Whole Foods Market Spotlights Agricultural Gains With 2nd Annual Impact Report
Whole Foods Market is highlighting some of its environmental and social gains from 2023 with its second annual Impact Report. The report gives an in-depth look at the grocer’s investments in waste reduction, championing climate-smart agriculture, empowering its associates, sourcing its products and strengthening its communities.
On the environmental front, Whole Foods kept nearly 70% of all store and operational waste out of landfill while maintaining recycling programs at 99% of its stores. Organic diversion programs, such as composting, were maintained at nearly 85% of stores.
Additionally, the grocer reached more than 41,000 organic products and 154 certified regenerative products across its stores, and maintained more than 550 banned ingredients across its standards for food, beverages, supplements, body care and household cleaning products. During the year, more than 28 million meals were donated to nearly 1,000 unique food rescue and distribution programs.
“With our purpose to nourish people and the planet as our North Star, we continue to hold ourselves to the highest standards in the industry when it comes to the quality of our products, reducing our environmental impact, supporting our communities and investing in our team members,” said CEO Jason Buechel. “I’m proud of the big wins, growth, and positive impact we achieved in 2023, all built on decades of effort and investment, and I’m excited to build on that legacy as we continue to drive lasting and positive change across the grocery industry.”
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As far as agriculture, Whole Foods funded more than 26,600 microloans across 37 countries through the Whole Planet Foundation and awarded 64 Community First grants to community-led organizations through the Whole Cities Foundation. The company also donated 509 educational gardens, 43 salad bars, and 108 beehives to schools through the Whole Kids Foundation.
“Agriculture sits squarely at the intersection of people and the environment, and the past year has only reinforced my fervent belief that it can be a positive force for good,” said Caitlin Leibert, VP of sustainability. “Every day I see and appreciate the effort of all Whole Foods Market stakeholders, from our team members to suppliers, to keep moving the needle forward and pushing the industry toward a more sustainable future. I look forward to continuing to find innovative ways to collectively change for the better in 2024.”
Additional highlights from the report include:
- Graduated nearly 1,800 team members from career development programs, in addition to promoting more than 8,700 Team Members in 2023.
- Awarded more than $1 million to local suppliers in 2023 through the Local Producer Loan Program and inducted 10 participants into its Local and Emerging Accelerator Program (LEAP) Early Growth cohort.
- Paid more than $9 million in premium funds to Sourced for Good suppliers, supporting a range of projects that benefit workers and their communities.
- Offered more than 2,600 affordably priced and thoughtfully sourced products under our 365 by Whole Foods Market brand. Nearly 1,000 of those products were organic as of the end of 2023.
The Austin, Texas-based grocer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seattle-based Amazon, which is No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Both Whole Foods and Amazon were named among PG’s Retailers of the Century. PG also named Whole Foods one of its 2024 Top 10 Sustainable Grocers.
