Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily

Organic food is fast catching up non-organic in the supermarkets of the West.
Where once the organic foods took up a small corner of some of the more up market stores now entire aisles are dedicated to food that has been produced organically and in the bigger supermarkets an organic variant of most foods can be found.
Organic ingredients are available in Shanghai at the OStore and above this food store at 107 Zunyi Road, near the Hongqiao Parksons, there is also the Monterey Bistro, where Italian food cooked using organic ingredients is served.
The process of setting up this business was a long slow one, according to Thomas Lin, chief operating officer of OStore.
"We spent three months and we saw hundreds of different locations before we found this one," he said.
There then began the tricky business of sourcing the bewildering array of produce that's available in the shop - from soya beans to pasta, wasabe to wine.
"In the West and in Japan, Korea and Singapore, organic foods are very popular. Although many people in China are not yet familiar with the organic concept, the Chinese people are very health conscious and we anticipate the Chinese market will follow suit very soon," said Lin.
O-Store is supplied by two local, organic farms and a complex national and international supply chain. It looks set to supply restaurants around the city with healthy organic produce in the very near future.
Lin is adamant that the organic tag in China is every bit as hard to acquire as it is in the West.
"The organic standards the producers must meet here in China are at least 98 percent of those strict standards in the West. Checks are carried out on producers each year and for them, it's not worth taking the risk and voiding their organic status," said Lin.
For those who find actual food shopping an ordeal, www.ostore.com offers simple registration leading to an online shopping bonanza with delivery. OStore offers just about everything - from breakfast cereal to fruit and vegetables, seafood, olive oil, bread, cakes and even beer; all organic. It isn't cheap but then do any of the western style food shops in Shanghai qualify as good value?
Next to the shop on the same floor, there is a cafe which serves breakfasts, coffees, teas and bakery produce.
Upstairs is the Monterey Bistro where organic ingredients are used to produce simple, clean Italian food.
The spanish seafood soup, may not, as its name indicates, be Italian, but it is rich in organic tomatoes, olive oil and most of all seafood. The organic whole meal bread with garlic butter was good as was the cesar salad. Also available are pizzas and pastas made with organic flour, pasta and vegetables.
The setting is simple and bright as is the food. The prices are reasonable. A lasagne costs 48 yuan (US$5.93).
Address: 107 Zunyi Road
Tel: 6237-5538