By Sarah Hannigan, General Manager of Whole Foods Co-op. Originally published in the Spring 2025 Garbanzo Gazette.
Every now and again, Whole Foods gains prominence in the national news cycle; and whenever this happens, confusion arises about our history, our stores, and our motivations as a business. Whole Foods Co-op is markedly different than the other Whole Foods (Market) owned by Amazon. We’re a different business, with a different ownership model, and different objectives. We’re independent, cooperatively owned, and driven to maximize positive impact in our community. While I’ve shared some of these details in past issues of the Garbanzo Gazette, it seems timely to share them again.
Whole Foods Co-op is local in a way that Whole Foods Market can’t ever be. When I say local, I mean much more than the wide array of local products we purchase directly from over 170 independent growers, producers, and vendors. At Whole Foods Co-op, local transcends product offerings.
Whole Foods Co-op is of our community.
Today we are cooperatively owned by over 14,000 of you. Each Owner is literally invested in our grocery stores, in our business, and in our collective success. Owners have a say in our business objectives and direction by electing the Board of Directors who set high level policy for our business operations. The board also articulates what long-term success looks like for our Co-op and the impact we have as we serve our community.
Whole Foods Co-op is by our community.
Our cooperative is what it is today due to the hard work of an intertwined network of individuals and businesses. The purchases you make support wages and benefits for our talented and dedicated staff. During the last fiscal year, almost 36% of the inventory we purchased to offer on our shelves came from independent Minnesota and Wisconsin businesses. We also rely on countless local service providers to keep our operations humming.
Whole Foods Co-op is for our community.
We support local agencies working to address hunger and poverty in our neighborhoods, to support youth and environmental programming, and to grow and expand the capacity of local farmers. Every day we’re also working to ensure that shopping at and participating as an Owner of our Co-op is accessible to all, so that our patrons reflect our whole community.
I’m proud to say we aren’t Whole Foods Market, and we won’t ever be. Whole Foods Co-op is where local truly matters. Thank you for joining us!