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2015 Sustainability Report

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This report examines the sustainability practices of Whole Foods during 2015 while putting forth suggestions for future improvements.

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Page 1: Sustainability at Whole Foods

2015 Sustainability Report

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ContentWhole Foods Market’s Sustainability Strategies..............................................................................5Environmental......................................................................................................................................5Materials................................................................................................................................................................5Energy...................................................................................................................................................................6Water.....................................................................................................................................................................6Emissions..............................................................................................................................................................6Effluents and Waste..............................................................................................................................................7Products and Services..........................................................................................................................................7Transport...............................................................................................................................................................8

Social & Society...................................................................................................................................9Labor Practices and Decent Work........................................................................................................................9Local Communities................................................................................................................................................9

Recommendations & Goals for 2025.................................................................................................9100% Commitment to Organic..............................................................................................................................9Rewards-Based Point System & Student Discount.............................................................................................10Sustainable Packing for Bulk Groceries & Elimination of Paper Bags................................................................10Improve Carbon Rating & Produce Yearly Sustainability Plans..........................................................................10Promote Seafood Sustainability: No-fishing Zones.............................................................................................11

References......................................................................................................................................... 12

Hannah EricksonHult International Business SchoolPOL 420: Global CitizenshipProfessor Valerio LintnerDecember 11th, 2016

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Recent ‘green’ ratings would suggest that Whole Foods’ current sustainably strategies are somewhat lacking in their development. Newsweek partnered with Corporate Knights Capital, HIP (Human Impact + Profit) Investor Inc., and others from non-profit organizations, academic, and accounting communities to rank the environmental impact and corporate sustainability of the world’s largest companies based on eight specific indicators including energy consumption, Greenhouse gas (GHG) Emissions (CO2e), water use (m3), and total waste generated (metric tons). Surprisingly, Whole Foods Market, Inc. ranked at 149 out of U.S. companies with a Newsweek Green Score of 45.30%, and didn’t make it onto the “Top Green Companies in the World 2015” list (Newsweek, ‘Top Green Companies in the World 2015’, 2015). Ironically, companies like Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. (#8) and Monsanto (#52) were ranked higher despite widely accepted knowledge that soda beverages are highly unhealthy, and that pesticides are toxic chemicals. Even the U.K.’s Imperial Tobacco Group PLC (#113) managed to make it onto the World’s Ranking List while Whole Foods did not although Tobacco kills up to half of its users, around 6 million people every year (World Health Organization, 2015). While data may suggest that Newsweek has merely measured corporate green washing rather than actual environmental impact, this list would still suggest that Whole Foods has definite room for improvement.

This year, Whole Foods did not rank at all on the Corporate Knights’ own list, the ‘2015 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’ (Corporate Knights, 2015). CSRHub, a provider of sustainability ratings, gave Whole Foods a rating of 56, which was just above average as seen in Figure 1, compared with Tesco and Sainsbury’s ratings of 61 and 64 respectively (CSRHub, ‘Whole Foods Market, Inc. Summary, Tesco PLC Summary, and J. Sainsbury’s PLC’, 2015). It’s very unexpected that conventional, mainstream organics would outperform Whole Foods in terms of sustainability. Once again, these rating show Whole Foods’ current strategic sustainability stage to be at a low to mid development level suggesting the need for them to be revisited, and perhaps amended. A significant factor contributing to these low ratings could be the lack of annual sustainability reporting aside from the Green Mission Report published in 2012, an issue which will be addressed in the recommendations section.

Figure 1: Rating Comparison

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Whole Foods Market’s Sustainability StrategiesTo ensure the transparency and comprehensiveness of the report, this section is based on

guidelines established by the Global Reporting Initiative (Global Reporting Initiative, the leading international, independent organization for the development of the most widely used standards on sustainability reporting and disclosure (‘G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines’, 2015).

Environmental Materials

Whole Foods (WF) uses a variety of materials designed to reduce any potential negative environmental impact ranging from items as simple as rechargeable batteries to replaced disposable batteries to innovative green materials like medium density fiberboard (MDF) in the construction of its stores. Whole Foods has discontinued the use of plastic grocery bags at all stores in the checkout area since 2008. It provides incentive for customers to bring useable grocery bags such as those made from cloth by refunding five pence per reusable bag. Furthermore, all of Whole Foods’ paper bags are certified by the Forest Stewardships Council as being 100% post-consumer recycled fiber. In order to ensure highest possible standards for its sustainable quality packaging including the compostable, fiber packaging used for in-store prepared foods, WF established healthy partnerships with its packaging suppliers and vendors. Regarding the paper used for printing purposes, WF claims to evaluate the need for anything to actually be printed, and that when there is a need to do so that recycled paper, water-based inks, and solvent-free printing processes are utilized (Whole Foods Market, ‘Green Mission’, n.d.). Moreover, as of 2015, WF has stated that it is engaged in eradicating the use of Styrofoam in all business operations including that used for their own product packaging, and that in which they receive products from other companies (Whole Foods Market, Inc. ‘Annual Report on Form 10-K’, 2015).

A significant focus has been placed on implementing green building techniques in the construction of Whole Foods’ stores. These techniques aim to “conserve natural resources by reducing the use of virgin raw materials and minimizing the amount of toxic resins and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) off-gassed by traditional building materials such as laminates, paint, and carpeting” (Whole Foods Market, ‘Green Mission’, n.d.). WF’s store in Sarasota, Florida was the very first supermarket to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. A store in Dedham, MA, in addition to several others, has even received the highest certification (LEED Gold) partially due to its ability to generate close to 100% of the store’s required energy from a fuel cell and solar panels.

Energy

One of Whole Foods’ pioneering energy programs is Green Mission®. In 2014, WF set a goal to reduce energy consumption in every store by 25% per square foot by 2015 (Whole Foods Market, Inc. ‘Annual Report on Form 10-K’, 2014). However, in 2015, this goal was unfortunately, and without explanation, reduced to 20% by 2020 in partnership with the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge (Whole Foods Market, Inc. ‘Annual Report on Form 10-K’, 2015). Nonetheless, WF has taken a number of steps to reduce energy consumption via high-efficiency, refrigeration retrofits, energy management systems, and data loggers (Valentine, 2013). WF has taken great efforts to exploit renewable energy sources and has purchased now over 4.3 billion-kilowatt hours of wind-based renewable energy, receiving already seven Green Power awards. According to Whole Foods there are presently “24 stores and one distribution center using or hosting rooftop solar systems, one

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store with wind turbines, six stores with rooftop combined heat and power (CHP) systems, four stores with non-HFC refrigeration, and two stores with rooftop farms” (Whole Foods Market, Inc. ‘Annual Report on Form 10-K’, 2015) Whole Foods’ investments in wind energy have reportedly avoided over 500,000 metric tones of carbon dioxide pollution (the equivalent to 1.2 million barrels of oil), and each store with a solar installation avoids over 1,650 tons of CO2 emissions (the equivalent to removing 440 cars from the roadways) (Whole Foods Market, ‘Green Mission’, n.d.).

Lastly, according to Whole Foods’ Green Mission (n.d.), it has implemented a number of changes in order to cut down on the carbon emissions of it’s truck fleet by using biodiesel fuels, aerodynamic aprons that cut down wind resistance, and fuel-saving systems that allow for engines to be turned off during loading and delivery instead of sitting idle and emitting pollution.

Water

Extensive measures to conserve water have not reportedly been taken. However, some of the stores have converted to “flush-less” urinals, which are expected to save around 40,000 gallons of water each year based on calculations for average use (Whole Foods Market, ‘Green Mission’, n.d.). Also, funds from some of WF’s charitable foundations and fundraising events do go towards water conservation of local water sources like rivers and lakes, for example.

Emissions

Whole Foods has submitted reports to the U.K.’s CDP, formerly known as the ‘Carbon Disclosure Project’, over the past three years, but has not received good score. This organization works together with companies and shareholders to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions. Their ratings are based on a scale from A to E, with ‘A’ being the highest. Over the past two years, Whole Foods has received performance band rating ‘D’, the second lowest, and disclosure scores of 72 and 61 in 2015 and 2014 respectively (CDP, 2014 & 2015). The exact details of these emission reports require further attention, but membership is required to gain access.

Effluents and Waste

A number of actions are taken by Whole Foods to reduce both their own waste, and that of their customers. WF has implemented a paperless ordering system in order to reduce paper waste. WF also saves and donates its packing peanuts to local shipping stores for the meantime until it has completely eliminated the use of Styrofoam from it’s operations as previously mentioned. To ensure ease and accessibility of recycling for its customers, Whole Foods uses compostable food packing, supplies reusable and compostable plates and bowls in its dining areas that are free from chlorine and dioxins, provides receptacles for glass and plastic recycling along with collection boxes for unwanted cellphones and used ink cartridges, as well as hosting recycling drives for electronics from the community and company (Whole Foods Market, ‘Green Mission’, n.d.).

Naturally, as a grocery store, eliminating or reducing food waste can pose a significant challenge. Fortunately, WF has an excellent composting program which according to it’s ‘Green Mission’ (n.d.) “has reduced landfill waste by up to 75% in some regions”. However, there has been some criticism of the composting program which in some views is seen as a waste of the energy and packing material required to produce and ship the food in the first place when it is still perfectly edible although it has reached its sell-by-date. Of course, some of the food can be collected by shelters and other such organization, but much remains that cannot be given way due to “liability reasons”. Moreover, management has restricted employees from taking home unsellable food, as they are

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concerned that employees might deliberately produce extra ‘spoilage’ in order to secure themselves free food (Richardson, 2009).

Additionally, some Whole Foods stores either work with Green Seal certified, eco-friendly cleaning and maintenance supplies, or are transitioning to do so in the near future. This leads to a great improvement in the safety of their effluents. According to Whole Foods’ Annual Report in 2015, “fourteen of [their] stores have been Zero Waste Certified (defined as having a 90% overall diversion rate of waste from landfills) by the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council”. Certainly this is an achievement to be proud of.

Products and Services

Of course, organic products are at the heart of everything that Whole Foods is, and following organic agriculture practices leads to numerous benefits contributing to the planet’s sustainability as listed below according to Whole Foods (‘Green Mission’, n.d.):

Builds healthy, vital soil that's rich with microorganisms and nutrients so it holds moisture, resists erosion, and absorbs CO2 to help thwart global warming.

Promotes biodiversity, reducing the danger of large-scale crop failure and plant disease. Relies on natural prevention instead of poison. No persistent pesticides, fungicides or

herbicides are allowed on organic farms. Preserves the integrity of meat and dairy products by prohibiting the use of antibiotics and

artificial growth hormones. Honors the role that domestic animals play in the cycle of life. Protects the safety of food and the integrity of soil and crops by prohibiting the use of

genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Safeguards water quality by eliminating harmful runoff from artificial fertilizers and other toxic

chemicals. Saves energy through reduced reliance on fossil fuels.

In continuity with its environmentally conscious values, WF recognizes that the production of palm oil can have seriously negative social and environmental impacts on the tropical rainforest. As such, Whole Foods supports the rainforest’s protection, as well as the communities that inhabit it understanding also the overriding connection to the global climate. By the end of 2016, WF aims to have 100% of its palm-derived products certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Pal Oil that ensures traceable and responsible production (Whole Foods Market, ‘Green Mission’, n.d.).

All of Whole Food’s animal products are also ethically and sustainably sourced. Beef and chicken, for example, are free of antibiotics and growth hormones, and are raised in good conditions. Supplier information is highly transparent, and consumers can easily educate themselves about the conditions in which the animals were raised. In 2013, Whole Foods placed first on Greenpeace’s ‘Seafood Retailer Scorecard’, and maintained this rating into 2014 with the strongest sustainable seafood policy and highest overall score (Greenpeace, 2014). Whole Food’s seafood comes from Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified fisheries that is supposed to guarantee sustainability, yet some critics question this as MSC has included endangered fish in their certification. Greenpeace also reported that Whole Foods reintroduced a few Red List fish species during 2014 (Greenpeace, 2014). Therefore, while WF has made great efforts to improve the sustainability of their fish, especially relative to other supermarkets, it may be that fish in itself is not entirely sustainably as a source of human consumption.

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As a grocery store, Whole Foods’ values go beyond just food extending to their personal care products. It has established its own ‘Whole Body Standards’ and encourages “product suppliers to use plant-based and naturally derived ingredients, pure essential oil fragrance, gentle preservatives, and non-petroleum ingredients” (Whole Foods Market, Inc., ‘Annual Report’, 2014). WF also doesn’t stock products, which have been tested on animals. An additional, stricter set of standards was created known as Premium Body Care™ and has gone as far to ban over 400 ingredients. It has been cleverly designed to evolve as science-based studies progress according to the report.

Finally, in regards to health services, Whole Foods created the Healthy Eating Education Our Health Starts Here® program to show people how simple it can be to create healthy meals. Customers can find educational resources online, and in-store via healthy eating specialist personnel. Some stores also provide access to classes, and all have ‘Health Start Here-labeled’ foods in the prepared section and hot bars. Essentially, Whole Foods provides every resource necessary to ensure that customers can make well-informed decisions that lead to improved health and vitality.

Transport

In order to reduce carbon emission and transportation costs while supporting local communities and providing customers with the freshest produce, Whole Foods demonstrates a commitment to local producers. According to WF’s 2014 Annual Report, approximately 24% of produce sold in stores came from local farms that year. However, given WF’s strong advertisement of its local commitment, this percentage seems rather small. Some believe that WF’s relation with local suppliers is rather played up. Often, ‘local’ products are actually purchased from national companies selling to WF stores everywhere (Richardson, 2009). Nonetheless, Whole Foods does always work to remain at least within the metro, state, or tri-county area, and this is certainly an admirable practice in regards to transport although improvement could still occur.

Social & SocietyLabor Practices and Decent Work

Whole Food employees are always ensured a solid living wage, along with excellent benefits and health care. According to various sources, Whole Food executive compensation is limited to 14-19 times that of the average employee (Maloney, 2006). Given that the national average compensation wage is 231 times the average worker for a CEO, this is huge variation, but one that closely reflects Whole Foods’ value for equality (Kannel 2012).

Local Communities

Whole Foods has developed a number of programs designed to support its local communities including “five percent days”, the Whole Kids Foundation™, the Whole Cities Foundation™, and a local producer loan program which has dispersed loans to groups like Willie Green’s Organic Farm. All Whole Foods locations hold “five percent days” several times each year with, as the name suggest, 5% of profits going to a local nonprofit or education organization (Valentine, 2013). Founded in 2011, the Whole Kids Foundation is a nonprofit organization, independent of WF that aims to improve children’s nutrition by providing support to schools through grants for gardens, salad bars, and staff cooking and nutritional education, while also inspiring families. Similarly, the Whole Cities Foundation is also an independent nonprofit, and the newest—created recently in 2014. In keeping with WF’s core values, the foundation is committed to the health of both individuals and entire

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communities. The Whole Cities Foundations focuses on underserved communities and aims to provide education and improved access to healthy food options through partnerships (Whole Food Market, Inc., ‘Annual Report’, 2014). Lastly, Whole Foods is able to reach even the global community via its Whole Planet Foundation that partnered with Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank. The foundation’s mission is to “empower the poor through microcredit, with a focus on developing-world communities” (Whole Foods Market, Inc., ‘Annual Report’, 2014). So far, the Whole Planet Foundation has already facilitated $60 million grants in over 60 countries in conjunction with its partners.

Recommendations & Goals for 2025The analysis revealed substantial potential for Whole Foods to move forward to the next level

of sustainability. Recommendations and goals set for the next decade must be closely aligned with Whole Food’s purpose and core values to ensure success.

100% Commitment to Organic

In keeping with Whole Foods’ commitment to advancing environmental stewardship while promoting the health of its stakeholders, Whole Foods should seek to phase out all non-organic, conventionally grown produce, and products containing non-organic ingredients by 2025. Currently, in some smaller stores like London’s Piccadilly location, there is actually no organic salad for sale to consumers, only conventional, and this does not represent the store well. Even at Whole Foods’ largest U.K. location on Kensington High Street, over 75% of the salad selection is conventionally grown while the remaining options for organic are extortionately priced compared to the organic salad available at other organic grocers like As Nature Intended, and even Sainsbury’s who now has their own organic line. Often, organic and conventional produce will be placed directly next to each other without any form of separation to prevent from mixing making it difficult for customers to know what they are actually purchases. Of course, it’s understandable that Whole Foods would want to make conventional options available in its store in order to appease less health-conscious and more financially conservative shoppers. However, given the dramatic fall in prices for organic food over the past five years and increase in demand, prices should begin to fall over the next decade allowed for greater affordability and accessibility for the more price sensitive shoppers (Spevack, 2014).

Rewards-Based Point System & Student Discount

Whole Foods understands that influential, younger populations are greatly responsible for the increasing premium put on healthy, sustainable lifestyles based on the consumption of organic and local foods, and that it’s also important to draw in older generations who may have not grown up with these health trends, but that do have health concerns. Firstly, Whole Foods should implement a student discount program in all stores by the year 2017. This will allow more young adults to adopt healthier lifestyles, which many may already desire, but find that they do not have financial means to do so. The more people that can be educated about sustainable lifestyles while also leading such a lifestyle, the better the place Earth becomes. Furthermore, a rewards-based point system will increase customer loyalty and retention while simultaneously promoting sustainability and health through workshops on topics like composting, recycling, and cooking, and featured items including food products, personal care items, and healthy cooking magazines and books which can all be purchases with points collected from purchases.

Sustainable Packing for Bulk Groceries & Elimination of Paper Bags

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Despite Whole Foods’ self-proclaimed commitment to waste reduction, customers are still supplied with paper bags for carrying groceries, as well as plastic bags for produce items, and plastic containers for the bulk purchases of products like grains, seeds, spices, crackers, dried fruits, and cereals. Therefore, Whole Foods is recommended to phase out all of the above-mentioned materials to be replaced with re-usable bags and containers which customers could be incentivized for with a three pence discount per bag used, or at the very minimum compostable bags could be supplied. Likely, a combination of the two could be used until customers develop the habit and feel open to bringing in re-usable bags and containers each time they go shopping—a consumer behavior Whole Foods should aim to develop by at the latest 2025. This would significantly cut down on waste, and potentially limit costs for Whole Food associated with supplying these carrying and packaging materials.

Improve Carbon Rating & Produce Yearly Sustainability Plans

As previously mentioned in the ‘Emissions’ section, Whole Foods has received extremely low carbon ratings from the CDP, and while one may immediately jump to assume that perhaps the company is not as green as it is presumed to be, more likely answer lies within the methodology. As previously outlined in the discussion of Whole Food’s current sustainable practices, a significant number of actions are taken to reduce to carbon emissions. CDP does explicitly explain that is not a “comprehensive metric of the level to which a company is low-carbon, or ‘green’ or sustainable, but rather an indication of the level of action taken by the company to manage its impacts on a yearly basis on climate change” (CDP, ‘Climate Change Scoring Methodology’, 2015). Whole Food needs to place greater priority on publishing information on its actions taken to promote positive climate change, and that which is relevant to such reports as they have the potential to increase the legitimacy of Whole Foods’ sustainability claims. Greater transparency and the release of information will go a long way in increasing ratings. Despite WF’s current ‘D’ rating, it should aim to achieve an ‘A’ performance band rating from the CDP by at least 2025. Furthermore, by publishing annual plans for sustainability goals Whole Foods will greatly improve its standing in other ‘green’ company rankings, while also improving the quality of its relationship with the stakeholders.

Promote Seafood Sustainability: No-fishing Zones

The final recommendation draws on Whole Foods’ values of improving environmental conditions and creating win-win partnership with suppliers. As discussed in the ‘Products and Services’ section, the sustainability of fish consumption is questionable. Already 64% of global fisheries are overfished, with the majority of fisheries near to shore overexploited, or already entirely exhausted (Rare, 2015). Whole Foods should aim to develop several no fishing areas around the world from where it sources its stock by 2020, and then continue to grow these areas more extensively by 2025. These zones will provide fish stocks with the ability to recover, and then eventually spill out into zones in which fishing is allowed. No-fishing zones promote the sustainability of not only fish, but also of the fishers whose livelihoods depend on the continued availability of fish to generate income.

The recommendations and goals for 2025 laid out above will not only promote sustainability on local and global levels, but also within Whole Foods as it ensures

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adherence to its core values for the future. As a company with sustainability at its core, Whole Foods must continuously be updating is goals while also publishing its results for social and environmental impact. Establishing annual sustainability reporting practices is vital to Whole Food’s growth, and to the continuation of healthy relationships with its stakeholders into the future.

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CDP. (2015) Whole Foods Market, Inc. CDP: Driving Sustainable Economies. [Online] Available from: https://www.cdp.net/en-US/Results/Pages/Company-Responses.aspx?company=20699

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CORPORATE KNIGHTS. (2015) 2015 Global 100 results. Corporate Knights: The Magazine for Clean Capitalism. [Online] Available from: http://www.corporateknights.com/reports/global-100/2015-global-100-results-14218559/

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GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE. (2015) G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. GRI. [Online] Available from: https://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRIG4-Part1-Reporting-Principles-and-Standard-Disclosures.pdf

GODELNIK, R. (2012) Why Whole Foods is Not a Sustainable Business. Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit. [Online] Available from: http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/03/foods-successful-company-example-business-case-sustainability/

GREENPEACE. (2014) Carting Away the Ocean VIII. Greenpeace. [Online] Available from: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/wp-content/uploads/legacy/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/Carting-Away-the-Oceans-VIII.pdf

KANNEL, C. (2012) Corporate Responsibility Spotlight: Whole Foods Market. The Motley Fool. [Online] Available from: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/09/14/corporate-responsibility-spotlight-whole-foods-ma.aspx

MALONEY, F. (2006) is Wholefoods Wholesome?: The Dark Secrets of the Organic-food Movement. Slate. [Online] Available from: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2006/03/is_whole_foods_wholesome.html

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RARE. (2015). Fisheries: opportunity abounds. Rare. [Online] Available from: http://www.rare.org/fisheries#.VmtQMeOLRlC

RICHARDSON, J. (2009) Is Whole Foods Sustainable or Just a High-Priced Hoax? I Took a Job There to Find Out. Alternet. [Online] Available from: http://www.alternet.org/story/141973/is_whole_foods_sustainable_or_just_a_high-priced_hoax_i_took_a_job_there_to_find_out

SPEVACK, V. (2014) Why is organic food more expensive, and when will it change? Organicfoodee.com. [Online] Available from: http://www.organicfoodee.com/sense/tooexpensive/

VALENTINE, E. (2013) 10 Ways Whole Foods is Raising the Bar in #CSR. The Buzz Bin – PadillaCRT. [Online] Available from: http://www.buzzbinpadillacrt.com/10-ways-whole-foods-is-raising-the-bar-in-csr/

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WHOLE FOODS MARKET. (n.d.) Green Mission. Whole Foods Market. [Online] Available from: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values/environmental-stewardship/green-mission

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WHOLE FOODS MARKET, INC. (2015) Annual Report on Form 10-K For the Fiscal Year Ended September 27, 2015. Whole Foods Market, Inc. [Online] Available from: http://assets.wholefoodsmarket.com/www/company-info/investor-relations/annual-reports/2015-WFM-10K.pdf

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