Peter Gillham's Nutrition Center in Downtown Clearwater Expands to Natural Food Store

Peter Gillham’s has undergone some major renovations and changes in the last year and this month they are taking their biggest step – expanding into a natural foods store.

When current Executive Director Shelley Jaffe began working at the store nearly a year ago, she surveyed the store’s customers to see if they were getting all of the products they wanted. She also surveyed people who didn’t shop at the store to find out why and what they wanted as well. The results of these surveys have inspired the greatest expansion Peter Gillham’s has seen since he opened his original Clearwater store in 1979.

Peter has been known and trusted in this community for years as a leader in nutrition who cares about his customers and their health. Shelley shares Peter’s passion in nutrition and helping people. She is using her background as a Certified Nutritional Consultant and self-taught chef to make the best choices in which foods they will carry and how the café menu will be expanded.

“More and more people are becoming conscious of what they eat and don’t only want to take supplements, but to eat foods that are nutritious, too,” says Jaffe. “ Many of our existing customers, as well as those who don’t currently shop with us wanted to see whole foods at our store, but with a twist. They wanted to know that we would screen these products to make sure they are healthy and didn’t contain unwanted ingredients, so that is what we are doing. They want to know that when they come into the store that there is someone trained to help them with their selection, too.”

True to these words, customers are getting exactly what they asked for. By the end of September the store will be offering freshly baked organic artisan breads, a selection of organic produce, coffee and chocolates that are not only organic, but ethically grown and picked by plantations where the workers are paid fair wages and there is no slave labor. There are pastas, soups, cereals, snacks, organic body care products and dairy, along with the existing nutritional supplements. What you won’t find in the store is soy products (if you want to know why not, go to www.westonaprice. org and follow the link on soy) or high fructose corn syrups like you find in some “natural” food stores.

The menu at PG’s Café will be expanded as well. There will be organic scones (both gluten-free and traditional) baked fresh every day, homemade gluten-free granola used in yogurt parfaits with organic fruit, freshly made organic soups every day and hand-crafted sandwiches on freshly baked Ciabatta bread. And of course they will still have the freshly brewed organic coffees, fresh organic juices and organic smoothies.

“Customer service is our number one priority,” says Shelley. “So many of our customers are gluten intolerant that we are working to have the area’s largest selection of gluten-free foods. And we are testing a large number of products to make sure that all of the products we chose also taste good and are high-quality.”

Also by demand, Shelley will begin delivering free nutritional seminars on Saturdays beginning in October. If you are interested, please contact the store to sign up for notifications. www.pgnccw.com

Shelley Jaffe is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and the Executive Director of Peter Gillham’s Nutrition Center in Downtown Clearwater. You can read more about nutrition and health on her blog at www.shelleyjaffe.com

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