Healthy Stuff Group is moving into the health food retail space with the acquisition of two established stores in the north of England. Natural Choice describes itself as a traditional health food shop and has been established in historic Knaresborough for 30 years. Demeter Health is a thriving Wholefoods store in the heart of Sandbach.

Healthy Stuff Group is a steadily growing group of businesses and brands focused on health and well-being, with a specialism in allergy and intolerance testing.

Chairman, Jason Wootton, explained to Natural Newsdesk why the business has entered the health food trade. “During the pandemic we were inundated with enquiries for further advice off the back of people’s tests. While we had nutritional therapists working with us, we didn’t have any products that we could recommend or provide to them as a follow-up. We quickly realised this wasn’t our area of expertise so we set about thinking about the best way to get in deeper. When we looked at the options, the one that repeatedly showed the best prospects was physically  entering into the market.

“So we set about looking for a couple of health stores that would meet our buying criteria. First and foremost, a store would have to be profitable. Second, it would need to have an established store team in place with solid sector experience. That team size can be fairly minimal, but the important thing is that we can retain talent and knowledge. The acquisition of these two stores has enabled us to bring on board some really great people.

“Other questions would include, does the store business have a good energy about it and what sort of competition is there locally? Having a good supplement offer is also important because that type of store is more likely to offer more potential to sell our tests. Our aim is to be build a small network of stores.”

Wootton says he’s keen that Natural Choice and Demeter Health retain their individuality. “Stores like the have a lot of history behind them and are embedded in their communities. So we’ll retain the store names, but bring some fresh new branding ideas.”

Health food store owners considering selling their business are invited to contact Healthy Stuff by emailing jason@healthystuff.com