“As Nature Intended” believes in a high level of organics

For the first time, one of the London chains is going to open an organic supermarket outside the capital. “As Nature Intended” already operates three stores in London but in the autumn it is set to open another one in Manchester. The owner Caroline Walker launched her first organic supermarket in June 2000 in Chiswick in south west London.

Picture: As Nature Intended

After the British organic industry had gone through a fairly long consolidation period (see our report) she opened another store in Ealing in March 2005. Whereas Chiswick is regarded as a suburb, Ealing belongs to inner London. In October 2006, the third store opened in Balham in the south of inner London. All three stores are in the High Street, in other words in a premier position in the main thoroughfare (High Street) of each location in the city.  Whereas the first two stores are in prosperous districts, Balham is an area with relatively low incomes. On average, the stores have a retail area of 250 m²; the new store in Balham has 276 m² of floor space (30,000 square feet).

The proportion of organic goods in these three “As Nature Intended” stores is 95 %, which is very high for stores in Britain. In a 24-page brochure (picture: the customers' magazine "Organic"), produced on the occasion of the launch of the third store in autumn 2006, Caroline Walker goes into the benefits of organics in general and also into reared organic salmon as opposed to wild salmon. She includes recipes and some product information (for example on wine) in the attractively presented booklet. Caroline Walker is the daughter of the founder of Iceland, a British discount chain that listed some organic products at the beginning of the decade but which has abandoned them in the meantime.

“We are pleased with the market development in general and expect turnover to grow by 5 - 10 %,” she says. “London still has a lot of potential for organic supermarkets because many areas still do not have one.” The company would like to open one store each year, although not necessarily in London.

The stores are fitted out in a contemporary fashion and have wide aisles (picture above) so that shopping with a pram or in a wheelchair presents no problems. The wide product range comprises 5000 articles and leaves nothing to be desired. In the first and third store, the big fruit and vegetable display is near the entrance so that customers immediately find themselves surrounded by fresh, green produce. A large part of the fruit and vegetables is kept fresh on chilled shelves around seven metres long. Go a few metres further and you find a wide assortment of milk, milk products, cheese and soya products on chilled shelves measuring about ten metres in length (picture).

Towards the back of each store there is a department for food supplements and natural remedies (picture) and specialist staff are on hand to offer advice. Goods are displayed on metal shelving some of which is cladded with wood. The wood certainly makes a warmer and more ecological impression than the purely metal shelves. Tables are set up in the broad aisles for sample tasting or special promotions and customers can sample, for example, chocolate or crisps or help themselves to what is on offer (see picture below: help-your-self olives).

“As Nature Intended” organic supermarkets can be reached very easily by public transport or by car. The nearest underground station is at most five minutes away, and in Balham it is even less - it takes only a minute to go from the store to the tube station. The big advantage for customers who shop by car is that all three stores have car parking nearby.