Whole Foods 2009 Annual Report Download - page 16

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sustainable agriculture. We are greatly increasing our efforts in this regard by further empowering our individual store and
regional buyers to seek out locally grown products. We value this natural diversity.
Whole Foods Market currently purchases produce from over 2,000 different farms through various suppliers. We believe we
can and should do more to support local producers. To that end, we have established a budget of up to $10 million to
promote local agriculture, especially animal agriculture, wherever we have stores through long-term loans currently ranging
from $1,000 to $100,000 at low interest rates. We completed our first loan through the Local Producer Loan Program in
February 2007 and so far have disbursed more than $2.7 million in loans to 45 local producers Company-wide. Loan
recipients must use funds for expansion and not operating expenses, meet Whole Foods Market’s quality standards, and have
a viable business plan and adequate cash flow to service the debt. Eligible products include agricultural crops, value-added
food products, and other all-natural grocery items.
Whole TradeTM Guarantee
In March 2007, we launched our Whole Trade Guarantee program, a buying initiative that expands our social responsibility
to bring together a set of strict criteria for products sourced from developing countries. In a shrinking global marketplace, the
Whole Trade program is a logical extension of our values that promote quality in everything we do, from products and
business practices to caring for our team members, communities and the environment. The products in this program must
meet specific criteria in four areas of responsibility. They must:
• meet our high quality standards;
• provide more money to producers;
• ensure better wages and working conditions for workers; and
• care for the environment.
Products under the Whole Trade Guarantee meeting these criteria are purchased at a price that is equal to or greater than the
internationally recognized fair trade price. For these products, Whole Foods Market donates 1% of sales to the Whole Planet
Foundation to help end world poverty.
Our Whole Trade Guarantee label is currently featured on over 1,350 items, and sales of approximately $76 million in fiscal
year 2009 generated approximately $762,000 for the Whole Planet Foundation. This was a 72% increase from fiscal year
2008, when sales of approximately $44 million generated approximately $442,000 for the Whole Planet Foundation.
Private Label
An extension of our leadership position in the natural and organic foods industry is our strong family of private label brands.
These products extend the confidence and trust our customers have in our stores to their everyday lives. We have built upon
this trust and over the last several years have significantly expanded our private label resources and offerings, which
currently feature approximately 2,400 SKUs led by our primary brands, 365 Everyday Value and 365 Organic. These
products are designed to cover the full spectrum of category needs: from the highest quality, value entry-point products to
super premium, unique offerings that cater to true food aficionados. While some of our private label products yield greater
margins than their comparable brand alternative, their primary purpose is to help differentiate our product selection and
provide more value offerings to our customers.
In addition to these nationally-driven programs, we have a number of store-made and regionally-made fresh items sold under
the Whole Foods Market label. We also offer specialty and organic coffee, tea and drinking chocolates through our Allegro
Coffee Company subsidiary. In addition, we have developed a grouping of “exclusive” and “control brand” products to fill
out our family of brands. Control brands are brands produced exclusively for Whole Foods Market and not available to other
retailers (e.g., Columbia River Organics). Exclusive products are either co-branded with the national brand and Whole Foods
Market brand or are a unique formulation or attribute only available at Whole Foods Market. These products help continue to
differentiate Whole Foods Market selections across all aspects of our various product categories. We currently offer
approximately 1,300 regional and other branded products, including Allegro Coffee products, in our stores.
Total private label sales across all categories accounted for approximately 11% of our retail sales in fiscal year 2009, up from
10% of our retail sales in fiscal year 2008. We believe our private label sales will grow to a higher percentage of our sales
over time as we continue the development and growth of our product lines.