Whole Foods Market sustainability score: 33/100
Whole Foods Market is a US-based natural and organic grocery retailer founded in 1976, headquartered in Austin, Texas. Operating 500+ stores with 91,000 employees, it is the largest natural foods supermarket chain.
More about Whole Foods Market
Acquired by Amazon in 2017, WFM operates as a subsidiary within Amazon's consolidated reporting structure, limiting public environmental transparency at the store-level operations scale.
Founded 1976Head office Austin, United StatesStaff ~100,000Revenue ~$20B (estimated, not separately reported)Website ↗
Whole Foods Market publishes no quantified emissions data despite operating 500+ energy-intensive stores with massive supply chain footprint. Parent Amazon's emissions rose 6% in 2024 and 162% since its Climate Pledge. The company leads US grocers on biodiversity and waste diversion but lacks science-based climate targets, water disclosure, and standalone accountability.
Whole Foods Market scores 33/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Whole Foods Market joint 595th of 934 companies scored, and joint 32nd of 50 in Retail (non-fashion).
What is Whole Foods Market doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Controversies & Red Flags and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (8/10, 6/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Carbon Footprint: Operations (1/10, 2/10).
Where Whole Foods Market lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations2/10No emissions figures for its own operations, not even an estimate from energy bills.
- Emissions from its supply chain2/10No assessment of where its supply-chain emissions come from.
- Whether its emissions are falling1/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is5/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature6/10No verified restoration beyond its own footprint, or supply chain not mapped for nature risk.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water2/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets2/10No specific targets with dates.
- How openly it reports4/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Whole Foods Market's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Whole Foods Market's score changed?
Whole Foods Market's score has moved from 31 to 33 across 2 recorded reviews, up 2 points.
- 31 → 33+229 October 2026
Correction: score 31 → 33; the published score did not follow from its own base, performance and size deduction (arithmetic error, corrected 29 October 2026).
- Scored 314 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Whole Foods Market's score based on?
14 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
43% of them were published by Whole Foods Market itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 4 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
8 of 14 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Whole Foods Market compare with other retail (non-fashion) companies?
Where Whole Foods Market sits among retail (non-fashion) peers.
Among the 50 major retail (non-fashion) brands we've scored, Whole Foods Market is tied =32nd of 50, with 3 others.
Who scores higher in Retail (non-fashion)?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Whole Foods Market.
Poundland operates with minimal emissions transparency and no supply chain carbon quantification despite acknowledging this is where most impacts occur.
See the breakdown →Aldi UK has validated science-based net-zero targets and reduced operational emissions 4.3% year-on-year, but absolute Scope 3 emissions rose 18% in 2023 due to business expansion.
See the breakdown →ALDI SOUTH has validated net-zero targets and eliminated 63% of operational emissions since 2016, but total Scope 3 emissions rose 18% in 2023 due to expansion.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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