For months and month you have probably been hearing about Whole Foods Market opening in Giffnock, particularly if you’re on the Southside of Glasgow. They’ve been promoting the launch heavily, so it was no surprise there was incredibly high demand for the preview tours and that the launch was packed, even at 9am on a freezing Wednesday morning.
If you haven’t been to America or visited a Whole Foods Market in London, you might not know what it’s all about. It’s not really like a normal supermarket, it is much more like a farmers’ market but indoors. Whole Foods Market prides itself on selling natural and organic produce of the highest standard possible. What has really impressed me about Whole Foods Market is their approach to healthy eating – it’s not dictated by counting calories, grams of fat or anything like that, it is purely promoting food which is a whole food (unrefined and unprocessed), plant strong (lots of veg!), healthy fats (like avocado) and nutrient dense. If you’re interested in the heath and nutrition side of Whole Foods Market, you can read more about the four pillars of healthy eating on their website.
On Monday I was lucky enough to go along for a store tour – this was a great way of seeing most of the exciting things that were in the store. I don’t have any pictures from the tour as the store wasn’t finished, but Alex from Whole Foods PR kindly sent me her photos to use, the other photos are from the opening day on Wednesday when the store was stocked.
So, the tour. Firstly we were shown (and got to sample) the guacamole which is made fresh in store every day in two type, normal and chilli. Both versions are delicious. The theme of making things fresh in store daily was really consistent through the tour and a really refreshing thing to see in a supermarket-type store.
Then we came across a part of the store I did not expect – I was literally agape – a beer and wine area. Yes, that’s standard, but here you can buy a bottle (£3.69 for a pint & half sized Grolsh style bottle) and get it filled with a beer of your choice (prices ranging from £3.26 – £3.69, there are 3 to choose from. In total you’d be paying about £7 for the bottle and contents. I love this idea – it’s environmentally friendly as you can return to get your bottle filled whenever you want. And you can get wine too which is £6.99 for Spanish red or white for one litre.
Don’t fancy the take home bottle? They have plenty of regular sized beers by the bottle as well.
Opposite the beer/wine area is cheese heaven. You might have noticed that I am a total cheese addict. Due to this, I steered well clear of this section apart from taking a quick picture.
Another part of the store that I knew about was the sushi area. I have eaten a lot of sushi in my life and wow, this stuff is amazing. Really, really fresh and cut generously and made in store every day. They have a really delicious brown rice sushi to try as well for something different. I picked up a packet on Wednesday morning, which I didn’t eat until around 5pm (it was refrigerated) and it was absolutely heavenly. I didn’t even expect to have such good sushi from a store. It is expensive though – I think around £7.50 for a packet.
The bakery is stocked with lots of beautifully decorated cakes/cupcakes and tarts.
If you dream of wonderfully fresh, soft baked bread that you don’t seem to be able to buy anywhere in Glasgow, then Whole Foods Market have it.
They also have a fresh juice section (juice made to order), coffees and hot drinks, as well as freshly made sandwiches and pizzas. If you want something delicious and simple for dinner, they don’t do packaged ready meals – they are all made fresh and served up straight to you from the display so you can pick and choose your combinations.
I think I’ve gushed enough about how great I think Whole Foods Market is. The only downside I can see is that some prices seem quite high, and I’m sure part of that is because the produce is organic. I don’t see that we could afford to do all our shopping there, but we will definitely be popping by on a fortnightly basis to fill up the beers and wine, as well as pick up as many healthy treats as possible. At the moment they have some really great value specials on, and they do this on a weekly basis so make sure you pop by to see what the deal of the week is!
Have you been to see Whole Foods yet? If so, what did you think?
I can't wait to go, might make it at the weekend! xx
the place looks amazing! I wasn't able to go to the preview day and am DYING to go visit it! Think I'd be like a kid in a candy store! Definitely going this weekend!
I dropped by yesterday, to see what beers they had. Was quite impressed, and wandered home with a few Belgian favourites that are quite hard to get at a reasonable price. I can see why they nickname it 'Whole Paycheck' in the States, as I ended up walking out with a habaneros, a mix of veg, and some, er, liquidised hickory smoke (which I used today in scrambled eggs). I'll definitely be back.What I also liked – and it surprised me when it went off – was the wet wall on the fruit and veg. Was looking at spring onions when the cabinet started skooshing water over everything, keeping it nicely hydrated. Great touch!
An amazing store just loved it.
Great shop but pretty overpriced on a few things. Will pop in for extras but far too expensive for a usual shop.
I was there on Wednesday for the opening and found the store to be up to the standard of the stores I've experienced in Manhattan, New Orleans and Austen, Texas.I didn't mind waiting in the queue at the checkout, appreciating all these new cashiers had to learn in a short time. The staff were friendly and very helpful.I look forward to another visit and hopefully other stores in Scotland. Well done.
I am so thrilled to have WholeFoods Market in Glasgow….I am American living here, and now I go to one shop and get what I need, I have food intolerances…and its so nice to NOT HAVE TO ORDER from online. And as for the prices, I went online and compared wholefood prices online, I would say some of the prices are higher online, some are lower..What I love most about the shop in Glasgow is, they worked hard at getting products from Scotland…fantastic…and EVERYONE WAS VERY FRIENDLY…something I am use to in the states where I am from …I felt right at home…Thank you WholeFoods!!!
Brilliant store, the staff were so friendly and its nice to find somewhere that the big artificial-filled brands dont rule, thanks again Wholefoods cant wait to go back!
I work nearby so contained myself until after the launch and popped by mid morning earlier this week, everything looked great, loved to see different varieties of chillies, mushrooms etc for sale by weight. The meat and fish counters were impressive by normal supermarket standards (although thats not saying much!)and a special shout out for the valhrona chocolate wrapped and sold in different sized pieces…yumyumyum…the staff were very keen to chat and seemed enthusiastic to the point of almost evangelical about their products. Its definately a store I will visit if I need particular ingredients for special dishes, or for a treat now and then. I did wonder if it would have an adverse impact on our weekend farmers markets but I really hope not. And I did baulk at being asked for £2.99 for a small soda bread, I make it every day from scratch at home for about 40p a go – recipe on my blog lolAgree about the sushi as well, it was AMAZING and worth £6!!!!
Just wonderful, great for Glasgow.
I loathe shopping, particularly food shopping but I simply had to go and have a look and it's the only place I've been to for a long time that captivated me with the attention to detail and the fulfilment of all the senses. I didn't spend much but what I did buy was worth every penny.
Incredible, incredible, fantastically amazing shop!!
I heard rave reviews about it, but I was blown away about how it actually is!
I didn’t eat nearly enough fruit and veg, until I went. I’m now a convert!!
I’m a huge coffee fan, so I was VERY happy when I discovered their coffee shop. AND various fresh coffee beans to be weighed, and bought, in the right hand aisle of the shop. Heaven!!!!
I can’t fault the store at all.
At the checkout they even have the magazine ‘Art Review’. Bonus, for myself!!!!
I’ll be back every week, without a doubt.