Stylemum / 24 July 2025 / Categories: Food & Drink, Supermarkets

Bens Of St John’s Wood gorgeous new grocery store in the neighbourhood

I wanted to give a big shout out to this stunning new independent grocery store in our neighbourhood of St John’s Wood located on the High St between the Ivy Restaurant and Boots the chemist. it’s where the old Chestertons estate agents used to be and although I don’t like to see any business close we do have a vibrant property market in the neighbourhood with a lot of different estate agents to choose from so I am delighted to see an old fashioned green grocer come to town.

This green grocery business began 10 years ago in Westbourne Grove Notting Hill and based on hard work and buyers visiting local markets and growers 6 days a week have built up a chain of shops across london serving a growing loyal customer base who appreciate great service and lovely fresh food hand selected daily in the way you still find in Markets across Europe.

I have stopped driving to Waitrose on the Finchley Road because the produce available has gone right down hill over the last 2 to 3 years we’ve seen since covid, the selection become very limited, often unable to source simple things like fresh coriander and fresh green and red chillis. The shelves often empty, the tomatoes taste of nothing, I’ve had green bananas over ripe on the inside, how that’s possible I don’t know and I’ve purchased so many pineapples (not the ones cut in the plastic containers which are also delicious and sweet but expensive and create unnecessary waste) but the whole pineapples that when I’ve cut into them are hard and sour.

You are not going to experience these issues at Bens. The watermelon I bought this week was so lip smacking and tasty it was devoured in less than a second and we had to return to buy more.

Fortunately the shop is now like the 24 hour general store Whissons I love too for different reasons, just around the corner.

Ben’s green grocers is a wonderful shop and the staff have been nothing but delightful everytime I have gone in to purchase something, usually tempted by the carefully crafted display outside.

I hope everyone in the neighbourhood supports this independent chain and helps them grow and open in other perhaps less expensive areas so people who are not lucky enough to live in areas like St John’s Wood, Primrose Hill, Hampstead, Kensington and Notting Hill Gate can experience beautiful food chosen for them every day.

If the shop isn’t accessible for you they go have green delivery utilising zero carbon transportation to bring fruit and vegetable to your door in a way our grand parents will tell us that’s the way it was always done in the past.

Some might say they have to shop at the supermarket because the prices are too high from a smaller shop like Bens Grocers.

I have moved to shopping if not daily to every other or third day. I buy what we want to eat, I buy a lot less and doing it this way means we throw virtually nothing away, our meals are planned and the kids have got used to eating at meal times respecting the delicious food we have and not going to the fridge all the time when they want something because it’s not full of food going off.

The new way of doing this, supporting small and independent, means we eat less, we eat well. Better food and we don’t waste anything. Like the watermelon, it gets devoured and if we want more someone has to get off their backside and go and get it.

It’s been great from training lazy and not always grateful young adults.

Thanks Ben the Grocer and welcome to St John’s Wood.