Wray Organic celebrated the opening  of the group's fifth store in Queensland when a 300  metre square Wray Organic market and cafe store opened its doors, in the city of Ipswich in April. The new store has been serving a broad demographic of local and country customers, and co-owner Deborah Wray is happy with the customer response so far. She says being chemical and pesticide-free is the major reason that people buy organic food.

But what has surprised Ms Wray is the number of new customers coming into the Ipswich store seeking organic food as an answer to intolerances to processed foods and the general feelings of being unwell, including stomach bloating and tiredness.

"We still have a lot of educating to do about the benefits of organics," she said. "A lot of customers do not shop at other organic stores. We are finding that people are walking in and saying they're not  feeling healthy, have been eating food that is making them unwell and realising they are having a reaction to that food. This could be related to what is being done to the food through sprays and chemicals, and whether the food is genetically modified or not.

"There are insufficient GMO labelling laws and information that tells how food is processed. People who have begun drinking organic milk are now finding they can tolerate milk; and people who have issues with bread, such as gluten intolerance, due to the way bread is made find they can eat sourdough bread which breaks the gluten down. Some people have been diagnosed with food intolerances and others have instincts that tell them something is not quite right with their health."

Ms Wray says one customer at the Ipswich store decided to go all the way and put herself, her husband and daughter onto an organic food diet.

"She has lost 6 kilograms and they all find they are not eating as much, or wasting as much, food since switching to organics. They now have more energy and cannot believe the quality and taste, and say their daughter, who wouldn't eat vegetables before, is now eating organic vegetables.

"Ms Wray says there appears to be a higher incidence in the population of a range of food intolerances, while country customers coming into the store are knowledgeable about the dangers of chemical spraying of crops.

Discussing whether there would be any advantages to having nutritionists or dieticians on call physically, or online to offer advice on food intolerances and product labelling (a service usually offered at Canadian organic and wholefood stores) Ms Wray says she hopes that all staff are doing this in the stores.

"It could be an advantage but in a retail environment we cannot operate like a doctor's surgery or consult like a health practitioner. If your store stocks certified organic food then label advice wouldn't be such an issue. If people just purchased certified organic produce it would be a good start towards achieving good health, as it is not highly processed.

"Wray Organic, an Australian Certified Organic Retailer, now operates two Company-owned stores in south-east Queensland at Palm Beach (Gold Coast) and Ipswich. Three stores are franchised and are located at Broadbeach (Gold Coast), Newmarket and Indooroopilly (Brisbane).