Health superstore fit for celebs

Health-obsessed celebrities can now trawl the aisles of a US organic superstore which has opened its first UK outlet in London.

Anya Hindmarch's 'I'm Not A Plastic Bag' is set to be usurped by one from Whole Foods Market which opened its doors at 10am to around 50 people who had been queueing outside the 80,000square foot former Barkers store on Kensington High Street.

Whole Foods Market, which is popular with A-listers such as Gywneth Paltrow, Mischa Barton and Angelina Jolie, was founded by John Mackey and has 189 stores in the US and Canada plus five Fresh & Wild shops in the UK.

The London flagship is its first outlet outside North America and includes an in-house bakery, fresh meat and fish counters, plus more than 10,000 grocery items. Shoppers can even mix their own muesli and grind their own peanut butter.

It also houses 13 different eating venues catering for up to 350 diners.

However, some critics have said that only celebrities can afford the store's prices. The bakery sells croissants for £1.19, scones for 99p and classic French 400g baguettes for 99p.

A cup of tea to take away from the ground floor coffee bar is priced at £1.35 for the smallest size while fresh filter coffee is £1.45 for the small sized cup.

Spokeswoman Mary Rayner said: "It will be interesting to see whether Whole Foods' popularity in the US replicates over here. If so, maybe it will put pressure on other supermarkets to improve their ethics."

The Kensington store will offset 100 per cent of its electricity, compost all its food waste and offer shoppers food boxes made from compostable materials.

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