Fast Facts

Selling the Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products Available

We do the “homework” for our shoppers, giving them the peace of mind that our food is free of artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, preservatives or hydrogenated fats.
We are the largest retailer of natural and organic foods and America’s First National Certified Organic Grocer.

We support local growers by selling their products and also by helping them financially by dedicating $10 million annually to long-term, low-interest loans through our Local Producer Loan Program.

We were the first U.S. food retailer to support and provide leadership within the nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council, helping to ensure fisheries management and seafood sustainability.

All of our meat and poultry is minimally processed with no artificial additives or preservatives. We also monitor how the animals are raised and what the animals are fed.

Satisfying and Delighting Our Customers

We transform food shopping from a chore into a dynamic experience that enlivens all the senses. We do not take a cookie cutter approach to our stores but instead customize each with products and ingredients most sought out by each community.

We cater to special diet needs. For example, we operate a gluten-free baking facility near Raleigh, North Carolina, which supplies nearly all of the Company’s North American stores with gluten-free baked goods.

Our stores combine a farmer’s market and gourmet grocery with a butcher, fishmonger, baker, and a team of chefs making restaurant-quality take-out meals – all under one roof.

Supporting Team Member Excellence and Happiness

We have been named by FORTUNE magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America every year since the list’s inception 13 years ago, ranking number 18 in 2010.

The Company’s top executive salaries are capped in relation to other employees to 19 times that of the average annual salary of a full-time Team Member. In 2007, our CEO reduced his salary to $1.

Our Team Members select their benefits package through a company-wide vote.

Creating Wealth through Profits & Growth

Whole Foods Market is the world’s leading natural and organic foods supermarket. We went public on January 23, 1992, at a split-adjusted IPO price of $2.125 per share.

The Company’s stock is traded on The NASDAQ Stock Market (Symbol: WFMI) and is included in both the NASDAQ-100 Index® and S&P 500 Index®.

Caring About Our Communities & Our Environment

We give back at least five percent of our after-tax profits to the communities where we live and work. We offer our neighborhoods support through sponsorship, special events and fundraising assistance. Each store has quarterly Five-Percent Days, with five percent of proceeds going to community nonprofits. In 2009, our stores raised a combined total of over $3.5 million through Five-Percent Days alone to support local nonprofits, community partners and charitable donations.

In January 2008, Whole Foods Market was the first U.S. supermarket to commit to completely eliminating disposable plastic grocery bags to help protect the environment and conserve resources and many stores serve as a collection point for shoppers to recycle their plastic bags.

Most stores participate in a composting program where food waste and compostable paper goods are regenerated into compost. Each store has a Green Mission Team, an internal task force composed of Team Members who inform and improve green actions for their store.

In January 2006, we made a landmark purchase of renewable energy credits to offset 100% of the electricity used in all of its stores, facilities, bakehouses, distribution centers, regional offices and national headquarters in the United States and Canada. This makes Whole Foods Market the only Fortune 500 Company purchasing wind energy credits to offset 100% of its electricity use.

We have been awarded Green Power awards by the EPA for four years for efforts in accelerating the development of renewable energy capacity.

Promoting the Health of our Stakeholders through Healthy Eating Education

At Whole Foods Market, we love to turn people on to new foods that promote healthy lifestyles and vitality.

We educate our stakeholders to eat well by choosing a variety of whole, natural, organic, unprocessed foods and emphasizing plant-based foods no matter what type of diet one follows.

Our healthy eating specialists are available to answer questions about the many healthy foods we carry and can direct customers to a wealth of information about creating and implementing a healthy diet.