The best health food stores in Melbourne

No patchouli here – this is a healthy-living retail hub for the fit and fabulous.  About Life was opened by sisters Jodie Stewart and Tammie Phillips in Rozelle 20 years ago and the Port Melbourne store is the seventh in the About Life stable. The store stocks everything from fresh organic fruit and veg, vitamins and naturopathic supplements to arrangements of Australian native flowers and green cleaning products. It also plays host to a café and ready-made but healthy food and breaky bars full of superfood goodness to scoop into takeaway tubs.

At first, you could easily mistake this bright, timber-floored store for any regular high-end grocery – until words like Tofurkey, hemp protein and dairy-free start jumping out. Jessica Bailey founded the Cruelty Free Shop in 2001 as an online store in her Sydney home. She opened her first Melbourne store in Fitzroy in January 2014. In addition to mock meats, cookbooks, pantry staples and stylish leather-free bags, there’s an entire section devoted to vegan chocolate, and another for beauty products, none of which are tested on animals. When possible, she sources everything from Australian makers.

Stocking over 400 gluten free, paleo and organic items, The Source is basically eco-grocery heaven. You can buy reusable jars and containers for your goodies, but the store encourages peeps to BYO receptacles and keep waste to a minimum. The Source also has a great line in vegan treats, natural body washes, soaps and detergents and ready-made cereal mixes (if you can't be arsed making up your own and have a hankering for something a little fancy try the super cocoa museli mix).