As a child I always loved chocolate milk and ice cream bars. Who didn’t? Now that I’m “more mature” the kid in me is always on the lookout for the perfect sweet treat that’s tinged with childhood nostalgia while still appealing to my adult taste buds. Lucky for me, two of our most recent Local Producer Loan recipients more than satisfy!
This amazing gelato company was founded by fellow travelers who sampled this historical frozen dessert wherever they went. (Did you know gelato dates back to the 16thcentury?) They wondered why they couldn’t find a great scoop of gelato back at home in the Bay Area and they set out to change that! The result? A high-quality, unique product made by hand in small batches that’s now sold in many Whole Foods Market gelato bars in Northern California, as well as in their own Gelateria Naia stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.
With encouragement from their fans, Gelateria Naia began looking into how they could sell their product on the grocery shelves. Rather than going with the traditional pint-of-ice-cream model, they took an approach as distinctive as their product and decided to create gelato on a stick. Adult gelato enthusiast, shake hands with child ice cream bar lover. What an amazing combo! They received a Local Producer Loan from Whole Foods Market and created a completely unique item that is sold in the frozen section of Whole Foods Markets across Northern California. This is the perfect example of what the Local Producer Loan Program can do: provide capital to create a new and exciting product that benefits a local company, Whole Foods Market and our shoppers!
Harvindar Singh, Whole Foods Market’s Local Forager for the Northern California area, hands me a fresh cup of locally roasted coffee just as I greet him at the center of the Friday morning Oakland, CA farmers market. It’s a good, bold roast and takes the chill out of the air. Before I’ve even taken a sip, we are on the move.
“Come over here, I want you to check this out.”
Harv motions me towards something I’ve never seen at a market before. A man in rubber overalls reaches into what looks like a derelict hot tub on the back of a rusty pickup and pulls out a still flopping rock cod. He throws it in a plastic bag for an elderly Chinese woman and trades it for a wad of cash.
“This is what I love about this market, there’re some really interesting things here. Like all the Asian produce over there,” he motions to a row of Hmong and Chinese farmers. Their tables have familiar crops like carrots and snap peas but are overflowing with peppery greens and fist-sized, wrinkly melons.
We weave in and out of different stalls, examining stone fruit and Purple Cherokee heirloom tomatoes. Most of the farmers don’t know what Harv does for a living, but many recognize him as a regular and present him with samples. No one gives him the hard sell, they just offer foods they’re intensely proud of, knowing a taste is all it takes to make the sale. Read the rest of this entry »
Our most recent Local Producer Loan recipient, Hail Merry, was started by raw food chef Susan O’Brien with a desire to bring awareness to the benefits of healthy, raw oils. And if this is what raw oils taste like, I’m never going back!
Dallas-based Hail Merry creates delicious macaroons, tarts, nuts and granola (grawnola, if you please) which are raw or dehydrated at very low temperatures to protect the integrity of the dietary oils and living enzymes found in the raw, organic ingredients. All products are vegan with no refined sugars.
Rest assured you do not have to be vegan or a raw foodist to enjoy these amazing treats. Hail Merry’s macaroons and tarts are my number one go-to when my sweet tooth kicks in! In fact, their Chocolate Almond Butter Miracle Tart won best new vegan product at the Natural Foods Expo this year.
With the proceeds from their loan, Hail Merry purchased a forming machine, which will help them automate their process and increase production. They are expanding quickly and will need that extra product! They started off in Texas and you can now purchase Hail Merry products at Whole Foods Markets throughout the Southwest, Midwest, Rocky Mountains, California, Louisiana and a few stores in the Northeast.
We’re idealists, we admit it! Our values drive what we do every day at Whole Foods Market and sometimes we have a special project that hits on multiple facets of our ideals. Such is the case with our most recent Local Producer Loan Program recipient, Thompson Farms Smokehouse.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR COMMENTS. CONGRATULATIONS TO TARA FROM ANN ANBOR, MICHIGAN! SHE’S THE WINNER OF THE LOCAL PRODUCT GIFT BASKET!
Good news – as of this week, Whole Foods Market has funded $4 million in low-interest loans for small, local producers through our Local Producer Loan Program!
Even better news – that money has helped our neighborhood farmers, bakers, artisans, mom-and-pop shops (you name it) grow their businesses and bring hundreds of high quality products into our stores for our customers to enjoy.
The best news – to celebrate the milestone, we’re giving away a basket full of goodies made by some of our loan recipients! It’s simple. Just enter a comment below by March 22nd telling us why you love your local producers and you have a chance to win! We’ll choose one lucky comment at random to receive the basket.
Why did we start the Local Producer Loan Program? Whole Foods Market recognizes that small businesses (even with high quality products and a viable business plan) sometimes need a hand to reach their big dreams. So in 2007, we launched the Local Producer Loan Program with a commitment to fund up to $10 million dollars in low-interest loans. After all, it’s our hard-working local producers and their unique offerings that give each of our stores its one-of-a-kind flavor and pizzazz.
We’ll admit it — we’ve been associated with granola from time to time! So I find it only fitting that several of our Local Producer Loan Program recipients produce this iconic health food. After all, it’s as yummy today as it was when we opened 30 years ago — maybe even more so!
Like granola, our support for local producers has been around since the beginning. That’s why we started the Local Producer Loan Program, which has provided almost $4 million in low-interest loans to small, local producers. We’re proud to be helping them grow their businesses and bring more products like these great granolas to market.
In early 2006, Michele took the first dozen bags of her granola to sell at a local farmers market. It quickly gained followers, and within 18 months, she had moved production into a commercial kitchen where she began baking for local food co-ops and natural food stores. Although Michele’s Granola products are now available in almost 100 retail stores, the granola is still made by hand in small batches. Michele recently moved production to a larger commercial kitchen, and she used her loan to purchase equipment and build out the space.
Michele’s products are currently available in our stores in the Mid-Atlantic region.
If you haven’t tried Justin’s nut butters yet, then December’s the month to make it happen. Sure I’m a little partial to their outrageously yummy flavor combinations such as maple almond, honey peanut and chocolate hazelnut. And I really like the convenient, carry-anywhere squeeze packs I take on hikes. And I have a small bias because Whole Foods Market was Justin’s first retail outlet and we helped him grow his business with our Local Producer Loan Program.
Yes, those are all great reasons but I really think you should try Justin’s this month because for every jar of nut butter sold in December, Justin’s will donate $1 to the Conscious Alliance!
On Sept, 21, our newest store in Northern California, Coddingtown in Santa Rosa, officially opened its doors! Along with amazing neighbors, great tacos (for a good cause), and the first drinks at our new Tap Room (16 beers on tap!), we also had a chance to celebrate the two newest Local Producer Loan recipients in Northern California, Grindstone Bakery and Lydia’s Organics.
Each of these long-time vendors creates just the kind of healthy, all-natural food that we are so proud to offer. Grindstone Bakery’s owner and baker Mario Repetto produces artisan wheat-free, whole grain breads and cookies, while Lydia Kindheart of Lydia’s Organics creates dehydrated foods made of raw, organic, vegan ingredients. Both will be using their loans to help expand production.
In fact, not only did Lydia and Mario help us break the bread, Mario baked it! Check out some photos from the opening.
Join fourth-generation cattleman Will Harris and “Fan Favorite” Chef Kevin Gillespie on Will’s ranch, White Oak Pastures, as they discuss what makes grass-fed beef so unique.
Will explains, “White Oak Pastures works in cooperation with nature to produce premium quality beef that is healthy, nutritious, and good to eat. Care is given to ensure that all of our production practices are economically practical, ecologically sustainable, and that the animals are always humanely treated.”
Established in 1866, White Oak Pastures is comprised of 18 different farms in and around Southwestern Georgia. Will grazes the five thousand-plus cattle on 100% Georgia native sweet grasses. With the help of a loan from Whole Foods Market’s Local Producer Loan Program, Will recently built an on-farm processing facility designed for low-stress animal handling while also minimizing the environmental impact.
True to our commitment to support our local communities, we partner with grass-fed producers from across the country. Grass-fed beef from White Oak Pastures is available in our stores in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia and in Washington, D.C. and Princeton and Marlton, New Jersey.
Want to know where the grass-fed beef in your local Whole Foods Market comes from? Just check our Grass-fed Rancher Partners page. And don’t forget to pick up some grass-fed beef in our stores to give it a try yourself! We’ve got recipes and cooking tips along with the whole scoop on the benefits of grass-fed on our Grass-fed Beef page.
Matt O’Hayer’s happy hens are pasture-raised outdoors at Vital Farms near Austin, Texas. Matt’s hens move among open pastures, ensuring fresh grass for the chickens while fertilizing the land in return. Because the hens feed on these grasses high in beta carotene and other vitamins, Vital Farms eggs have a dark, thick yolk with great egg flavor.
Vital Farms is a recipient of a Whole Foods Market Local Producer Loan, which they have used to purchase equipment to help them expand their production.
Welcome to Whole Story, the official blog of Whole Foods Market.
Don’t know us? In a nutshell, we are the world's leading natural and organic grocer and we’re passionate about healthy food and a healthy planet. Learn more about us.
We’re lucky to have a whole bunch of smart, passionate people doing incredible things in areas like organics, supporting local growers, green practices, fair trade, micro-lending and all kinds of food related stuff. We’ll use this blog to share some of the cool things going on around here.
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As a child I always loved chocolate milk and ice cream bars. Who didn’t? Now that I’m “more mature” the kid in me is always on the lookout for the perfect sweet treat that’s tinged with childhood nostalgia while still appealing to my adult taste buds. Lucky for me, two of our most recent Local Producer Loan recipients more than satisfy!
This amazing gelato company was founded by fellow travelers who sampled this historical frozen dessert wherever they went. (Did you know gelato dates back to the 16thcentury?) They wondered why they couldn’t find a great scoop of gelato back at home in the Bay Area and they set out to change that! The result? A high-quality, unique product made by hand in small batches that’s now sold in many Whole Foods Market gelato bars in Northern California, as well as in their own Gelateria Naia stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.
With encouragement from their fans, Gelateria Naia began looking into how they could sell their product on the grocery shelves. Rather than going with the traditional pint-of-ice-cream model, they took an approach as distinctive as their product and decided to create gelato on a stick. Adult gelato enthusiast, shake hands with child ice cream bar lover. What an amazing combo! They received a Local Producer Loan from Whole Foods Market and created a completely unique item that is sold in the frozen section of Whole Foods Markets across Northern California. This is the perfect example of what the Local Producer Loan Program can do: provide capital to create a new and exciting product that benefits a local company, Whole Foods Market and our shoppers!
“Come over here, I want you to check this out.”
Our most recent 
With the proceeds from their loan, Hail Merry purchased a forming machine, which will help them automate their process and increase production. They are expanding quickly and will need that extra product! They started off in Texas and you can now purchase Hail Merry products at Whole Foods Markets throughout the Southwest, Midwest, Rocky Mountains, California, Louisiana and a few stores in the Northeast.
If you haven’t tried Justin’s nut butters yet, then December’s the month to make it happen. Sure I’m a little partial to their outrageously yummy flavor combinations such as maple almond, honey peanut and chocolate hazelnut. And I really like the convenient, carry-anywhere squeeze packs I take on hikes. And I have a small bias because Whole Foods Market was Justin’s first retail outlet and we helped him grow his business with our 
On Sept, 21, our newest store in Northern California, Coddingtown in Santa Rosa, officially opened its doors! Along with amazing neighbors, great tacos (for a 
Each of these long-time vendors creates just the kind of healthy, all-natural food that we are so proud to offer. 
