Jessie 's dashboard

Hi Mericson,

Thanks for your inquiry about our poultry products. All poultry producers for Whole Foods Market must sign an annual affidavit. One of the questions included in the affidavit is whether they are using arsenic as part of their feed. All producers have stated their feed is free of this substance.

You can always trust that meat and poultry from Whole Foods Market is raised to very strict standards. We work closely with our producers to ensure the safety and quality of our products.

I will let our Digital Publications team know that this information is not on the website so it can be added. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Take care,

Jessie

Hi Eliana,

I'm sorry to hear about this experience and I want you to know that we take concerns about our product's quality very seriously. If you still have the bottle I would like to the get the batch code from you so we can investigate this issue. If you have one of the 1.5 liter bottles or smaller you will have to hold the bottle up to the light to see the numbers clearly. They will be in the upper portion of the bottle, above the label written in small white numbers and letters. please provide me with all that info as well as the UPC (barcode) so that we know exactly what product we're talking about. Please send the info to privatelabel.customerservice@wholefoo... so I can send it directly to our quality assurance team for follow up. I really appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention. Thanks to customers like you we can continue to provide the highest quality products available.

Best,

Jessie

Hi Mari,

I can certainly understand how frustrating it can be to not find products in the amounts that you need, especially when it's something like diapers. Any of our stores can place a special order for a case. Because of the sheer size of a case of diapers and the small amount of storage space, many of our stores don't keep those on hand and order as needed for the shelf. You can call your local store and ask to speak to someone in Grocery, they will be glad to place and order for you and let you know when it will be in.

I hope this helps.

Jessie

Hi there,

I'm sorry to hear that you've had these experiences at our Palo Alto and San Mateo stores. As a company, satisfying and delighting our customers is one of our Core Values and to hear that you've been treated with anything but the utmost respect is definitely not in line with our principles. I have shared your comments with the Northern California regional office, to which the stores report, so they can address these concerns with the store leadership teams at both locations. Should you ever encounter another situation of this kind please ask to speak directly to a member of the Store Leadership Team so they can address it immediately.

I truly hope we better serve you in the future.

Jessie

Hi there bjtitus,

Thanks for your question. I certainly understand how this may have been frustrating. However for competitive reasons we do not allow photography in our stores. I apologize if you were inconvenienced in any way by this policy.

Hi Rick,

The Plano store currently has two electric carts. I hope this helps.

Take care,

Jessie

Hi Dexter,

I'm sorry to hear that you've encountered a situation where we would be priced so much higher than another local retailer. I can assure you that our regional buyers actively compare our prices for like items at other retailers, so this sounds like it may just be a mistake. Could you please provide me with more information? I need to know the brand of bread, which one of our stores you shop and the name of the retailer where you found the bread for $2 cheaper. After I receive this info from you I'll do some digging and get back to you with an answer.

Thanks for your interest; I look forward to hearing from you.

Jessie

Hi Laina,

I'm sorry to hear about the problem that you had with our 365 Diapers. it definitly sounds like there may have been an issue on the manufacturing side. If you haven't already please contact the store where you purchased them by phone. Ask for a member of store leadership and explain the situation and the distance you have to drive. They may be able to send you compensation by mail, or look up the transaction. We offer a 100% guarantee on all of our private label products, so even if you need to wait until your next trip to the store, we will take care of you.

Best,

Jessie

Our 365 Everyday Value Baby Diapers are made with totally chlorine free materials and are free of latex and fragrances. The absorbent material in our diapers consists of woodpulp fluff harvested from sustainable sources in Scandinavia and a non-toxic super absorbent polymer. This polymer is made from partial sodium salt of crosslinked polypropenoic acid. When this polymer is mixed with liquid it becomes a gel that holds the moisture in the diaper. The absorbent materials are free of recycled materials and tributyltin, a common wood treatment agent.

The effectiveness of our diapers are verified through 3rd party analysis of wet, re-wet, absorption and usage tests. And since we never chemically test our diapers on animals this product is cruelty free.

let me know if you have additional questions.

Jessie

Hi there,

There is a store 20 miles from you. Here is the information.

20.3 miles north
2218 Greenville Ave
Dallas, TX 75206
Phone: 214.824.1744

I hope this helps. you can also find more information about our stores in development at www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Take care - Jessie

Hi Wholesome,

One of our most popular waters is our 365 Everyday Value Spring Water. This water utilizes Absolute Filtration, a filtration method that the bottled water industry recognizes as an indicator of water purity. An Absolute-rated filter removes 100% of all particles of a given size. Filters are usually rated in microns, according to the size of particles that a filter will remove. A micron is one thousandth of a millimeter. A 1 micron Absolute filter will remove 100% of all particles that are 1 micron (or larger) in size. Many spring waters are produced using 1 micron absolute filters. The manufacturer who produces our water uses 0.1 micron absolute filters. This unique, advanced absolute filtration technology effectively removes 100% of all particles 10 times smaller than the 1 micron industry standard for filtration. So, in answer to this question, we use a filter ten times smaller than an absolute 1 micron filter, and to our knowledge, no other bottler in the United States filters to this level of purity.

The water sources of our 365 Everyday Value Spring Water are springs located in California, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Region Supplied Spring Source

Northern California & Pacific Northwest Shasta, CA

Southern California & Rocky Mountain Olancha, CA

Midwest & Southwest Benton, TN

South & Mid-Atlantic & Florida Salem, SC

North Atlantic & Northeast Moultonborough, NH

We do not add Chlorine or Fluoride to our water.

I hope this helps. - Jessie

Hi Shorey, I'm sorry for the delay in responding to your inquiry.

The 365 Everyday Value Electrolyte Enhanced Water uses a municipal water source which is then filtered through reverse osmosis. This process removes all chemicals and minerals in the water. The minerals that are essential for active healthy people - Potassium, Calcium, and Magnesium – are then added back. It can be used as a daily source of hydration instead of water and also as a replenishment beverage after exercise.

The electrolyte level of 365 Electrolyte Enhanced Water is relatively low, at 0.3%, compared to sports drinks. The electrolyte level is kept low to make the product palatable to drink without adding any sugar or other flavor enhancers. When electrolyte levels are high the water tastes salty. It is suitable for daily use and is a better alternative to water after a typical workout. However, we have not tested this product for electrolyte replenishment after endurance sports - as individual requirements will vary widely depending on age, and the duration and frequency of activity.

The great thing about the 365 Everyday Value Electrolyte Enhanced Water is that it does not contain any calories. Most sports drinks on the market are sweetened with sugar and have significant caloric content. Our Electrolyte Enhance Water it is designed for daily use and has a pleasant taste without the use of sugars.

The content of electrolytes is 0.3% of the product. This percentage cannot be measured in milligrams, which is why it is not stated that way on the product label.

I hope this answers your questions. i have shared your comments and questions with our private label team.

Take care - Jessie Walker

Ruby, first I want to appreciate you for caring. Most people probably don’t think about this issue while they are serving themselves at the hot bar. However, this is a very legitimate concern and I completely understand why you would rather the product go to team members than to compost. In the past it was the standard procedure. I used to work at the old Sixth street store across the street from the new location and loved working at night because at 8:00 pm they would make an announcement that all the hot bar food was available at a significant discount. Additionally, we used to be able to get old fruit, damaged grocery items, etc. all for a discount. Unfortunately, the reason we don't do it anymore is a case of a few bad apples ruining the bunch. (No pun intended) :)

What happened was a few people started to discount items that were perfectly fine for regular sale or they would purposely damage the items so that they could get it for next to nothing. This problem was happening companywide and teams started to see their spoilage going way up. So the solution was to stop giving away or selling discounted items.

With that said, I would like to add that the left over food is stored and reused for a day or two, depending on the product. We always check to be sure it is still to meets our standards for quality and freshness. This process significantly lessens the amount that we send to be composted.

Believe me, I really miss the days of discounted products, especially now that food prices are so high, but we try and stay within projections so as to limit what gets tossed and compost it instead of sending it to landfills. In my heart I really wish we could give it to the homeless shelter, since those are the folks that really need it, but as I said before, they won't take product that isn't packaged and sealed. If you have any suggestions, now that you know why we can’t discount to team members, I would love to pass them on. – Jessie

Hi Ruby, First of all let me say that you made me laugh with the ‘theme park’ comment. You really can get sensory overload if you aren’t ready for this store. Just remember, it is the Flagship store and very few of the stores in our chain are even close to that size.

Regarding your question, the pies and cakes are given a specific shelf life depending on the type of cake it is; generally it will be five days. After that point we turn it over to Austin Waste along with any other appropriate materials for composting. The packaged bread is donated to Caritas or the homeless shelter. These local organizations take food donations but will not take opened or unpackaged products because of safety and liability concerns. These groups will also take the culled produce that we don’t reuse in the store.

As you point out, we can’t possibly sell all these pastries before they go bad and you’re right. Our team members will look and see what products they may be going ‘long’ on and turn them into a sample to try and sell some before they expire. Also, like I said in my response about the sushi, we really try to make only what we plan on selling. We don’t want to waste product, because it’s not good for the environment or our bottom line.

I want to point out that our composting program is really great. We buy the finished compost back and resell it in our stores in the floral department. This way it comes full circle to our customers.

Please let me know if you have any other questions and I will get you an answer. - Jessie

I received additional, item specific, shelf life information this morning.
5 days on cooked sushi products and edemame. 1 day on sashimi and fresh fish sushi. 30 days on pickled plum, and Tsuke.
I hope this information helps. – Jessie , on May 13, 2008 13:09

Hello All, I wanted to take this opportunity to join this disccusion and perhaps shed some light on a few issues. i have checked with the Cupertino store for more information regarding their sushi. As it is with many of our stores this the sushi is provided by a 3rd party company. The product must still meet our strict quality standards, but they determine the shelf life according to HACCP guidlines. Two days is the maximum shelf life, but as the safety mantra says, 'when in doubt, throw it out.'

Many of our stores will give away day old bread, produce and damaged, non-perishable packaged goods as long as they are still in the package and not spoiled. However, some food banks and charitable organizations have their own guidlines about what they will and will not take and will sometimes refuse what we offer. There are numerous liability issues here, both for these organizations as well as us.

Thor - making sushi for the day is a great idea. In fact, that is the plan we generally follow in any of our prepared foods areas. We look at last years sales and make projections. Actually, this process is followed in every one of our departments and affects production, staffing and ordering. If you think about it, we lose money by having to throw product away, so that's not really good business sense.

Regarding 'Whole Paycheck', I have heard that one since I started in 1997 and i'm sure it's been around quite a bit longer. The truth is, like Slaton said, we carry quite a few specialty and high end items which are quite expensive, but our private label products as well as our sales items offer a great value for customers that may be looking for high quality natural and organic products without spending a lot of money.

Amy - i'm glad you're not a hater.

please let me know if I can further address any questions. I'm really glad to participate in this discussion, this is a really great forum for connecting with our customers. Take care - Jessie