Whole Foods Market has finished its release of its simplified “Responsibly Grown” in-store produce labelling initiative. The process, which began earlier this year, reflects a streamlining of the Texas-based company’s three-step fresh produce labelling to a one-size-fits-all Responsibly Grown label.
“We launched Responsibly Grown with the goal of creating a dynamic program that we would continuously evolve with our suppliers to address important agriculture issues affecting human health and the environment,” says Edmund LaMacchia, Whole Foods global VP of perishable purchasing and the primary executive over the Responsibly Grown program.
The new initiative came with added support and training to “help growers through the onboarding process and [outline] new food safety regulations and traceability requirements,” continues LaMacchia. The program also evaluates areas of sustainability, including farmworker welfare, pollinator protection, water conservation, soil health ecosystems, biodiversity, waste, energy use, recycling, and packaging.
Whole Foods notes that the previous three-step label, known as the “good-better-best” system, created some confusion for customers, producers, and produce managers.
“We were having to separate each grower’s products on the stand and having to label each separately with the good, better or best,” Erik Henderson, produce manager for an Orlando-based Whole Foods, told Supermarket News. “We also had some conventional farmers with produce that was rated ‘best,’ and some organic farmers that weren’t rated at all.”
The new system aims to put all growers on an even playing field and simplify customer experience.
