Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc., is a supermarket chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The grocer offers a wide selection of natural and organic foods, including fresh produce, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged groceries, meat, poultry, seafood, deli, baked goods, dairy products, frozen foods, natural body care, and household items. Sprouts employs 35,000 workers and operates more than 400 stores in 24 states.

History

In 1943, Henry Boney opened a fresh-fruit stand in San Diego, 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 rebranded Sprouts. Sprouts became a public company traded on NASDAQ in 2013. In 2015, Apollo Global Management exited its position in the company by selling off 10.4% of Sprout’s overall stock, or about 15.8 million shares. This represented all of the remaining stock in Sprouts owned by Apollo.

''Fortune'' included Sprouts on its list of the World's Most Admired Companies in 2018 and 2019.

In 2021, Sprouts Farmers Market partnered with MyFitnessPal to provide food-related content support to the app, which included a library of healthy recipes, health and fitness challenges, and food- and health-related articles.

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 $18 million to nonprofit partners across 23 states. In 2021, the foundation gave away more than $3 million in grants to over 115 organizations.

Sustainability

Sprouts operates with a focus on the environment, product quality, supply chain transparency, team members, and local communities. As part of Sprouts's 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 them is donated as cattle feed. Everything else is donated as compost. In 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized Sprouts with several recognitions through its GreenChill program, a partnership with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

The store's use of the term ''farmers market'' has been criticized by local farmers and food sovereignty advocates for appropriating a term they believe should be reserved for direct-to-consumer sales venues.

About

Sprouts offers a selection of products that are minimally processed and free of artificial flavors, food coloring, preservatives, and synthetic ingredients. The company says that 90% of its products meet this standard.

Sprouts has its own private-label brand of products that includes more than 2,400 items. Stores offer beef products that range from choice cuts to grass-fed. Each store's vitamins and supplements department typically includes about 7,500 products. Produce makes up about a quarter of the business for Sprouts, and the stores carry around 200 varieties of organic produce. One-third of the store stock is always on promotion.

Animal welfare concerns

In April 2017, the network Direct Action Everywhere released the results of their investigation into Sprouts's cage-free egg supplier Morning Fresh Farms, including a video showing chickens that were injured or starving due to lack of food and water. The ''Phoenix Business Journal'' covered the investigation and included comments from Sprouts, stating that Morning Fresh Farms had provided assurance that the video was not reflective of the farm's cage-free facility.

Store locations

Sprouts has locations in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprouts (Grocery Chain)
Health food stores
Supermarkets of the United States
Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona
Organic food retail organizations
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
American companies established in 2002
Retail companies established in 2002
2002 establishments in Arizona
2013 initial public offerings
Companies in the S&P 400