These are the stories of the dreamers and the doers, the farmers, the bakers, the organic soy candlemakers. Whole Foods Market is the sum of our suppliers, our Team Members, and our customers. They are our inspiration.
We’re on a mission: to nourish people and the planet. What does that really mean? Scroll down, and we won’t just tell you, we’ll show you. These are the real people behind the products – a community of some of the smartest, most passionate, hardest-working folks you’ll ever meet.
Welcome to the Whole Story.
Into The Wild
Wild Orchard Tea and the Promise of Regenerative Agriculture
Every sip of Wild Orchard tea reveals the deep flavor of a single-variety tea plant, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, which is grown on a truly unique farm. Located on the volcanic island of Jeju, South Korea, the farm is lush with tea trees thriving amidst the native wildlife. The tea trees are watered purely by rainfall and flavored by the mist that rises from the surrounding ocean.
The first tea trees were all grown from seeds—not from cuttings—planted more than two decades ago in the farm’s volcanic soil. This caused them to develop extremely deep roots and facilitated nutrient absorption. Furthermore, the trees were left largely untouched, not pruned or commercially harvested, until recent years. They grew wild and became much larger and more robust than those grown on most traditional tea farms. The result is a tea that’s soft on the palate and deep and complex in flavor.
Ruby Jean is the late grandmother of Chris Goode, founder and CEO of Ruby Jean’s Juicery. Ruby Jean was raised on a soul food diet and lived on very meager means, never in her life learning how to drive a car. She eventually moved to Kansas City, Mo.,in the late 1950s with several other family members.
She raised her family the same way she was raised, with a diet leaning heavily on salty, fatty foods like cornbread smothered in butter, fried chicken and luscious homemade desserts every day, such as raisin pie and sweet potato pie. A shy, hard-working woman, Ruby Jean loved her family very much and was loved dearly by them in turn. After a battle with Type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and high blood pressure, she passed away in 1999 at the age of 61.
When Goode, was introduced to the world of juicing, a passion for healthy living was born. He immediately thought of his late grandmother and wished she had the knowledge and understanding of the importance of healthy eating and drinking. Ruby Jean’s Juicery was born from the deep pain of Ruby Jean’s early passing, and Goode’s genuine belief that his grandmother would still be alive had she made different dietary choices.
As an extension of Whole Foods Market’s commitment to nourishing people and the planet, Whole Foods Market Foundation provides funding to innovative collaborators who are transforming lives across the globe. One tangible way the Foundation accomplishes this mission is through the work of Whole Planet, a pillar dedicated to helping micro-entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers living in poverty build long-term financial resilience.
To mark Whole Planet’s 20th anniversary and its broadening impact, we’re showcasing the innovative grassroots approaches their Tanzanian collaborators have developed to foster entrepreneurship — from the buzzing apiaries of local honey producers to vast savannas, where microfinance initiatives are helping pastoral communities thrive. We’ll dive deep into the vital work of ecosystem restoration, exploring how one nonprofit is working at the nexus of sustainable coastal livelihoods and marine conservation. These stories represent just a few examples of how the Foundation’s collaborators are building a more sustainable and prosperous future for all.
A Noble Plant: Coffee Sourcing at Whole Foods Market
Coffee cultivation can provide a path to prosperity to growers around the world, but it takes a remarkable effort to get that high-quality coffee into customers’ cups. Read on to learn how Whole Foods Market does it!
Your choices shape the world. Be part of the impact and choose brands that create real change—uplifting communities, protecting nature, and promoting ethical sourcing.
Jenny Yang had always enjoyed the local Chicago staple Phoenix Bean. So when the opportunity came to buy it, she was not only determined to carry on the tofu-making tradition, but it was also a way for her to launch her own creations with Jenny’s Tofu. An added incentive? To help those who do not consume dairy, like her kids, by promoting the benefits of soy.
Most of us take sitting down to eat a meal for granted. For millions of Americans who suffer from serious food allergies, though, the simple act of eating can be a source of stress and anxiety!
For more than four generations, Diestel Family Ranch has done everything but compromise the values it was founded on to raise delicious birds for consumers. Jason and Heidi Diestel, fourth generation farmers, are now working closely with Whole Foods Market to bring regenerative agriculture to their farm and the poultry industry.
In this Whole Story, you will learn what regeneratively raised poultry means to the Diestels and what it could mean for the future of how we eat.
In the heart of the Midwest is Detroit, a city built on grit and perseverance. For Carlos Parisi, owner of Aunt Nee’s, that began during the great financial crisis in 2007, when his family and others needed money in the wake of mass automotive layoffs and the resulting impact on the community. Parisi and a friend began a salsa company that sold simple dry-mix salsa. It saved two families and indebted Parisi to the community of Detroit.
In this Whole Story, we explore what happens when children of first and second-generation immigrants are given the space and opportunity to write their own narrative and fight to maintain the spirit of Detroit.
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. Read on to learn more about her innovative new role at Whole Foods Market!
Ayéya means “life in balance.” By embracing the traditional methods and natural resources of West Africa, Ayéya wants to empower and advance the communities it serves.
How do you preserve a culture when you’re forced to leave the country you call home?
For The White Moustache, it means preserving a painstaking, but loving process rooted in the family’s Persian and Zoroastrian heritage. It means eschewing conventional norms of how we produce food, while enhancing flavor, richness, and legacy.
In this Whole Story, we explore how yogurt and whey reflect a life affected by immigration, community, adaptation, and experimentation.
What exactly are Whole Foods Market’s Exclusive Brand products? Not just any old store brand – we strive to create the highest quality, trend-setting, most delicious products possible, all while meeting or exceeding our industry-leading quality standards!
What exactly is “Sourced for Good”? Created by Whole Foods Market, this program helps support workers, communities and environmental stewardship where our products are sourced.
On the front of Shaquanda’s Hot Pepper Sauce is Shaquanda, a drag persona that encapsulates the upbringing and community of Andre Springer. Springer is a proud New Yorker, Barbadian, performer, cook, and hot-sauce company owner.
In this Whole Story, we explore the intersection of Springer’s identities and how they’re represented in a hot sauce and persona that confronts gender lines, racial stereotypes, and what it means to have spice.
Our food system is massively complex, and it extends around the globe. At Whole Foods Market we believe there’s no better way to learn about these systems than to follow those supply chains back to their source, and to visit producers in person.
In 2018, Elliott Myers approached Ali Bolourchi with the task of establishing aquaculture standards for sturgeon farming. Myers knew something special was happening at Tsar Nicoulai Caviar, and it was the partnership between these two that changed the sturgeon caviar industry forever.
Every product starts in the hands of one person and potentially makes its way into the hands of millions. Along that journey, our Local and Emerging Brands team is behind the scenes, building the pathway to connect these products and the growing communities they serve.
Whole Foods Market has a commitment toward local and emerging brands that has grown and evolved. In this Whole Story, meet two members of the Local and Emerging Brands Team who are helping us evolve to nourish people and the planet.
