Breaking the model in food retail

The iconic Planet Organic

Exterior view of a modern grocery store named Planet Organic with glass storefront and outdoor seating area, showing shelves of produce inside and people shopping.

Organic retailing turnaround strategies and growth plans

A collection of organic vegetables and baked goods, including a bag of yellow potatoes, fresh leafy greens, and cookies, with a black circle in the center displaying the white text "Planet Organic".

In 2009 Planet Organic was well-thought of in the organic foods industry but was struggling to engage with a broader customer base. It had an unclear store proposition and a difficulty retaining valuable team members.

As CEO from 2009 to 202, Peter Marsh was responsible for transforming it into a service and experience led retailer at the forefront of the growing wellbeing industry, a financially successful store format and a clear store growth plan with secured funding.

Responsible for the buying function since 2015 to 2021, Al Overton positioned Planet Organic as a highly trusted retailer with a first to market reputation, acting as the launchpad store for hundreds of start-up and international brands.

Building customer engagement

The strategy for establishing a stronger Planet Organic store proposition was around service and experience. A focus on reducing annual team turnover from 150% to 50% allowed for a significant investment in team training to give customers that outstanding in-store experience.

Partnering with start-up customer engagement platforms and quick commerce innovators, while building a truly multi-channel experience across store, café, e-commerce and own brand propositions, created a store proposition above and beyond that of a typical high volume, grocery led food shop.

Engaging the team and the customers built two important elements of any successful business – loyalty and trust.

Inspiration through innovation

The new goal of Planet Organic was to inspire their customers to eat well and to live better. And inspiration through innovation was a key focus of the store experience. Al and his team became the launchpad retailer for hundreds of new brands, mentoring many from concept to shelf, worked with international brands on logistics and market entry plans and developed industry first own-label products.

With this reputation combined with many new health trends, Planet Organic became a destination store for the health-conscious and the flagship store for the emerging wellness industry.

Brown paper grocery bag with 'Planet Organic' and 'Eat Well Live Better' written on it, placed on a wooden kitchen table with fresh vegetables nearby. In the background, shelves hold kitchen items and potted plants.
Customers selecting baked goods at a grocery store counter near refrigerated shelves filled with beverages and produce.

Store concept and demographic planning

Creating a clear business strategy and store concept secured investment into Planet Organic in 2017, enabling a store roll out programme across London.  The store model development combined analysis of customer behaviour, geo-location modelling, customer experience proposition and finance modelling to create a plan for new stores with a clear specification for ideal location opportunities and with faster repayment on investment.

Central to this unique model of community based speciality food retailing was an understanding of population densities and demographics within the radius of the store location. In turn, this built a store concept with multiple engagement points and reasons to visit in order to speed up customer engagement and loyalty.

Partnership and collaboration

The growth and success of Planet Organic up to 2021 was driven by the culture of partnership and collaboration that was created across suppliers, service providers, community groups and the Planet Organic team.

It was operating as a partner and platform for mutual growth that allowed the creation of unique supplier logistics solutions, new in-store experiences and brand partnerships that ultimately drove the company vision of inspiration, innovation, service and experience.

Retail display with various health and beauty products on wooden shelves below a sign that reads 'Plastic Free Beauty' in red and orange text.
Refrigerated grocery store shelf filled with plant-based protein products including tofu, vegan cheeses, dip, and packaged plant-based faux meats.


Still an Iconic Leader in Organic Retailing

With a change of leadership in 2021 and a resulting change in business strategy and customer proposition, Planet Organic Ltd went into administration in 2023.  Peter and Al were both involved in the resurrection of the brand out of administration from 2023 to 2024, and while the future of the stores is on a different course than the business that they built, the brand continues to occupy an iconic position within the UK’s health food industry.