• The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Wednesday, June 6, 2007 11:15 AM

British retailers are beefing up their offerings of organic and premium foods as U.S. supermarket chain Whole Foods Market opens its biggest store ever--80,000-square feet--in London today.

Tesco PLC, Britain's biggest retailer by sales, recently introduced a line of nuts and dried fruit called "Wholefoods." It patented the name in the U.K., preventing anyone else from using it for store-brand products. Whole Foods says it plans to use the "Fresh & Wild" name on its private-label products after a small chain of health-food stores it bought in 2004.

Waitrose, another supermarket chain, has launched a line of natural foods called "Wholesome." J Sainsbury PLC has refurbished its outlet nearest the new Whole Foods store and uses it for glitzy events, like a recent sale of eco-friendly designer handbags. A block away, a Marks & Spencer PLC store sells a "Super Wholefood Salad."

David Lannon, the executive overseeing the new London store, says he is unfazed by the competition. Other chains sell Coca-Cola and cigarettes alongside natural foods, he says, but Whole Foods is "the real thing."

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) »