often cheaper - at your boring old supermarket.

But the slow drift of Whole Foods from champion of organic food to global behemoth and bourgeois darling has left its original fans fuming. Last year, a best-selling book called The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan, lambasted Whole Foods and its founder John Mackey (right). Pollan called the group hypocritical for promoting itself as the champion of organic, sustainable farming, while buying most of its product from vast Californian farms.

Mackey, a vegan who practises yoga and meditation and professes to be a "free-market libertarian", was prompted to spend more effort sourcing from farmers close to each of his stores and to open up his car parks for weekend green markets.

But many consumers have already moved beyond Whole Foods. Its colossal stores, humming with air

The slow drift from champion of organic to global behemoth has original fans fuming

conditioning, look increasingly at odds with the growth of a more authentic, environmental movement, which is as concerned with the energy consumption of a store as what it stocks.

In the meantime, other US supermarkets have latched on to Whole Foods' formula, offering prepared foods with organic labels and stylishly presented meat and fish counters. They offer the same stuff without being preachy about it and at lower prices thanks to more efficient supply chains and store management.

The growing disillusionment with Whole Foods is shared by investors. The company's stock price has dropped nearly 40 per cent in the past year. The success of the London superstore may point to a recovery for Whole Foods. Or it might just be the high-point of an empire already in decline.