Haggis and smoked salmon will be among the many locally sourced and artisan produced Scottish food on sale when Whole Foods Market opens its first store in Scotland, reports The Telegraph.
The US-based natural foods retailer last year secured a 23,000 sq ft site in Giffnock, an upmarket area of Glasgow. It will be Whole Foods first opening outside London since the company began trading in the UK in 2007.
Jeff Turnas, Whole Foods’ UK regional president, told The Telegraph: “I see us having several stores in Scotland. This is the first step to learn about the market.” He told the newspaper that the company expected to double the size of the chain within the next five years.”
Commenting on those who have questioned whether Scotland is the right location for Whole Foods, Turnas said: “We’re confident there’s a market for us up there. You have these (cultural) stereotypes everywhere and I look at it that there’s an opportunity we’ve got in educating customers about healthy eating.”
He added that the Glasgow store would be tailored to the local market using Scottish artisan foods including smoked salmon and haggis as well as coffee roasted by Giffnock-based Thomson’s. All meat and eggs would be sourced from Scotland, he said.
