for specific purchases not browsing.

I went on Sunday. It’s a good day to go as the High Street is much more relaxed than in the working week. If you like Princess Di (the water tribute) and House of Chocolat (a few doors down from WFM) it’s a nice day out.

You can get the full background by putting "Whole Foods Market" into Google UK.

I just found out about it yesterday when I read a coffee comparison article, where their Whole Foods Blend Allegro coffee (£3.39 for 250g) came top with 9/10. basic information is below:-

"Welcome to Whole Foods Market London

The Barkers Building
63–97 Kensington High Street, London W8 5SE

UK Consumer Enquiries — 0207 368 4500
Fax — 44 207 368 6177
UK Press Office — 0207 395 7074
Read the Press Release

Store Hours: Monday–Saturday: 8 a.m.–10 p.m
Sundays: 12 Noon–6 p.m., Upstairs at the Market open for brunch at 10 a.m.

Store Leadership
Store Team Leader: Rick Bonin
Assistant Store Team Leaders: Mark Woollard and Diego Hvozda

Allow us to introduce ourselves. These days the shopper who appreciates first-rate food spends a fair amount of time reading labels. Perhaps the best thing about shopping with Whole Foods Market is that we’ve done the research for you. It’s all good! We insist that everything meets our strict quality standards (see below) before it’s allowed near our shelves. So shop with confidence — and savour the samples as you go.

We’re passionate about great tasting food that’s good for you."

Has anyone been there and if so what did you think of it please.

ps for anyone of a certain age, if Barkers doesn't ring a bell it's erstwhile close neighbour Derry & Toms may do.