The Mail on Sunday

Whole Foods healthier as thefts drop

- By Sarah Bridge

A CLAMPDOWN on store thefts helped the British arm of Whole Foods Market make a profit for its second consecutiv­e year.

Directors of the upmarket American health food supermarke­t said profit increased in relation to turnover ‘primarily reflecting improved shrink’ – the term retailers use for shopliftin­g and theft by employees.

Whole Foods – which has nine stores in Britain including branches in London, Cheltenham and Glasgow – launched in the UK ten years ago and made a loss for the first eight years.

However, pre-tax profits remained steady at £1.2million for the year ending September 25, 2016, while sales grew from £114 million to £117 million.

Whole Foods was founded in Austin, Texas, in 1980 and now has more than 430 stores across the US, Canada and Britain.

It bought the Fresh & Wild chain in 2004 and opened its first British Whole Foods Market in Kensington, West London, in 2007.

Famous shoppers at its branches include Prince Harry and former Prime Minister David Cameron.

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