Whole Foods Market has once again partnered with Buy Women Built to celebrate female founders across the UK food and wellness industry, including those behind bakery brands.
Having first been established in 2024, the annual initiative sees the retailer and the consumer movement help shine a spotlight on female entrepreneurs and the stories behind their brands.
This year’s campaign welcomed its biggest ever participation with more than 100 women-built brands having their products showcased and sold at Whole Foods Market’s six stores across London. This includes from three bakery firms that are all gluten-free specialists based in the capital: Good Grain Bakery, Doughlicious, and The Gluten Free Bakery.
Good Grain Bakery founder Tara Taylor pointed to NielsenIQ research that found around 30% of consumers being more likely to purchase a product if they know it was created and founded by a woman. “When products are clearly marked as Buy Women Built, the impact is even stronger, with 74% of women saying they would choose it over a similar alternative,” she said.
“We see this reflected in real customer behaviour. When people understand who is behind a product and what that founder represents, it builds trust, emotional connection, and confidence at the point of purchase,” added Taylor. “More and more, consumers want to align their spending with their values, and visibility of female ownership helps make that choice easier.”
The founder noted how this was particularly meaningful in bakery, where she says there are still relatviely few businesses founded or led by women. “Scaling responsibly often means making difficult decisions, and after closing my own small production bakery site, I feel fortunate to now be working with The Celtic Bakers as our co-manufacturer,” reveals Taylor. “They are at the forefront of organic and premium bakery in London and have enabled us to continue growing while maintaining quality and integrity.”
Good Grain Bakery’s participation in Buy Women Built retail activations, including with Ocado, has helped uplift its sales and increase customer discovery and basket growth, said Taylor. ”It reinforces the commercial impact of female founder visibility.”
To mark the start of the month-long activation, a large-scale visual installation was unveiled yesterday (25 February) in the windows of World Foods Market’s flagship store on Kensington high street. Storytelling signage and in-store theatre will encourage shoppers to discover female-founded brands inside the stores, whilst social amplification will also be running online.
“At Whole Foods Market, we’re passionate about championing the entrepreneurs behind the products our customers love,” commented Jade Hoai, executive leader of purchasing at Whole Foods Market UK. “By partnering with Buy Women Built and bringing these founders to the forefront of our Kensington windows and across all six of our UK stores, we’re creating meaningful visibility for the women shaping the future of food and wellness.”
Buy Women Built was created by the Sahar Hashemi OBE in 2020 with a clear mission to increase the visibility of female-founded consumer brands and to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs through the celebration of positive role models. “Partnering with Whole Foods Market on this bold window takeover is a powerful statement that female founders deserve space, scale and celebration in mainstream retail,” said Hashemi. “Together, we’re not just showcasing products – we’re elevating role models.”
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