If you have never shopped at Whole Foods then you might be confused about why so many people are a fan of this grocery chain. So, in this article, I’m going to discuss what makes Whole Foods different from all other grocery stores that make it unique and have such a loyal customer base.
Whole Foods sells organic and preservatives free products. They are one of the very few companies that actively promote environmentally friendly grocery shopping. Their employees are nice and they frequently have extravagant offers on their products. All of which makes Whole Foods a unique place to shop at.
In this article, I’ll be talking about some of the good aspects of Whole Foods and how they differ from all other regular grocery stores in the United States. For a better understanding of this topic, it would be wise to read through the whole article.
10 Reasons Why Whole Foods Is Unique
Whole Foods is one of the most famous grocery stores in the United States and its popularity is increasing every day.
The reason behind its notability is not excessive marketing or a cheap price, it was renowned by the people for the amazing quality of the food they sell. Below, I will talk about some of the key reasons for Whole Foods success.
1. They Sell Completely Organic Vegetables and Fruits
We all know the importance of consuming organic and non-preservative food. Eating foods with added ingredients is very unhealthy and bad for your gut. One of the biggest advantages of shopping at a Whole Food store is they don’t sell anything but organic edibles.
There are many harmful sides of consuming fruits and vegetables that contain an added preservative and other chemicals. Many doctors suggested that one of the key reasons behind cancer is eating such harmful fruits.
You might have noticed that many stores out there sell organic fruits. So, what's so special about the veggies and fruits of a Whole Food store? Well, the FDA actually has permitted the use of a slight amount of preservatives on different products. Although they are not harmful to the human body, sometimes such ingredients lower the nutritional value of edibles. Whole foods do not contain any sort of preservative whatsoever.
Meaning, even though the FDA permits the use of a particular amount of chemicals, the fruits and vegetables you will find in a whole food store will have none. It is like eating a piece of fruit straight from the tree. Honestly speaking, you might not find any other store at your location that sells 100 percent organic foods. The reputation of this store is well-deserved.
One thing you should know is, the fruits that you will find in a Whole Food Store will be much more expensive than a regular one. It's not like they are making a high amount of profit. For maintaining fruits and veggies of such quality, their investment gets higher. In fact, they are one of the least profited stores in the United States.
2. The Meat they Sell is 100 Percent Pure
Whole Food started selling meats of different sorts right from the beginning, whey back in 1980. From the very start, their motto was to serve people good quality food. And, they kept their promise till now. The meat you will find in a Whole Food store is undoubtedly the finest and fully organic.
From my knowledge, I can definitely say that in most farms, all sorts of antibiotics and hormones are used to grow cows and chickens. You might be wondering what could be the adverse side of using such chemicals. Well, eating such meat will lead you to various deadly diseases such as cancer.
The worst part is, the FDA sometimes allows a minimal amount of hormone usage. Finding meats that are 100 percent pure is difficult as most of the stores use such chemicals for better meat production. But Whole Foods has its own farms where they grow different cattle for selling meat and skin.
They only use 100 percent natural food and never use any sort of harmful growth hormones. You will find almost all sorts of meat at their store and all of them are of top-notch quality. Naturally, the price of the product is much higher than regular meat, but for eating good quality food, you are bound to pay more.
And again, the price is not high because of their high-profit rate, the production cost of their meat is very costly due to not using any chemicals and hormones.
3. They Sell Gluten-free Food
We eat wheat, rice, bread almost every day and I know many people who start their day eating pasta or noodles. You might not know that, but some of these foods might include a very harmful ingredient named gluten.
Eating foods that include gluten on a regular basis is very bad for your health and can lead to deadly diseases like bloating, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, tired feeling, skin problems, depressions, and so on. In spite of all the bad effects, some grocers use gluten for maximizing profit and production.
That’s why most of the doctors suggest being keen while grocery shopping. You should not just buy any food that you see. Whole Foods only sells gluten-free produce. They contact farmers directly and manage the storing and preserving process themselves.
They even have various fields of crops of their own and they grow them 100 percent organically. That is why, in spite of having a higher price, most of the people I know prefer to shop from a Whole Foods store.
4. Massive Sized Stores
The Whole Food stall was first established in Austin and it was pretty small compared to other regular stores. It was around 10 thousand square feet which is the approximate size of a 7-11 store. But with time, the size of the floor increased, and now an average Whole Food store is around 80,000 square feet. I know for a lot of you, the size of the store doesn’t matter.
But when you are paying a lot of money for your grocery, you might want a premium level service. The look of the Whole Food store is so fascinating that you will know that you are in a luxury grocery store. The internals are oriented and structured in an organized manner. When you enter a Whole Food store, you should be convinced that they care about their customers.
5. They Have Both Wild and Farmed SeaFood
There aren’t many stores out there that sell wild seafood. But you will find almost all sorts of fish and crustacea in a Whole Food store. I know a lot of you are a big fan of seafood but many stores don’t put enough attention to the quality of the edible.
Most of the grocery stores use a high amount of preservative on the fish and other seafood as they start to rot very soon after they die. For decreasing the storage cost and increasing the profit, using preservatives is the only option.
Using such chemicals help those to keep the seafood price low as well. In a Whole Food store, you will find fishes and shells that contain no preservatives. Not only that, they do not contain any sort of added ingredient whatsoever.
A Whole Food store is one of the few places where you will find 100 percent organic and non-toxic fish. As I have mentioned before, they sell both farmed and wild seafood. They have many farms for fish and shells and Whole Foods grows them without using any harmful liquids.
To be honest, the price of their seafood is very high. But the quality of the product is very good and it will be your best option of purchasing seafood if you can afford it.
6. Excellent Customer Service
I know many of you have experienced dull customer service in many local and cheap grocery stores. Many of the employees are very rude and bad at their work.
But this won’t be the case if you will do your grocery shopping from Whole Food stores. The employees of that shop are highly trained and they will provide excellent customer service.
7. Whole Foods Teach People about Healthy Eating
It is one thing to sell organic and healthy food to people with a very slim profit margin, but on top of that, Whole Foods teaches people about healthy eating for free. With our busy schedule, it is very hard for us to have time to learn about nutrition and healthy eating. And Whole Foods know that, that’s why they have a very good system of teaching people about organic and healthy food.
Whenever they post an ad about their new product launch on their Facebook page or elsewhere, they add a note about healthy eating or which sort of food we should stop eating.
Also, if you visit their Facebook page or website, you will find various links that explain how to choose organic groceries and how to detect toxic foods. They even have different recipes that explain how to cook good and nutritious dishes.
Their employees are also knowledgeable and are able to provide advice about your daily grocery. In 1980, when John Mackey started Whole Foods, he had a vision of serving people organic food only and teaching people about healthy eating. I can definitely say that after 41 years, his vision is fulfilled.
8. Whole Foods Is Environmentally Friendly
Most of the grocery stores I know don’t care about the environment whatsoever. When toxic chemicals are used on an animal for its better growth, it will harm us as well as harm the environment.
But as we have discussed before, Whole Foods never use any harmful ingredients like fats that are hydrogenated, corn syrup with high-fructose, sweeteners that are artificially made, preservatives, flavors, and colors.
These things are often used on various foods that you will find in regular stores. But by not using them, Whole Foods actually serves the environment positively. Not only that, they stopped using plastic bags in 2008. Plastics harm the environment in such a way that it is almost permanent.
As we all know, plastic takes thousands of years to rot and thus harms the soil greatly. Keeping that in mind, Whole Foods only uses paper bags to carry the products. Although it is a much less profitable option due to the plastic being cheap, Whole Foods store chose it to preserve the environment.
9. Whole Foods Support Local Farmers
Many giant grocery stores only take produce from big and reputed farmers. Most of them never support honest and hardworking local people by taking orders from them. But Whole Foods, in spite of being a very large and successful corporation, support the local farmers.
They even train them about farming without using any sort of harmful chemicals. They do it as a social service and at the same time financially support the farmers. This is another big reason why many people are a fan of the Whole Foods Corporation.
10. They Provide Awesome Sales and Discounts
Almost every grocery store in the United States provides small discounts every now or then. But Whole Foods have a record of giving massive discounts on a regular basis.
On top of that, if you are a prime member of the shop, you will get many extra free services including free home delivery and 10 percent extra off on the items that are on sale.
Are Whole Foods Products Expensive?
Some of the products are pricier at Whole Foods compared to other stores. For example, meat at Whole Foods cost about 2 times of what’s normally sold at regular grocery stores.
Whole Foods products are healthier, organic and also cruelty free. And checking so many boxes means the costs are also high. So, Whole Foods has nothing else to do than charge higher.
But that doesn’t mean you are losing out on anything. That extra money you are paying is for your health and for the environment. Even though Whole Foods are kind of more expensive than other grocery chains, they are worth it.
Whole Foods really cares about their customer's health and they support them in various ways. I know many people who will go out and buy from a Whole Food store even if it is located far away from their home just to eat and live healthily. Honestly speaking, it is a clever thing to do.
In this article, I have extensively discussed what makes whole foods different. Hopefully, this article helped you learn how Whole Foods managed to make a unique and good identity among the general people.
