Retailer

Whole Foods Market

United States
7
Years of IPNLF Membership

Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market is the leading natural and organic foods supermarket, the first “Certified Organic” national grocer, and uniquely positioned as America’s Healthiest Grocery Store™. It currently has over 520 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom and employs approximately 105,000 team members.

Our 365 by Whole Foods Market brand offers more than 3,500 affordably priced and thoughtfully sourced products that not only meet our already strict standards, but also in many cases go above and beyond what we require of other brands. We prioritise worker rights and animal welfare, supply chain transparency, and thoughtful sourcing.

Whole Foods Market were the first national retailer to create storewide commitments to one-by-one tuna catch methods, spanning grocery products and prepared foods items. Under the policy, all canned tuna at Whole Foods Market must come from fisheries using only pole-and-line, troll, or handline catch methods, all of which take fish one by one, preventing bycatch and creating more jobs in coastal communities.

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Products sold by Whole Foods Market

If you want to know where your seafood comes from, you’ve come to the right place. All canned tuna on Whole Foods Market's grocery shelves, such as their Pole & Line Caught and 365 by Whole Food Market brands, is sourced from fisheries using one-by-one catch methods, which prevent bycatch and create more jobs in coastal communities.

Whole Foods Market provide these tuna products to consumers in our stores throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The assortment of products on offer will vary store to store and depending on the country. A sample of our product range can be viewed below.

 

At A Glance

Alt-Energy Whole Foods Market's alternative energy sourcing

Whole Foods Market invests in different ways to source their energy. As of 2021, there were more than 70 stores and facilities supplementing traditional supply with power from rooftop solar installations. Moreover, they own more than 200 electric vehicle charging stations at their stores. 

Green Building Including a greenhouse on the roof!

Whole Foods Market joined EPA's GreenChill programme as a founding partner back in 2007. They have used this programme to implement their own green improvements to their own buildings. Their Brooklyn, NY store has solar, wind, a combined heat and power system and a state of the art refrigeration system, as well as a greenhouse on the roof!

Order up! Ultimate comfort

Their instore fishmonger team will cut, peel and clean out any of your seafood for you, free of charge - fresh and instore, ready for your dinner.

"Since we opened our first store in 1980, we've not only been passionate about healthy food, we’ve been passionate about a healthy planet. Joining the International Pole & Line Foundation amplifies our collective efforts to be a positive force for change for our oceans and the fishing communities who depend on them. IPNLF has been a key partner, helping us to develop our canned tuna sourcing policy, and supporting Whole Foods Market’s mission to move the seafood industry toward greater sustainability."

Carrie Brownstein - Whole Foods Market Principal Quality Standards Advisor for Seafood

Our Fisheries

Maldives pole-and-line skipjack tuna

Indian Ocean
The Maldives pole-and-line skipjack fishery has been operating for centuries and has been the lifeline of the Maldivian economy since before the boom of the tourism industry in the mid 1970s. The fishery not only provides a large proportion of the country’s income from the tuna trade and export, but also provides one of the only sources of protein for the Maldivian population, also contributing to a stable livelihood. The Maldivian pole-and-line fishery is located in the Arabian Sea within the Indian Ocean.
Maldives
Skipjack Tuna
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New Zealand troll albacore tuna

Pacific Ocean
The New Zealand troll fishery fishes for albacore tuna from the Southern Pacific albacore population. Hunting off of the Northern coasts of New Zealand, the troll fishing vessels begin their trips in the summer months between December and May.
New Zealand
Albacore Tuna
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AAFA South Pacific troll albacore

Pacific Ocean
The American Albacore Fishery Association has two subset fisheries: North and South Pacific, off the Western coast of the United States. The Southern fishery uses the troll method to hunt for albacore tuna, across the fishery.
United States
Albacore Tuna
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AAFA North Pacific pole-and-line and troll albacore

Pacific Ocean
The American Albacore Fishery Association operates off the Western coast of the United States and has two subset fisheries: North and South. In the North, pole-and-line and trolling fisheries are the two methods of one-by-one fishing used to catch albacore tuna.
United States
Albacore Tuna
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Company Policies and Reports

All the seafood in our seafood department is responsibly farmed or sustainable wild-caught (that includes frozen and breaded options, appetisers, smoked seafood and seafood dips). If it doesn’t meet our standards, we won’t sell it. No exceptions.

Our seafood is traceable to farm or fishery, and we work hard to source it only from responsibly managed farms and abundant, well-managed wild fisheries. Year after year, we’re recognised by Greenpeace for our rigorous seafood sustainability practices.

Find out more here 

Fisheries Improvement Toolbox (FIT) Engagement

In 2018, Whole Foods Market and IPNLF member Tonnino teamed up to release a line of pole-and-line tuna exclusively available at Whole Foods Market stores. This move aligns with their commitment that all canned and prepared tuna from Whole Foods Market must come from one-by-one fisheries: pole-and-line, handline or troll method. The most socially and environmentally sustainable choice. 

The one-by-one method is recognised as the most sustainable choice of fishing. It is an active form of fishing, meaning that fishers are always engaged with their catch. This ensures very little bycatch, lost gear, or overfishing.