Posts about Whole Foods

Whole Foods Says It Won't Sell Any Unsustainable Seafood
Whole Foods, that bastion of all things labeled "organic," has taken another step deeper into the environmentally-friendly pool by announcing they will stop selling fish or other seafood caught in depleted waters or through ecologically damaging methods. More »

Wrong Holiday: Whole Foods Doesn't Bother To Research What People Actually Eat During Hanukkah
UPDATE: Just hours after a Washington Post blogger ranted against a Washington D.C. area Whole Foods with a Hanukkah display of matzoh has responded via Twitter to apologize for the incident. More »

The Whole Foods Resignation Letter Of Doom
If you've ever wondered what it would look like if you pulled back the shiny hippy veneer of Whole Foods and saw what was squiggling underneath, now's your chance. A Whole Foods worker just cc:'d their resignation letter to the entire company, and it's quite the mangum opus. More »

How To Game The Salad Bar At Whole Foods
Is your salad bar ripping you off? The New York Times Magazine investigated and found that ingredients at the salad bar, like cucumber, were 70% more expensive at the salad bar than if you had bought them from elsewhere in the store. So how do you get the best deal when you're forking lettuce down your gullet? For one, go for the baby spinach and mesclun to get the best value, ladle on the cost-effective sun-dried tomatoes and go nuts on the toppings. These little guys will take a far bigger premium from your wallet off the shelf than from the lettuce trough. More »

Man Sues Whole Foods Over Exploding Green Tea
Some people drink tea to put a little spark into their day, but a Nashville man got explosions instead. He's suing Starbucks and Whole Foods after bottles of Tazo green tea exploded twice in his possession. One time the bottle shattered in his hand, and another it blew up in his shopping cart. On one of the occasions, shards of glass damaged tendons in his hand that required two surgeries. More »

Whole Foods CEO Just Begging To Be Called Out On His BS
There are certain assumptions we make in this world: The sun rises in the east; the Cubs will never win the World Series again; and Whole Foods is an expensive place to shop. But don't tell that to the grocery chain's CEO John Mackey, who says that only .1% of the products he sells are pricier than you'll find elsewhere. More »

Mom Banned From Whole Foods For Inadvertent Shoplifting
A woman in Chicago who purchased $40 in groceries at Whole Foods but was later snagged by security with a purloined bottle of kids vitamins in her bag is now persona non grata at the overpriced grocery chain. More »

Potentially Boozy Kombucha Drinks Drive Whole Foods Yank
Whole Foods has removed all kombucha drinks from its shelves over concerns that it might contain elevated levels of alcohol. The supermarket was worried that, to paraphrase the great poet J-Kwon, "errybody in the fermented culture club gettin' tipsy." What's kombucha, you ask? And why does the process of making it remind me of a certain Capri Sun pouch? More »

Black Widow Spider Found In Whole Food Grapes
According to WBZ in Boston a man found a black widow spider in his package of Whole Foods grapes. Don't worry though, while the bite of the Black Widow is painful, few people die from it. More »

The 23 Best Big Companies To Work For
While there are the Comcasts and the Cash4Golds out there, it's heartening to know that there are actually companies deemed to be "good" to work for. Exciting! Thanks for putting together a list of 23 of those magical companies, Fortune! More »

Study: Walmart Price Cuts Are Actually Price Hikes
If you've turned on a TV recently, you've probably seen one of the seemingly countless Walmart ads where the retail behemoth brags about its latest round of price cuts. But a new study says Walmart's actually been raising its prices on groceries in 2010. More »

Racist NJ Teens Also Shop, Use P.A. Systems, At Whole Foods
Looks like stupid, racist teenagers in New Jersey don't just shop at Walmart. A 14-year-old girl in Edgewater, NJ, was caught this weekend using the PA system at a local Whole Foods to announce, "All blacks leave the store." More »

Whole Foods Finds Way To Make Overweight Folk Feel Even More Self-Conscious
Whole Foods is offering bigger discounts — from the current 20 percent to 30 percent — to employees with a low body mass index, as well as non-nicotine use, low cholesterol and blood pressure, Jezebel reports. More »

Whole Foods Shrink Rays Holiday Dinner
Paul and his wife purchased a pre-cooked feast for eight people at Whole Foods, but they claim that they didn't get their whole order of food. Their two-pound side dishes, sold by weight, actually weighed in at as little as 1 pound, 3 ounces. Is their kitchen scale broken, or is something wrong at Whole Foods? More »

Whole Foods CEO Spurs Boycott With Health Care Views

—>Memo to Whole Foods CEO John Mackey: when much of your customer base consists of reusable-bag-using, wheatgrass-munching "progressive" types, it's probably not such a good idea to publish an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal criticizing current health care reform proposals. At least if you don't want said customers organizing boycotts of your stores.  More »

Whole Foods Fires Employee For Stopping Shoplifter

—>It must be pretty easy to shoplift at Whole Foods because if any of their employees touch you, they'll be fired.   More »

Supermarkets Begin To Shrink

—>The New York Times reports that several supermarket and retail chains, including Safeway, Walmart, and Whole Foods, are beginning to experiment with much smaller store sizes that emphasize things like cafes, prepared meals, and produce. The idea is to emphasize speed over choice, and was apparently triggered by UK competitor Tesco, which has launched over 70 small-format supermarkets in Nevada, Arizona, and Southern California over the past year. Of course, the stores also require less shelf space for products than they did a year ago.  More »

Hysteria: Great, Now Whole Foods Is Making You Broke And Fat

—>The New York Sun says that salad and prepared food bars (at Whole Foods, for example) are making you fat. Why? Supposedly, the containers they give you are huge and lead you to unwittingly buy "supersized" portions of food for lunch.
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Whole Foods Seeks To Define Its Prices As Bargains

—>As the economy sours, premium stores like Whole Foods are struggling to keep customers, reports the New York Times. To remain competitive, the pricey natural grocery store is offering guided tours to customers who want to cut costs but can't stand to set foot in Winn Dixie.  More »

Whole Foods Recalls Previously Recalled Meat. What?

—>Whole Foods apparently never got that June memo to chuck Nebraska Beef contaminated with E. coli. The posh-man's bodega announced yesterday that they are recalling the previously-recalled beef, which Whole Foods sold between June 2 and August 6. The contaminated beef has popped up in 24 states and sickened 49 people. Noted food safety litigator Bill Marler shows us that being a lawyer can be fun by posing six amusingly litigious questions for Whole Foods...  More »

Closed: Too Much Rodent Poo At This Chicago Whole Foods

—> Over 100 rodent droppings in one cooler alone is too many, says the Chicago Department of Public Heath... and so the Lincoln Park Whole Foods has been closed until the management can eliminate the infestation. Ick.  More »

Just Because It Says "Organic" Doesn't Mean It Won't Give You A Ton Of Cancer

—>Here at the Consumerist we're not trying to tell you that you need to buy organic soap, but if you do want organic soap... we think you should get what you're paying for.  More »

Whole Foods Will Eliminate Plastic Bags, Says "Bring Your Own"

—>Whole Foods says that by Earth Day 2008 they will be eliminating plastic bags and instead offer only paper bags or reusable bags made from recycled plastic bottles for $0.99.   More »

Whole Foods has expanded last week's recall of 365 Organic Everyday Value Chocolate Bars to include all 8 varieties, and expanded the Best If Used By date window to any date prior to 11/08/09, because of possible undeclared milk and tree nuts. [FDA]  More »

This Bag Of Chopped Spinach Needs More Bird Feathers

—>Zach's wife found a bird feather in a bag of 365 Chopped Spinach. When she called Whole Foods to complain, a bird-brained employee quipped "You'd be surprised at how much stuff people find in their food!"  More »

Whole Foods Computer Crash Results In $4,000 Grocery Giveaway

—>What did Whole Foods Associate Manager Ted Donoghue do when his West Hartford store lost its computer system during a major snowstorm? Nothing! After realizing that the registers were down for the count, Donoghue issued simple instructions to his cashiers: bag the customer's groceries and wish them a happy holidays.  More »

FTC Appeals, Still Trying To Stop Whole Foods/Wild Oats Merger

—>A judge has ruled in favor of the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger, but the FTC has announced they will appeal the decision and are asking that the merger be blocked pending that appeal.  More »

3 Consumer Groups Speak Out Against Whole Foods/Wild Oats Marriage

—> Three consumer groups have filed an amicus brief on behalf of the FTC, which has moved to block Whole Foods' attempt to purchase rival Wild Oats. A federal judge is expected to rule on the case soon; in the meantime, Whole Foods earlier today extended its offer to Wild Oats until August 15th. Omg this is totally like when Heidi decided to move in with Spencer on The Hills! (We had to go to Wikipedia to write that sentence.)  More »

Whole Foods CEO Caught Bashing Wild Oats Stock On Yahoo Forums

—>Back in 2005, when the (currently being opposed by the FTC) Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger was just a glint in the Whole Foods CEO's eye... John "Anonymous Troll" Mackey was on Yahoo! forums bashing Wild Oats stock.   More »

Whole Foods Adopts Bank-Style Checkout Lines

—>Whole Foods in Manhattan has made checkout line races a thing of the past by adopting newfangled bank-style checkout lanes. The new system queues shoppers in a single line, directing them to checkout counters as cashiers become available.

The single-line, bank-style system was quickly chosen for its statistical efficiency. Then, Whole Foods paired the system with possibly the largest number of registers in the city, more than 30 per store, and it hired an army of cashiers to staff them throughout the day (including "floaters" to fill in for those who need a break).  More »

FTC: Wild Oats Whole Foods Buyout Bad For Consumers

—>The FTC thinks that Whole Food's buyout of competitor Wild Oats would lead to increased prices and decreased quality according to a statement issued on June 5. They're planning to block the buyout. "Whole Foods and Wild Oats are each other's closest competitors in premium natural and organic supermarkets, and are engaged in intense head-to-head competition in markets across the country," said Jeffrey Schmidt, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. "If Whole Foods is allowed to devour Wild Oats, it will mean higher prices, reduced quality, and fewer choices for consumers."  More »

Welcome To The Future Home Of The Hazmat Whole Foods

—>Over at the Gowanus Lounge there is new discussion of the Brooklyn Whole Foods that is to be built on site of a toxic chemical spill that is absolutely, 100%, positively, in no way, seriously you guys, we're not kidding around here NOT the fault of Verizon. Whole Foods has finally branded the site despite the huge hazmat warning, as shown in this way-cool photo.   More »

New York Has Crazy Wine Retailing Laws

Yes, it's time for another edition of "New York's crazy wine retailing laws!"  More »

This Will Totally Be A Whole Foods Just As Soon As We Clean Up The Toxic Waste

—>For those of you not familiar with the landscape of the borough of Kings, this is a photo taken from inside of the site of a new Whole Foods store in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn. Currently, the site is home to an underground toxic plume of benzene that may or may not have originated at the nearby Verizon fuel station. Verizon denies that the fuel station, which is at the epicenter of the toxic plume, is the cause of the mess, despite the fact that there have been 5 oil spills on the site.   More »

Whole Foods Will Consume Wild Oats

—>Well, folks it looks like Whole "Paycheck" is about to get a lot bigger. The natural-foods grocer announced that it would be acquiring competitor Wild Oats. The Wild Oats stores will be remodeled and re-branded as Whole Foods. Do these tears come in soy?—MEGHANN MARCO  More »

Verizon Employees: You Probably Should Have Told Us About The Toxic Levels of Benzene

—>UPDATE: Verizon says toxic plume isn't its fault  More »

Whole Foods Decidedly Inorganic Over Coupon Redemption

Mitchell's letter is a great example of how you can stand up to (supermarket) authority, get into an argument, be a smartass, and still walk away with six free can of hippie soda.  More »

Whole Foods' Remarkably Feculent Fruit

—>A paper sack of rotting fruit: oozing black, pulpy innards, fetid in maggots, a noxious stench exuding from diseased and swollen orbs. What's that? A bag full of genetically-modified and irradiated granny smiths from the local Stop & Shop. Hardly — a two day old sack of Whole Food organic fruits.  More »