Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., is a supermarket chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. The grocer offers a wide selection of natural and organic foods, including fresh produce, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged groceries, meat and seafood, deli, baked goods, dairy products, frozen foods, natural body care and household items. Sprouts employs more than 35,000 team members and operates more than 340 stores in 23 states. A typical store is around 30,000 square feet. Fortune included Sprouts on its list of the World’s Most Admired Companies in 2018 and 2019.
History
In 1943, Henry Boney opened a fresh fruit stand near La Mesa, California, which grew into a handful of open-air farmers markets. In 1969, his sons developed Boney’s Market, which grew into a beloved community grocery store. By 1997, the family’s unique set of small-box farmers market grocery stores were renamed Henry’s Farmers Market after their father. Sprouts Farmers Market was founded in 2002 in Chandler, Arizona by members of the Boney family.In 2011, Henry’s, Sun Harvest and Sprouts came together again under Apollo Global Management and all were rebranded as Sprouts stores. In 2012, Sunflower was acquired and was also rebranded Sprouts. Sprouts became a public company traded on NASDAQ in 2013.
Charitable giving
In 2015, Sprouts founded the Healthy Communities Foundation, which supports local health and wellness related causes. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $10 million to nonprofit partners across 23 states. Sprouts Farmers Market covers all operational expenses, ensuring that every dollar raised goes directly to programming.
Sustainability
Sprouts operates with a focus on the environment, product quality and supply chain transparency, team members, and local communities. As part of Sprouts’ commitment to “zero waste,” Sprouts participates in a food waste diversion program that provides food to those in need, feed for animals, and nutrients for agricultural soil. All edible food that is no longer fit for sale is donated to hunger relief agencies and food that is not fit for hunger relief agencies is donated as cattle feed. Everything else is donated as compost, which enriches soils with nutrients. In 2019, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized Sprouts with several recognition through its GreenChill program, a partnership with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.
Products
Sprouts offers a wide selection of healthful products that are minimally processed and free of artificial flavors, colors, preservatives and synthetic ingredients. The company says that 90% of its products meet this standard. Sprouts has its own private label brand of products, featuring more than 2,400 items. Sprouts offers beef products that range from choice cuts to grass-fed. Sprouts has a large Vitamins & Supplements department with more than 7,500 products. Produce makes up approximately a quarter of the business for Sprouts and the store carries around 200 varieties of organic produce. As a healthy food grocer dedicated to affordability and accessibility, one third of the store is always on promotion.
Concerns and criticism
Animal product concerns
In April 2017, the network Direct Action Everywhere released the results of their investigation into cage-free egg supplier Morning Fresh Farms. The Phoenix Business Journal covered the investigation and included comments from Sprouts, noting that Morning Fresh Farms provided inspection reports and certification documents showing compliance that indicated the video shared in the results was not reflective of the farm's cage-free facility in Colorado.
Criticism
The store’s use of the term “farmers market” been criticized by local farmers and food sovereignty advocates for appropriating a term they believe should be reserved for direct-to-consumer sales venues.
