What is the Whole Trade Guarantee Program?

If you have shopped at the Whole Foods Market, you may have noticed the Whole Trade Guarantee seal on various items throughout the stores. Basically, that label is an extension of the store’s key principles. So anytime an item has the Whole Trade Guarantee label on, it indicates:

•           the product reaches the store’s strict product Quality          Standards
•           supply more money to producers
•          ensure better wages and working conditions for workers
•          care for the environment
•           donate 1% of sales to Whole Planet Foundation

Meeting Strict Quality Standards

The workers taste, inspect, prod and poke for the products’ quality. All products are subjected to reaching the standards, such as no artificial preservatives, colors, flavors and sweeteners, and no hydrogenated fats.

Supply More Money to Producers

Fair trade puts together more sustainable, healthy economies in developing countries. A finest price paid to producers allows:

-          Offer access into and stability within the global marketplace

-          Be an investment in their families and communities

-          Put money back into their companies

-          Allow them to invest in training and education for workers

-          Maintain a better, continual quality of life

Ensure Better Wages and Working Conditions

Whole Trade producers assure to provide better wages and safer conditions for all their workers in the store.

Moreover, community support programs let Whole Trade to benefit the workers and their families beyond the farm gate or the door of the manufacturing facility, and beyond a paycheck. The “social premium”, which Whole Foods Market pays to producers for Whole Trade products, encourages social-improvement projects in the worker communities, including:

-          Schools and daycare for worker families

-          Hospital equipment

-          Low-interest home-improvement loans

-          Bicycles to help kids get to school
-  Water and electricity access

Care for the Environment

The Whole Trade Guarantee encourages strong needs toward producers to use sound environmental practices that encourage biodiversity and healthy soils. Simply put, it promotes a sustainable environment for everyone. While some products are organic, others respect our Earth using a variety of conservation methods or respectful wild harvesting. Once passing the requirements and getting satisfying results, third-party certifiers are recruited to examine environmental practices and working condition on site and to confirm specific criteria to be met.

Donation made to Whole Planet Foundation

Not only the industry has the World’s best products, but it also has the best purpose dedicated to the public. For every product sold, 1% of the sale is donated to Whole Planet Foundation to help fund poverty improvement through micro-credit (the lending of small amounts of money at low interest to new businesses) in the US and abroad.

Therefore, next time you’re in the store, look for the Whole Trade Guarantee seal on products and think about how when you are purchasing Whole Trade products, you are helping Whole Planet Foundation, too!