Erewhon in West Hollywood was such a forward thinking, high-end fashionable food store to visit on my recent trend hunt. I came away feeling healthier just from cruising around the store for an hour. Dare I say that it left Whole Foods feeling all a bit dated by comparison? There was a cool, calm buzz about the place and the shelves were an inspiration to everything and everyone wanting to be healthy, yet eat fabulous food. The chillers were full of raw, organic and cold pressed desserts of every kind, from coconut kefir yoghurt parfaits which looked incredibly inviting to raw cane super beauty juices which were alkaline and made with chlorophyll.

Their own label ranges were top of the range, with exquisite yet simple and down to earth packaging, plus their product ranges just had something that little bit different about each and every one of them. Raw spirulina and probiotic veggie wraps, Pepita pesto wraps, macrobiotic grain bowls, cold pressed charcoal juices and Korr turmeric shots. They even sold sexy milk, with their raw, organic, almond milks infused with lavender and the likes, under the brand name mylk. Desert farms were even offering raw unpasteurized camel milk.

Rose and lavender were popping up everywhere in everything from kombuchas, waters, yoghurts and shots. As was hand crafted cold brew coffee of every kind. Pop and Bottle had a great, understated, lovely feel to it ‘pure, pressed, local’ was what was claimed on pack. Cacao and Chai Spice were just two of their delicious coffee blends. Seaworth’s called their cold pressed coffee ‘single fin sludge’ which was quite quirky. There were quite a few very local brands stocked there, which added to the true community feel of the whole place.

Pickling seemed a fast growing product area for innovation. Farmhouse Culture had fresh, raw kimchi and sauerkraut in flavours from spicy wakame ginger, to smoked jalapeno. Pickled planet, albeit slightly less sophisticated in look and feel, also had beetroot sauerkrauts and burdock and ginger. Brassica and Brine opted for more aromatic options like sage, thyme, rosemary and lavender to bring a fresh twist. Ozuke went for simple citrus and ginger kraut and beets, dulse and kale, yet were also claiming organic, paleo and probiotic!

I really liked eating some of the nut cheeses. They now come in varieties of clever textures and formats. There are even aged varieties. Dr Cow loves an aged cashew with dulse flakes for his. He even extended to include hemp seeds in one sku. Bone broths continue to extend. Erewhon’s own paleo version filled whole shelves and ranges extended from beef to buffalo, to even a tomato free option.

I saw the first HPP/cold pressed baby food pouches in the chiller from ‘Once upon a Farm’, so many crafted natural beverages of all kinds with twists like chamomile and cardamom, not to mention small, raw bites and truffles from brands like ‘Good Bites’ and Mancan’s crazy wine in cans! I found it so hard to leave such a feelgood store. I can’t wait to go back.

Claire Nuttall is founder of The Brand Incubator

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