Exactly a year ago today on the 63rd anniversary of D-Day the face of London shopping changed forever. Whole Foods Market, the cultish organic store that sends Americans in frenzies of macrobiotic delight, rocked up on Kensington High Street. Goodbye sub-Grace Brothers department store Barkers, hello three storeys of foodie eco-heaven. It was the first Whole Foods Market on this side of the pond, a bridgehead that would lead to Britain, and then Continental Europe unfurling the bunting in grateful welcome. Er, in theory.

It has not quite worked out that way. Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, as battle hardened a quartet of retailers as you can find anywhere on the planet, were not about to be rolled over by an American invader. They have raised their organic game and Tesco has cheekily launched its own range of healthy ingredients called Whole Foods. Goodness what an extraordinary coincidence. Whole Foods (the company rather than the Tesco spoiler) is still there but none of the 40 or so other stores promised in Britain has materialised.

Nevertheless the launch caused quite a stir. The company's gnomic founder, John Mackey, even found time in his diary, to parachute into London for a few days. Unfortunately for him he took umbrage at the Standard's coverage of the opening and has refused to speak to this paper since. Or indeed allowed any of his minions to talk to us either. More fool Mr Mackey. The parent company's vow of PR silence has meant that Whole Foods has struggled to get its voice heard above the din of supermarket chatter. The cavernous store - which incidentally I enjoy shopping in hugely - rarely feels more than modestly bustling, certainly not packed. The queues at the tills of the early days are certainly a long distant memory.

There have been some bad mistakes. The absurd pricing on the take out hot food and salad counters has irritated punters hugely. Shame, because the food is actually very good. But realistically who is going to pay a tenner for a medium sized portion of curry eaten at their desk? You could sit down and get served at a restaurant for the same price. Some of the organic produce is similarly breathtaking in its cost. A small bundle of organic leeks set me back more than £10 in one recent shopping trip. It is those sorts of till shocks that put people off making a return visit.

And if Whole Foods cannot make a barn storming success out of a store in Kensington - the wealthiest neighbourhood in Western Europe - then it is difficult to see how the formula is going to work in Birmingham, Leeds or Bristol.

It's a shame. I so want to like this company. Many of its aims are laudable - support for British small producers, high animal welfare standards and so on. But for all its "rah rah" American forced jollity, Whole Food actually takes itself achingly seriously. Mackey's utterances are treated with reverential awe. Staff try just a notch too far to please. Come on Whole Foods lighten up, reconsider some of your pricing and try to think a bit more British.