Most beautiful supermarket ever: Whole Foods Market in Cotswolds

We’re back today. Let’s get back to Great Britain, to Cotswolds to be specific, a picturesque area in the south-central England.

In Cotswolds, we spent three days full of tasty food, magnificent views of English countryside, tasting, testing and watching. We were amazed with Daylesford Cookery School, fantastic Ellenborough Park, where we spent out last night, Royal style and eaten a magnificent dinner prepared by David Kelman.

But it’s Whole Foods Market that I will talk about the most after our visit to England. The plan was to visit it on Monday morning – we weren’t in good mood that time. That day a phone call from grandpa woke us up – Maks was ill. There were some nervous phone calls, scheduling a visit in Medicover since with didn’t provide grandpa with the power of attorney to act, and the will to get back home as soon as possible. It was the first time Maks got ill while we were gone so we got a bit nervous and didn’t feel like having fun. Fortunately by 10 am the situation stabilised, the fever went down and we left for today’s attractions!

First thing on the schedule – Whole Foods Market – we were supposed to walk around the store, see it for ourselves, hear about the values brand, their history, products and how does it work. Seriously? It didn’t sound too interesting.. What interesting can there be in walking around a shop? The times when the family from US told us about magical shopping malls and we couldn’t imagine it are long gone. But what can you do? We’re going sightseeing to the supermarket!

organic, natural, no preservatives

first the fruits and vegetables

Quickly it turned out that a supermarket can a beautiful and interesting sightseeing site! We entered a store that amazes with its decoration and products, a shop that makes me wanna take pictures all the time (like in a restaurant serving amazing meals). That’s how Whole Foods Market looks like. I’m not a supermarket freak, or shop freak in general. I like to walk around a bit, buy my stuff, but I don’t get excited about it. A shop is a shop. Alma looks nice and elegant, you can buy foreign products there and spend a small fortune on a cart full of shopping. I like to hunt for some unusual things in Lidl – such as Basque cheese! And that’s all. I don’t get excited. And then I enter Whole Foods Market. First the grocery department… nothing special, but so much to choose from, beautifully described products, little black boards everywhere, nice font, some pictures here and there.

Fruits that are fresh, chopped the same day and packed in store (my favourite coconut too!), granola with fruits and yoghurts also prepared in store. If you buy Guacamole you’ll see that it was prepared by Jose. That instantly builds up confidence. You can buy a fresh coconut to drink like on a street in Bangkok! Country of origin: Thailand! It brings all the great memories back 🙂 We also see that pretty much all the vegetables are sold by piece and are not packed – so we can buy as much as we need and see them “naked” and natural. I like that!

for a sweet breakfast: granola with yoghurt and fruits

maybe something savoury? sauces and dips!

freshly squeezed juices with ginger, spinach and lemon – I didn’t think I’ll say it but I liked it!

DO IT YOURSELF!

The products sold in Whole Foods Market must be natural, organic, with no colouring, preservatives or extra ingredients. What’s more, a lot of products are prepared in store that has approx. 100 employees – bread (delicious organic bread, cranberry and pecan bread), sweets, pizza (not an ordinary one – e.g. with tomato, cream and vodka sauce… with rocket, ricotta and pesto – who’s hungry?). the above-mentioned granola with yoghurt, sauces and dips. I got blown away by the possibility of making your own peanut butter!! There are containers with various types of nuts  and even chocolate covered nuts. You turn the knob a few times and the butter lands in a little container that you can take home. Cheese department offers amazing products such as brie with truffles, fish department serves shrimps smoked with coriander and coconut. I have to say that it was the first time I have eaten smoked shrimps and it was great. You can also choose a honey, garlic or BBQ version. They also smoke salmons, scallops and sea perches in store and the meat department makes their own sausages. They even dry age the beef for steaks themselves! Amazing that it’s done in a supermarket as in Poland even the restaurants rarely do it. You can read about it on Adam Chrząstowski’s (the chef at Cracow’s Ancora restaurant) blog.

make your own butter! hazelnuts and chocolate rule!

the fish department

preparing the shrimps to be smoked

meat specialists

dry aged beef for steaks

The spices section looks beautiful too – colourful piles remind me of spice bazaars somewhere in India or Istanbul. It’s also convenient for buyers – if you need just a little bit of some spice, you don’t have to buy a whole pack. You can buy as much as you want. A spoonful, a pinch? There you go! You won’t spend more than you want, and won’t have to store a tonne of spices you don’t use at home.

Whole Foods Market also fascinates me with the wine bottles that you can refill every time you come here. The meals to take away look great too (soups for instance). It’s all prepared on the spot, on the same day.

The blackboards by the products also look amazing – black, with white lettering and pictures describing the person who currently takes care of particular department. Beautifully detailed! But it’s no surprise as the shop hires 2 graphic designers full time! Have you ever been to a shop that has its own graphic designers??? I haven’t!

Oriental flavours

shall we fill it? 🙂

something to take away?

chocolate?

LOCAL SUPPLIERS

Everyone’s gone made about local suppliers lately. Everything needs to be local, from Mr. Smith, Johnny or Jack. Grown on their own farm, watered with their own hands. The more natural and more LOCAL, the better. Sometimes the struggle to keep it local becomes a bit ridiculous. It tastes mediocre but it’s local, so who cares? It’s not important that French cheese is better; now everybody eats Polish local cheese. Let’s eat but don’t get mad and don’t lie! Fortunately Whole Foods Market’s approach to local products is reasonable and similar to ours – supermarket promotes local suppliers (it cooperates with more than 30) and offers lots of products from Cotswols – local jams (strawberry + vanilla, apple + toffee – delicious!), chutneys, olive oils, cheese, beers, cider, fruits, vegetables and even sausages. On the other hand it imports what’s best in Britain and other parts of the world. The quality is the key, not the forced locality. That’s a big advantage.

for all cheese lovers

… and Italian cuisine lovers

English cheese from Cotswolds is really delicious! You have to try it!

I KNOW MY SUPPLIER

Big billboards with black and white pictures of all the suppliers make a great impression – you can read about them, know where they’re from and if they’re from Cotswolds, also check the distance from their farm to Whole Foods Market.

We read about Charles Martell and his cheese from Gloucestershire, about mushrooms from Chelbury and asparagus and rhubarb from Wye Valley.

Whole Foods Market supports local farmers and is present in the lives of nearby towns

you can learn something about every supplier!

How far is the producer who supplies Whole Foods Market with his products

Let’s end with a few words about the history of the place!

Whole Foods Market was established (really!) in the country of McDonald’s, French fries and other unhealthy products – in the US in the 80s. There’s around 60 of such shops there (that made me envious!!!). My friend told me that it was a pleasant surprise for her when she stayed in the USA and that these shops made these few months she spent there healthy and colourful. There are 8 stores in Great Britain right now including the one in Cotswolds that was opened not long ago, in November 2012. You can read more here!

One more thing: I WANT IT IN POLAND SO BAD!!!! 🙂

Practical information:

Whole Foods Market

Gallagher Retail Park

Tewkesbury Road

Cheltenham

GLS1 9 RR

* We visitied Great Britain, Cotswolds and Whole Foods Market thanks to Visit Britain.