'LIMITED edition honey', vegan Christmas pudding and organic scented candles – it's all happening in East Oxford.

An esoteric selection of 'organic health food' and yoga has just won this East Oxford boutique the crown of best organic food shop in the UK.

Wild Honey, founded by songwriter Matt Sage and dance teacher Jessica Howie in 2014, won the UK Independent Retailer of the Year Award at this year's Natural and Organic Food Awards in London on Monday.

The award was presented at the Natural and Organic Products Europe trade show, attended by the likes of Riverford Organics vegetable delivery service, Green & Blacks chocolate and Holland & Barrett health food stores.

And despite competition from across the UK, the welterweight Wild Honey stole the gold for independent innovation.

Mr Sage, best known to many as the founder and promoter of Cowley Road's Catweazle Club open mic night, said it was all down to passion for produce.

The East Oxford resident, in his 40s, said: "We are passionate about what we do: we really care about our products, out staff and our customers."

Speaking to the Oxford Mail following Monday's victory he said: "I'm holding a lemon in my hand: it's an organic lemon from Spain and I'm going to take it home because it's not quite right for selling in the shop.

"It's that attention to detail that makes us different."

Mr Sage set up Wild Honey with business partner Jessica Howie just over two years ago.

Before that he had been making a living as a singer-songwriter and running the Catweazle Club for 25 years and she was a dance teacher.

But all the time, Mr Sage said, something had been nibbling away at both of them – a lack of decent nibbles.

He said: "We just thought Oxford wasn't been served as well as it could have been.

"Healthy food has always been a passion of mine but we kept saying 'where is the good health food shop?'"

So, in December 2014, having never run a shop before, the duo took a lease on 111 Magdalen Road, former the Inner Bookshop.

Mr Sage added: "The vision was to create something celebrating abundance.

"I think it's pretty new what we're offering: it's more engaging, it's more personal, and our staff care about what they're doing."

He credited their success to his attention to detail and his business partner's 'wonderful ambition'.

Business has gone so well, in fact, that in September they opened a second store on South Parade, in Summertown.

Mr Sage said winning the UK Independent Retailer title has been an 'amazing' icing on top of the organic cake of two years' success.