Mary Portas has a message for health food store owners: “I love what you are doing, because at the heart of it it’s about ‘good for you and good for the world’, but I think you should try to be more inclusive and bring some more joy into your stores”.
Portas, the UK’s most high profile retail expert and a former government adviser on the future of the high street, was speaking yesterday at Natural & Organic Products Expo.
Asked by Natural Newsdesk about how health retailers can attract more customers (currently, just 5% of Britons are regular health store shoppers), she said: “I love what you are doing. Because at the the heart of it it’s about ‘good for you, good for the world’. And to me, it doesn’t matter whether I’m buying fashion, or supplements – I want to buy both of them for the right reasons.
“I think we need to look at health in a much more inclusive way. When I look at, say, Holland and Barrett – and I admire what they’re doing in many ways, and in business terms they’re probably nailing it – I think they still feel like a health food store. You know, it’s not as joyous as I would want. I really do think they could do something more upbeat.
“But actually, the first thing I would do if I was opening health food store is that I wouldn’t call it a health food store. I’d call it something else.”
“The first thing I would do if I was opening health food store is that I wouldn’t call it a health food store. I’d call it something else”
Portas advised business owners to “think laterally and not fall into the trap of doing things the way they’ve always been done”. She added: “That game is over. Innovation, innovation and collaboration are the way forward. Coming together, creating new ideas and approaches together – moving away from siloed thinking. That’s what I would be saying to retailers in this sector.
“It’s really important to think about the physicality of your store, how you show up, how you connect with people. Sometimes health stores can still be a bit knitted muesli and a bit dry. So, I’d be looking at shaking it up and creating something that is modern and inclusive. Think tangentially about how you get people and families into your stores. And try and find some joy and it, because what you are about is the future.
“Try and come up with ways creatively that show you are accessible to families on a low budget. Tell people on your social media that you are a business, and a person, that really cares.
• Mary Portas was in conversation with Janey Lee Grace. A full report of their discussion will follow shortly
Personally I love an old-school natural food store. There were two in Bridport last week, complete with bulk dried herbs in large glass jars.
But I am a member of an ageing demographic, and Mary is right to say that a new approach is needed to bring in new customers. It will be fascinating to see whether the repositioning of H&B as a food destination works – lots more NPD to come!
Mary says Joy, I say Solutions but we may be on the same page.
Maybe it is an age thing, Simon. Natural food/wholefood stores were my point of entry into this world on a personal level (Harvest Foods in Bath when I was at art school in the late 70s to be precise). I just wish someone would open a big, Infinity Foods-style natural food store in Tunbridge Wells (hello, Charlie Booth!).
Just as a bit of context, Mary Portas was answering quite a specific question I had asked her, which was:
“Multiple surveys show that 70, 75, 80, 85% of people will consistently say they want to eat more healthily, be healthier or lead healthier lifestyles. Yet only 5% of Britons ever cross the threshold of a health foods store. What’s going on here, and what do you think health stores need to do to get that up to 10, 15 or 20% of people?”.
In short, what is stopping the 70% of health-aspirational people from becoming regular health store customers?
Research tells us that some people are daunted by health food stores, because of an unfamiliarity with the products and the format. Personally, I suspect something else is also going on, and that significant numbers of people are more viscerally put off. When they walk up to a health store, they don’t see ‘health’ – they see ‘illness shop’. I think this is partly what Mary Portas was alluding to in her comment that “first thing I would do if I was opening health food store is that I wouldn’t call it a health food store. I’d call it something else”.
I’d suggest there’s a valuable discussion to be had around how natural products retailers more widely can broaden their appeal and reach. At Natural Newsdesk we’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this.
Also, to be clear, this was only a small part of much more wide-ranging discussion Mary Portas had with Janey Lee Grace.
It’s a very interesting point…In Ireland I think the % of people who cross the threshold of a HFS might be higher however often they only come for 2% of their overall shopping. So we are always trying to offer more – hence we stock everything from nappies to organic fruit to local asparagus to organic chickens to clean cosmetics and supplements – But my question for Mary would be, what SHOULD we call ourselves? In Organico we aim to be a good food shop, but we haven’t completely rebranded because it’s not really an accurate description either – you wouldn’t expect to find Dr Hauschka in a good food shop…so then we think Organic Supermarket, but a supermarket doesn’t give out health advice … it sometimes feels like we are a shop without a category!
Love Mary Portas, and wouldn’t dream of arguing with her, BUT perhaps she needs to visit more independent health stores. My experience is that there are a growing number of fabulously welcoming, innovative, knowledgeable and experiential health stores and much fewer dry and dusty stores. Mary – you’d be very welcome to visit us in sunny Daventry… (Sheaf Street Health Store)… 😀👍🧘♂️ . As to whether we should call ourselves ‘health food stores’, actually, many don’t… the beauty of the independent health trade is it’s creative individuality… ❤️