English Health Food Chain Farmer J to Debut at 31 W. 52nd St. (UPDATED)

Farmer J, a popular health food chain with 15 locations in the U.K., is preparing to open its first store in the U.S. at 31 West 52nd Street in Manhattan, according to the New York Post. 

A January 2024 article in the UK’s Restaurant magazine noted that Farmer J had secured an investment of £5.5 million— roughly $7.4 million — from venture capital firm Beringea that was slated to be used for expansion. Farmer J had only 10 outlets at the time.

The company was repped by the Cushman & Wakefield team of Jason Greenstone, Michael O’Neill, Taylor Reynolds and Lilly Craver. Eric Gelber and Jordan Kaplan from CBRE represented the landlord.

Lease terms were unavailable, but retail rents in the Plaza District, defined here as the area along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 59th streets, averaged $2,562 per square foot for the first quarter of 2025, according to a report from CBRE. This marks a 1.6 percent decrease from the previous quarter, but a 1.9 percent increase over the first quarter of 2024.

The company focuses on breakfast and lunch meals, offering its customers “honest food straight from farm-to-fork.” 

“My ambition is to build a global brand — serving people nutritious, honest, tasty food, made from scratch,” former Deutsche Bank investment banker Jonathan Recanati, who founded the chain in 2014, told Restaurant.

Farmer J had secured funding from Edition Capital in 2023, as well as £1.9 million — approximately $2.6 million — from Imbiba in 2019.

Farmer J will be looking to open more locations in New York, according to C&W, and is also reportedly planning to expand into Boston.

Recanati did not respond to a request for comment.

Updated: This article was updated to correct the address from 40 West 53rd Street to 31 West 52nd Street.

Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com