Empowering Individuals in the Global Community Through Entrepreneurship
Whole Planet Foundation's Ten Thousand Dollar Fund provides expansion funds for new microlending projects through a $10,000 annual donation. This $10,000 giving level was launched in 2009 and has expanded to 15 supplier members. $1 can make a difference in the life of an impoverished entrepreneur, and $10,000 can change the lives of 60 impoverished families for generations!
To learn more, contact WPF’s Marketing and Outreach Specialist, Lauren Evans at lauren.evans@wholefoods.com.
Alexia Foods
At Alexia, they love food as much as you. That's why they make it exactly how you would: all-natural, gourmet-inspired, and absolutely delicious. Their creativity and passion for the highest quality side dishes runs deep in the company’s roots. The founders always wondered why there weren't quality side dishes that achieved the same discerning standard as the main entrée. They knew others would agree, and believed they could create distinctive and inspired convenient everyday side dishes that lived up to what they might create in their own kitchens. Alexia starts by hand selecting the finest all-natural ingredients and producing only small batches. Whether seasoning their Beauregard Sweets and Yukon Gold Potatoes or baking the perfect artisan Ciabatta and Focaccia breads, Alexia always uses real ingredients and puts quality and taste first. Alexia is thrilled to support the mission and vision of Whole Planet Foundation as a supplier partner by helping to change the lives of microcredit clients worldwide.
Be Green Packaging
Be Green Packaging produces recyclable and compostable packaging from wild harvested, annually renewable plant fibers. We are a triple bottom line company that places people and the planet on par with profit. This philosophy is embedded in our mission, our goals and in how we measure our success. At Be Green Packaging, we strive to uphold the highest green standards to ensure product quality and performance. We also consider it a priority to maintain a beneficial presence in our local and global communities. We believe our Eco-Social commitments with a variety of organizations including the Whole Planet Foundation set us apart from our competition and help build a strong foundation for our relationships with our customers, our employees and the community at large.
“Being a Mission driven, triple bottom line enterprise, Be Green Packaging was originally drawn to the WPF as a global charity," said Ron Blitzer, CEO of Be Green Packaging. "As our involvement has grown over the years, we now appreciate and understand that this is not just a global charity -- it is much, much more than that. I cannot think of a better global opportunity for a company like ours where we can transform lives beyond measure. Traveling to Brazil last summer with WPF and being able to see firsthand how a $200 loan can change the shape of a family a women and a community was amazing. Sharing the experience and encouraging our employees and stakeholders to get involved and educate themselves about the WPF has added significant meaning to our own community.”
Bob's Red Mill
Bob’s Red Mill is dedicated to producing natural foods in the natural way and the nation’s leader in stone milling. We stone grind all common and many uncommon grains into flours and meals on over one-hundred-year-old mills. With all of the sophisticated knowledge of recent times, no machinery has yet been developed that grinds grains into flour as well as these slow-turning, flint-hard quartz millstones of the kind used by millers since ancient times. We produce more than 400 products, including a full line of certified gluten free products and an extensive line of certified organic products. With a wide variety of whole-grain products—from flours and hot cereals to baking mixes and grains—Bob’s Red Mill has “whole-grain foods for every meal of the day.” Our Employee-Owned company is proud to be a three-year partner of the Whole Planet Foundation’s Ten Thousand Dollar Fund and grateful to help change the lives of 60 impoverished families.
Cava Mezze Foods
Cava Mezze Foods is an extension of Washington, DC’s beloved Cava Mezze Restaurant. "We believe freshness, simplicity and quality are the key ingredients of a great meal. We are proud that our Greek-inspired dips and spreads never contain artificial additives or preservatives," co-founder Geoff Maites said. "Our philosophy is simple: cooking must be rooted in tradition, it must be real and it must be 
delicious. Originally operating out of the restaurant’s 600 square foot kitchen, we began making our packaged dips and spreads in the middle-of-the-night and delivered directly to local markets the next morning. With passion, hard work, and opportunity Cava Mezze Foods quickly grew out of the restaurant kitchen and into a production kitchen of our own."
Having experienced it first hand, Cava Mezze Foods believes in the power of entrepreneurial spirit combined with a little opportunity. "That is why our support for The Whole Planet Foundation has grown each year, culminating with a donation of more than $12,000 in 2012 and $19,662 in 2013," Geoff Maites of Cava Mezze said. "Working with individual Whole Foods Market stores, we plan to continue increasing our contribution each year moving forward."
Cedar's
The Cedar’s Mediterranean Foods family believes in creating extraordinary Mediterranean food products, and searches the world for only the finest ingredients in order to bring you world class taste (while keeping it local as often as possible.) Each product is hand crafted with the same passion as the first product ever produced by founder Abe Hanna. Abe’s son, Charlie Hanna, and Charlie’s childhood best friend, Steve Tsakirellis, have continued Abe’s tradition and believe in making Mediterranean foods just as they are made in the tiny villages that made them famous- with simple, fresh, all natural, and whole ingredients. Cedar’s Hommus is the only Gluten Free Certified and Non-GMO Project Verified Hommus in the country. The Cedar’s family strongly believes in the welfare of the planet and actively invests in the community that helped it grow to a national brand. Because of the synergies in values, Cedar’s is proud to partner with the Whole Planet Foundation to provide life-changing opportunities for others, just as they were provided to the founders of our company by our community.
Guayaki
Guayaki is a group of individuals working to make organic, fair-trade yerba mate the mainstream energy source of choice, and prove that a company can be profitable while operating sustainably. Our business model directly links our customer’s purchases to our partner farming communities, who sustainably harvest organic yerba mate from rainforest grown cultivations and reforestation projects, generating a renewable income stream which enables these communities to improve their lives and restore their lands. Our restoration projects are primarily based Argentina, Paraguay and Southern Brazil. From the simple love of a beverage, Guayakí drinkers have become a driving force for conservation and community development by paying a fair trade price for their yerba mate. We are happy to partner with the Whole Planet Foundation, and to contribute further to empowering people through mircofinance lending.
Late July Organic Snacks
Late July Organic Snacks is an independent, family owned and operated company, founded to help create better, more sustainable food options for our children and future generations. Late July cares deeply about the integrity of their products and all products proudly wear the organic seal. In 2013, Late July will donate a percentage of sales of their multigrain chips to raise $10,000 for Whole Planet Foundation. Not only are these Organic Multigrain Snack Chips certified USDA organic, 100% whole grains, certified gluten-free and peanut/tree nut free, but $0.10 of every purchase goes right to Whole Planet Foundation!
"Women empowering women is seen every day in our company and partnering with Whole Planet Foundation allows me the chance to let women in third world countries become entrepreneurs and hopefully empower their own network of women and family members," said Nicole Bernard Dawes, Founder & CEO of Late July Organic Snacks. "As a mother and an entrepreneur, I am inspired by the mission of Whole Planet Foundation and even more so when I learned that 90% of Whole Planet Foundation loan recipients are women. Whole Planet Foundation explained this is the case because poor women in third world countries have little or no access to loans through traditional means. It’s been shown that women are more likely to reinvest their money back into their families and community helping break the cycle of poverty. Our partnership with the Whole Planet Foundation is coming into its third year and I am honored to say we have provided 61 new loans and helped 360 people to microfinance their own businesses. 2013 is our 10th anniversary, I am very proud that Late July has remained true to the same core values that we began with, a strong commitment to organic & NON-GMO, remaining independently owned and giving back to wonderful charitable partners like the Whole Planet Foundation!”
Method
Founded in 2000, Method is the pioneer of premium planet-friendly and design-driven home, fabric and personal care products. Formulated with naturally derived, biodegradable ingredients, Method cleaners put the hurt on dirt without doing harm to people, creatures or the planet. Today, Method can be found in more than 40,000 retail locations like Whole Foods Market throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Major national retailers include Target, Lowe’s Home Improvement Centers and Kroger. Method is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco, California and is Whole Planet Foundation’s newest Ten Thousand Dollar Fund partner.
Nutiva
Nutiva began in 1999 as an idea in the mind of John W. Roulac, the author of successful books on home composting and industrial hemp. With his best-selling book Backyard Composting (over a million copies sold) and setting up of 700 municipal home-composting programs, John had jumpstarted the modern home-composting movement in the early 1990s. Nutiva introduced America’s first hemp food bar at a time when the ecological benefits and extraordinary nutritional value of hemp foods were little known. The hemp bars earned Nutiva a welcome place on the shelves of health food stores across the nation. Nutiva then went on to introduce other superfoods such as hemp oil, shelled hemp seeds, and hemp protein powder Nutiva continues to innovate with organic superfoods, all of which have unique health benefits. “We realize that making a reasonable profit enables the company to grow,” Roulac said. “Yet profits can’t be placed above the health and welfare of people or the planet.”
popchips
Even for a self-proclaimed snack fanatic, it can be downright embarrassing to eat a bag of fried chips out in public. That's what popchips co-founder, Keith Belling, realized one day as he was trying to sneak his snack at a San Francisco deli counter. It was not clear whether he was hiding them from himself or friends. but he knew those bland baked chips weren't the answer either. It was almost enough to make him hold out until dinner. Keith, a serial entrepreneur, knew what he had to do. He had to find a chip that was both tasty and healthier (and less embarrassing). He had to put the fun back in snacking. but how?
Keith talked with fellow snacker and co-founder, Patrick Turpin, about his mission. Patrick told him about an interesting snack manufacturer. One visit was all it took. They got it. Forget frying (unhealthy). Forget baking (undelicious). The two snackers had found a way to pop a chip with all the flavor and a lot less of the stuff that gives snacking a bad name. Keith and Pat spent over a year, snacking, popping, and snacking some more, until they came up with popchips, a naturally delicious line of popped chips they loved to eat and did not have to hide. Now they are doing their best to share the bag with snackers everywhere.
Sambazon
“The journey began when we experienced açaí with local surfers during a trip to celebrate the new millennium in Brasil. Amazed by the natural energy and nutritional benefits of this powerful fruit, we were quickly hooked. Our last night in Brasil, we started working on a plan to share açaí with the world and in early 2000, Sambazon was formed.” During June and July 2011, Sambazon teamed up with Whole Foods Market to offer a “Enter for a Chance to Win a Trip for 2 to Brazil” sweepstakes. For each entry received, Sambazon agreed to donate $1 to Whole Planet Foundation. There were 10,717 entries received, and combined with a July scanback promotion, Sambazon will donate $12,339.90! Their generous contribution will create 58 microloans that will provide 340 people with the opportunity to change their lives through microcredit.
The Republic of Tea
The Republic of Tea enriches people’s lives through its premium teas, education and innovation, as it emphasizes a “Sip by Sip Rather Than Gulp by Gulp” lifestyle. Founded in 1992, The Republic of Tea sparked a specialty tea revolution. Today the brand offers an unequaled selection of the highest-quality teas, herbal blends,books and nature-inspired sip ware, available exclusively at specialty retailers throughout the U.S. Further, The Republic of Tea is mindful of how its actions impact the greater community and actively supports worthy organizations like Whole Planet Foundation, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Room to Read, The Ethical Tea Partnership and the Rainforest Alliance. For more information, please visit www.REPUBLICofTEA.com or call 1.800.298.4832. Follow The Republic of Tea on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
Tom’s of Maine
Tom's of Maine is a leading natural products company focused on oral and personal care. TOMs sells high quality toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss, deodorant and bar soap products. The company has a long-standing commitment to supporting people, communities and the living planet. For over 42 years, Tom's of Maine has sponsored hundreds of nonprofit efforts by giving 10% of its profits back to organizations that support human and environmental goodness and by encouraging employees to use 5% (12 days) of employee time to volunteer. Tom's of Maine employees regularly contribute suggestions for improving the company's high sustainability standards. And their ideas, from wind power to ways to improve recycled and recyclable packaging options, are critical to the company's sensitive way of doing business. Tom’s of Maine products are vegan, Kosher, Halal-certified and all packaging is recyclable through a partnership with upcycling leader TerraCycle or participating municipalities. Tom's of Maine enjoys partnering with its consumers, vendors and community organizations to support lasting, positive change that is good for people and the planet.
Learn more online at http://www.tomsofmaine.com/ or on Facebook.
Vital Farms
Matt O’Hayer’s interest in chicken-raising started as a child delivering eggs door-to-door. Folks call him the Egg Man! Fast-forward to 2007, when he started Vital Farms, an organic pastured egg farm located on 27 acres along Onion Creek in South Austin. Whole Foods Market visited Matt at the farm and learned that his chickens have an enviable life, with lots of green grass and plenty of space to roam. In addition to being a supporter of Whole Planet Foundation’s Ten Thousand Dollar Fund, Vital Farms is a recipient of a Whole Foods Market Local Producer Loan, which they have used to purchase equipment to help them expand their production. Matt O’Hayer says of their support, “It was important to me to see first-hand how microcredit works, so we joined Whole Planet Foundation on a recent site visit to a microlending project in Guatemala. Because of the leverage and efficiencies it provides, I have found no better way to get help to people who need it most than microcredit.”
Weleda
Weleda – Not your average beauty company. Beauty comes from within — and without. Long before it was a trend, Weleda left harsh chemicals out of its natural skin and body care products. The company was founded in 1921 to support human health and beauty using only the purest, most effective ingredients from nature. Each ingredient is carefully selected to heal, protect and help your skin regain its natural balance, so it can be healthy and radiant.
