Whole Foods Market

Each year, our Trends Council comes together to discuss their Top Food Trend Predictions, and to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we’re sharing them Live on #LinkedIn!   On Wednesday, October 16th, join our Ambassador of Food Culture, Cathy Strange, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, Alyssa Vescio, and Senior Vice President of Culinary, Jeff Turnas, as they chat us through their favorite trends for 2025 and go down memory lane to highlight past trends we’re still talking about — even a decade later.    Save the date by clicking "Attend" via the link below, and we'll see you then! 🎉 #Food #LinkedInLive #NourishingConnection #TeamWFM

“What makes food for me so special is that I have a passion around it; I love it. I think that connection around loving food is a passion and a connection that artists have around doing art or musicians have around performing. It’s very unique. You learn every day. It becomes a part of who you are and you wanna learn every day and you want to share it every day. I have the love for the producers. I have the love for the land. I have the love for telling the story, for educating our team about it. And hopefully that has been able to inspire others to do the same.” - Cathy Strange, Ambassador of Food Culture 💚💚💚 Since 1990, Cathy Strange has been instrumental in Whole Foods Market’s success. As a world-renowned cheese expert, she played a pivotal role in identifying food trends and fostering relationships with unique suppliers from around the world. Tag along as Cathy discusses her journey to becoming our new Ambassador of Food Culture where she'll leverage her extensive expertise, champion excellence in our stores and ultimately nurture a deeper passion for food among Team Members and customers alike. p.s. She'll be hosting a live on #LinkedIn tomorrow 👉 https://lnkd.in/gkMiRh-6 #NourishPeople #NourishPurpose #NourishConnection #TeamWFM

When you’re walking down the aisles or browsing through the produce bins at the grocery store, it can be hard to tell what you’re actually buying: Where did it come from, who grew it, what is the impact on the local community and environment? Our Sourced for Good Program aims to tell that story and raise that bar for the whole industry. We collaborate with farms, suppliers and international third-party certifiers — Fair Trade USA, Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade America, Fair Food Program, Equitable Food Initiative and Regenerative Organic Alliance — to help improve wages, provide more access to healthcare and student scholarships, increase tree plantings to prevent erosion, and so much more. Check out the program in action for one of our amazing Sourced for Good suppliers in the video below! #FairTradeMonth #FairForAll #WholeStory #NourishConnection #NourishWellbeing #TeamWFM

This Sunday, I had the chance to visit our Asheville stores — Asheville, Kenilworth and South Asheville — which were hardest hit by Hurricane Helene. And on Monday, I visited our Cross Hill and Woodruff stores in Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina — communities that were also impacted and have supported a growing customer demand given the hurricane. The devastation here is real, even outside Asheville, and the region continues to suffer from widespread damage, closed roads and businesses, water outages and non-potable water, power outages and personal tragedies. But even amid all this destruction, our Whole Foods Market culture is standing strong. After the hurricane, our stores were often the first to re-open. Even as many of our Team Members are facing their own hardships — like the loss of homes, cars, household income and even family businesses — they have been stepping up for the community in astounding ways. My conversations with them swung from heart-warming to heartbreaking and back again, but what overwhelmingly stood out was the broader resilience of this community and the way it is coming together to deal with these enormous challenges. It was clear to me that our Team Members feel responsible for taking care of their community, and our customers are appreciative. As I worked bagging groceries, two customers shared how grateful they were for Whole Foods Market and that they could find food to feed their families. As a company, Whole Foods Market is helping. We’re donating and distributing water, setting up Porta-potties outside stores and leveraging the Team Member Emergency Fund to help Team Members pay their bills. For those who have had to leave the area, we’re helping them pick up hours at other locations. But Team Members are also independently stepping up, whether by listening to customers who need to tell their stories, helping them find what they need or heating burritos for customers who don’t have a way to do that themselves. And Team Members are letting me know what’s really needed on the ground, suggesting other ways we can help. Appreciations to all of you who are helping nourish the Asheville community, both in body and in spirit. Rebuilding is going to be a long road, but what I saw on the ground makes me confident that, given time, this community will come back stronger than ever before.

"I started my Whole Foods Market journey as a Careers Development Team Leader (CDTL) in 2012. Whole Foods acquired the company I worked for, but I received an opportunity to apply for a position and got started as a Grocery CDTL in the Hingham store with Matt Cook as my Store Team Leader. I didn’t know much about Whole Foods at the time and, to be honest, worried if there would be a place for me, but I was excited for the chance. From the start, Matt welcomed me with open arms and made me feel at home. The more I worked with him and the team, the more I knew this was the place for me. I had a strong support system from leadership who helped me understand what it meant to lead. From there, I became a Grocery Team Leader and eventually rose to Associate Store Team Leader at our Ink Block location in Boston. I stepped further into leadership as Store Team Leader at our Jamaica Plain store in February of 2020, moved to our Charles River Plaza location, and then made my way back to Hyannis about two years ago. Each step of my journey has reinforced why I love working for Whole Foods. It feels more like a family than a company, and I truly care about every one of our Team Members. I feel so much pride when I see them grow in the company and turn their jobs into their careers. When I started as a CDTL, I felt so much overwhelming support that I now try to lead similarly so everyone working with me feels as empowered as I did. I’m looking forward to the Hyannis relocation and bringing this store footprint to Cape Cod! When we opened the first Hyannis store, it was a smaller format that didn’t have the space to showcase all the great products we offer that our community deserved access to. With this store, we can stock them all, and I’m so excited to share our new space and selections with our neighbors. When I opened our first store in Hyannis as a Grocery Team Lead, I had only worked for the company for a little over a year — just excited to be involved and build a team from scratch. Now, coming back and opening our new location as a Store Team Leader, it feels like I came full circle in my career. I hope to see you at our new location!" - Bill Earley, Store Team Leader #NourishPeople #NourishWellbeing #TeamWFM

Say "hello" to The Inside Scoop. 👋 Launched to bring culinary inspo into your inbox, this brand new, bimonthly-ish newsletter highlights some of the new, exclusive and wallet-friendly items you can find in our stores — alongside food trends and expert tips you can whip up at home. Just in time for fall, tuck into the first issue for some seasonal delights! 👉 https://lnkd.in/gshx8FHR #Newsletter #Food #Recipes #NourishingPurpose #TeamWFM

"My family and I moved as expats to China and Taiwan for four years. It was a unique experience, but I missed shopping at my Whole Foods Market while away. So, when we returned to Arizona in 2022, my brother-in-law suggested: 'Since you love Whole Foods, why not apply for a job there?', and so my journey began. The feel and ambiance of our stores have always been a warm and welcoming environment, and the Team Members are always kind and ready to help. Within weeks of joining, the culture here quickly made me realize this is where I'm meant to be.   I started as a part-time cashier in Tempe, AZ, where my Team Leader — awesome Life Coach and mentor Alberto 'Bert' Gutierrez — motivated me to apply for the Team Trainer role, which, along with my passion for sustainability, soon led me to become a Green Mission Ambassador, championing waste prevention, resource conservation, and responsible sourcing while activating community engagement. This convening of my personal and professional passions encouraged me to apply for the 'In the Field with Jason' trip to Northern California. Gratefully, I was recognized as one of the Outstanding Applicants and became one of the 14 selected Culture Champions to join. 😊   Visiting the Caviar Farm and spending time in the tank with the sturgeons was such a wholesome and peaceful experience. Meeting the different suppliers helped me understand many important aspects of the company through various discussions about what we all do and why we do it to maintain our Quality Standards. The gratitude and appreciation each of our suppliers had for Whole Foods made me smile and reflect on our Purpose to nourish people and the planet.   The mentorship I received during those three days was an elixir for the learning and growth I needed to better serve in my current role. The trip has quadrupled my gratitude towards our CEO, Jason, my mentors and the many Team Members I met there. I left so inspired that I signed up to be a mentor, to pay forward and share all I have learned with current and future Team Members.   I look forward to learning more, growing and inspiring others as much as I can!"   - Maanasi Balakrishnan, Store Team Trainer #Trainer #InTheField #NourishPeople #NourishGrowth #TeamWFM

“I’m extremely proud to work for Whole Foods Market and inspired by the ways that we care for our Team Members and their families. Receiving the Mayor’s Health & Well-being Gold Partner certification shows our commitment to the Austin community — where we started more than 40 years ago. What a joy to be recognized as a leader in best practice offerings and cultivating an environment to live out our purpose to nourish people and the planet.” – Elena Chisholm, Senior Wellness Engagement Partner 💚💚💚 Applause and appreciation to our Wellness team for receiving gold-level recognition by the Mayor’s Health & Well-Being Council (MHWC). The nonprofit's focus on community connections and Austin becoming the healthiest city in the country bolsters our dedication towards cultivating healthy, sustainable lifestyles. Here's to more future programs that improve the health and well-being of our #ATX neighbors. 🎉 #NourishPeople #NourishConnection #NourishWellbeing #TeamWFM