Bob Farrand says US import Whole Foods Market may struggle to attract tourist trade - and wonders if it will bring in the local shoppers

Whole Foods Market in Kensington appears to owe more to in-your-face US-style supermarkets than the more genteel form of fine food retailing my generation is comfortable with. Mind you, any opinion I express on the latest giant US import to London is likely to be flawed - I'm long past my best-before date.

Standing for almost 10 minutes in the environmentally controlled cheese room - which, strangely, had both its doors wide open - I eavesdropped on two assistants as they discussed the merits of their university degrees. On finally attracting their attention, I pointed to a fine blue mould covering the cut surfaces of a Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire and asked if the cheese was all right. "It's fine," one replied, "that's the way it should look." Clearly, neither had a degree in cheese retailing.

The Lancashire was not the only cheese suffering. The eyes in excellent Gruyères and Emmentals were pitted with mould - too much stock moving too slowly and, at close to £30 per kilo, unlikely to sell in that condition. Who in their right mind thought this volume of top-quality cheese would survive a retail environment for so long, even housed in a state-of-the-art cheese room?

Inexperienced buyers and poorly trained shop floor staff, that's possibly who. In giant supermarkets, buyers become food experts after a couple of days on the job. Shop floor staff don't need product training, they merely need to smile, wash their hands occasionally and say 'good morning' sweetly.

What is sad is that the food at Whole Foods Market is actually top notch. However, chatting with a couple of Whole Foods Market's illustrious neighbours, one of my colleagues got the feeling each was breathing a deep sigh of relief.

André Dang of Harrods believes the store poses more of a threat to supermarkets than to food halls as it's "more geared to this style of retail". Elodie Middlebrook of Jeroboams and Mr Christian's agrees; she thinks Marks & Spencer and Waitrose are likely to be more affected by the newcomer.

Whole Foods may also struggle to build the sort of tourist trade Harrods and Fortnums attract. US visitors will have seen it all before and the Japanese prefer old English to nouveau American. The store must draw locals for their weekly shop if it is to survive, but dragging trollies up and down two floors - and impossible parking - poses an unattractive prospect on a busy Friday.

Three years ago, John Shepherd of Partridges of Sloane Square, was forced to relocate his delicatessen after 30 years in the same spot. He couldn't risk moving more than a quarter of a mile because the bulk of his customers were local and walked to his shop several times every week. He found larger premises around the corner in Duke of York Square, added a Saturday producers' market, and has rarely cast a backward glance at Sloane Street.

But Whole Foods Market is not your local store. It is a US idea based on US shopping habits, and the UK has moved up a gear or two in food retailing. We've got delis, farm shops, farmers' markets and food halls and they're mostly better than anything you'll find in the US. We also have Waitrose, which is doing a half-decent job in bringing quality food to the masses.

As I left a half-empty Whole Foods Market and walked along Kensington High Street, I passed a Waitrose. On a Thursday lunchtime its shop floor was packed with customers; quite possibly all locals doing their weekly shop.n

Bob Farrand is director of the

Guild of Fine Foods