Known for its uncompromising views with regards to quality of the products it stocks, Whole Foods Market holds its suppliers to the same standards that it employs in its own business model. In recognition of its suppliers, Whole Foods Market holds an annual award to show their appreciation.
“It is Whole Foods Market’s honour to celebrate our suppliers who have demonstrated fantastic cooperation, resilience, creativity and commitment to quality, rising to excellence in a year unlike any other,” said Sonya
Gafsi Oblisk, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Whole Foods Market.Whole Foods Market is a business dedicated to providing the highest quality products and service to its loyal customer base across the USA, Canada and has more recently made steps into the UK market.
The company’s supplier awards were set up in 2012 with the intention of honouring the company’s suppliers for their outstanding achievements and have been run consistently for nine years highlighting ongoing commitments to quality, environmental stewardship, organic integrity, innovation, purpose and partnership.
The most recent of the Whole Foods Market Supplier Awards was held in May 2021 to recognise those 42 suppliers who
had excelled themselves in the previous year. The award is split into three main categories; supplier of the year, purpose and core values, and quality and innovation, which in turn is awarded to two types of recipients, both global and regional suppliers.
“We’re honored to work with and celebrate the remarkable contributions of these suppliers that embody Whole Foods Market’s core values and consistently raise the bar in our industry,” said Don Clark, Senior Vice President of Non-Perishables Merchandising at Whole Foods Market. “Their dedication to excellence, quality, innovation and partnership is critical to our success and delivering on our mission to nourish people and the planet.”
There are a number of specialist subcategories under the supplier of the year category such as the Special Recognition award - this it is for suppliers that go above and beyond in helping Whole Foods Market grow and drive business as well as inspire and delight customers. One of the of the 2021 global winners under this sub-category is Great Range Bison, a company that not only provides Bison meat of the highest quality but also cares about the continued sustainability of the meat industry.
The whole truth
The brainchild of John Mackey and Renee Lawson, Whole Foods Market started in 1978 as a single small vegetarian natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin, Texas. The store in question was opened with the help of a $48,000 loan being given by family and friends.
It wasn’t all plain sailing. In the early years, they were evicted from their apartment when the landlord discovered they were keeping vegetable stock on the premises, which saw them move into the newly acquired retail premises. However because it was zoned for commercial use, they had to bathe with a water hose attached to a dishwasher due to there being no shower stall in the building.
The Whole Foods Market brand as we know it today first came into being two years later in 1980, when Craig Weller and Mark Skiles, owners of Clarksville Natural Grocery, partnered with the SaferWay owners to create the first Whole Foods Market. This progenitor store was quite
large for the time, standing at an impressive 10,500 sqft and employing 19 staff at a time when health food shops were fairly uncommon – it was a resounding success and set the trajectory that Whole Foods Market has been on ever since.
The company did not move outside of Austin until 1984, with the opening of further locations, yet by the 1990s, Whole Foods Market was enjoying rapid growth as it acquired other organic and heath food chains across the USA.
A far cry from those initial start up days, Whole Foods Market now has over 500 locations spanning two continents and employs 91,000 people across all facets of the monumental business.
On September 30th 2021, founder John Mackey, revealed he is to step down as acting CEO. In an open letter Mr Mackey wrote: “Honestly, it’s very hard to retire from a company that I have helped to create, nourish and grow for 44 years. As a co-founder of Whole Foods, I’ve often explained my relationship to the company with a parent-child metaphor.
“As a parent, I have always loved Whole Foods with all my heart, I have done my
best to instil strong values, a clear sense of higher purpose beyond profits, and a loving culture that allows the company and all our interdependent stakeholders to flourish. All parents reach a time when they must let go and trust that the values imparted will live on within their children. That time has nearly come for me and for Whole Foods.”
The whole-istic approach to food
Even in its modern form, Whole Foods Market still upholds the original core values that the company was founded under: its unwavering commitment to providing the best natural and unprocessed goods. The company stated: “When you walk in our doors, you’ll find vibrant stacks of produce, animal welfare rated meat, Responsibly Farmed and sustainable wild-caught seafood and body care products with ingredients you can trust. That’s because we have experienced team members who help make it all possible.
“They partner with farmers and suppliers and carefully vet our products to make sure they meet our high standards by researching ingredients, reading labels
and auditing sourcing practices – all to make shopping easier for you. Remember, if it doesn’t meet our standards, we don’t sell it.”
This ethos that natural is best also extends to the company’s views on the environment and sustainability; as evidenced by the recent launch of a certification program called Sourced for Good. The aim of this program is to promote and support responsible product sourcing – this encompasses advocating for environmental stewardship and making improvements in farmworkers’ lives.
“At Whole Foods Market, our Sourced for Good products not only are good, they do good,” said Karen Christensen, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for Perishables. “Our commitment to equitable trade has funded numerous community projects – from dental clinics to housing facilities to student scholarships to bird sanctuaries.
“By purchasing select products, customers help us in our goal to make a difference, and now with Sourced for Good, we’re offering shoppers an easier way to find these special products in our stores.
Always one to recognise the current trends, Whole Food Market has been quick to cater to the millennial demographic, understanding that the quality of the product is one of the main driving forces in their shopping habits and the fact that they are willing to pay for that quality.
A YouGov poll found that 80% of millennials value quality in their food above all and 70% of those were willing to pay more if the quality and provenance of the product could be assured. Furthering this fact is the trend of transparency in shopping and food sourcing, particularly in the seafood and fresh meat market; more than half of this demographic said they will happily pay more for produce whose supplier has adopted responsible sourcing and animal welfare standards.
“We’re always striving to better understand our customers’ passions when it comes to food,” said Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, Whole Foods Market’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Millennials don’t settle for just
any food in their shopping carts, and neither do we. The stories of how food is produced and grown matter to them –and to us.
“That is why we ban more than a hundred ingredients in the food we sell. Going beyond the USDA requirements, we prohibit antibiotics and added hormones for all meats in our meat department, and we only sell sustainable wild-caught or responsibly farmed seafood. Our standards drive the work we do.”
The wholesome attitude to charity
Whole Food Market is no stranger to charity either, having set up The Whole Planet Foundation in 2005. This charity is dedicated to alleviating poverty and empowering the world’s poorest places by using microcredit loans in locations where Whole Food Market sources its products.
Microloans are characterised by giving comparatively very small loans to borrowers who are living in poverty, who
lack the usual requirements for loans such as collateral, employment and a credit his tory. This method of charitable loan is to support entrepreneurship and once it has been repaid, the loan can be sent to another person who needs it; it is a proven method of alleviating poverty.
Whole Food Market has said its foundation has already supported innovative and hardworking entrepreneurs all around the globe, most of which are woman who traditionally have access to fewer resources.
Philip Sansone, President and Executive Director for Whole Planet Foundation said: “For a woman investing in her home-based bakery, neighbourhood shop, small scale farm, or artisan goods she sells in a marketplace, a microcredit loan of $200 or less can give her the chance to create or expand her business, and help lift her out of poverty.”
The Whole Planet Foundation is not alone though; Whole Food Market has a roster of three charitable foundation, the other two being Whole Kids and Whole Cities.
The former was founded in 2011 and the reason for its creation was to improve children’s nutrition and connect them to real food. The foundation has stocked and donated salad bars to schools, as well as added environmental education to the curriculum. The foundation has served more than 8.2 million children and nearly 12,000 schools.
The Whole Cities Foundation was founded later in 2014 with the onus of expanding access to healthy food and nutrition education at a community level.
“Whole Foods Market’s higher purpose is nourishing people and the planet and one way we do this is through the work of our Foundations,” said John Mackey. “As a company, we deeply value giving back. Each of our stores has a unique way of connecting with their local communities to best serve that community’s needs.
“Our foundations also support strategic programs that make an impact where our stores operate and source products across the globe.”
