Whole Foods Market Expands Sourced for Good Certification to More Store Aisles

Already found in both produce and floral sections, responsible-sourcing certification now moves into grocer’s coffee aisle

Marian Zboraj

10/3/2023

Whole Foods Market brand coffee blends are now part of the grocer's Sourced for Good program.

America’s organic grocer is adding another responsible-sourcing certification to its coffee brand. Whole Foods Market has revealed that its 13 blends of store-brand coffee, previously sold under the Allegro Coffee Co. label, will now include the Sourced for Good seal, marking the food retailer’s first grocery-aisle expansion of the third-party certification. All Whole Foods Market brand coffees already carry a third-party certification for sourcing from either Rainforest Alliance or Fair Trade, and now coffee blends will include an additional seal from Sourced for Good. Whole Foods Market brand coffees must also be either organic or Non-GMO Project Verified and meet the retailer’s high-quality standards for food ingredients.

Already found in both the produce and floral sections, Sourced for Good is Whole Foods Market’s exclusive third-party certification program, supporting responsible sourcing by providing tangible improvements in farmworkers’ lives, strengthening worker communities where products are sourced and promoting environmental stewardship where crops are grown. According to Whole Foods Market, the program spans 12 countries and raises millions of dollars annually for hundreds of communities. Funds have provided benefits such as housing, on-site laundry facilities, scholarships, health services, a dental clinic, transportation, and support for working parents and families such as stipends for daycare.

“We are thrilled to bring the Sourced for Good program to more aisles across our stores, starting with our Whole Foods Market brand coffee blends,” said Alyssa Vescio, Whole Foods Market’s SVP of merchandising. “This certification not only deepens our relationship with suppliers, but also gives our customers the opportunity to make an even bigger impact, supporting environmental stewardship and workers in communities where these products are sourced.”

[Read more: “How Whole Foods Market Remains an Organic Trailblazer”]

The grocer has also reveals that all six of its single-origin coffees will now include a Q Coffee mark and score of 86+ on the front of the package, a certification awarded by the Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Coffee Quality Institute (CQI) that signifies the coffee is consistently of specialty quality.

“We’re so excited to see the coveted Q Coffee mark and an impressive Q mark score of 86+ front and center on all Whole Foods Market brand single-origin coffees,” said Kelly Amoroso, senior coffee and tea buyer for Allegro Coffee Co. and certified Q Grader. “Consumers already familiar with these single-origin blends can now find and enjoy them under the Whole Foods Market brand, and new customers seeking high-quality specialty coffee with unique flavors can look for the Q mark score to discover coffees offering delicious complexity in every cup.”

Customers will be able to purchase Whole Foods Market brand classic blends like Breakfast, Rainforest and Continental, which are now Sourced for Good, and single-origin coffees from such countries as Ethiopia, Kenya and Costa Rica, featuring with Q mark score, at Whole Foods Market stores nationwide by the end of October.

[Listen to Whole Foods' SVP of merchandising, center store, on Progressive Grocer's TWIG Podcast.]

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seattle-based Amazon, which is No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of top food and consumables retailers in North America. Both Whole Foods and Amazon were named among PG’s Retailers of the Century.