BELLEVUE, Wash., June 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- This summer,
Whole Foods Market will share the story of social enterprise in
Africa through the work of some
amazing brands including LIFE Line, Alaffia, Madecasse, and Allegro
Coffee. Each of these companies is committed to creating
sustainable economic opportunities to help alleviate poverty in
Africa.
LIFE Line, a lifestyle fashion brand, began with eight female
employees who became a catalyst for change for an entire community
in rural Kenya. These women bond
together to create and sell beautiful canvas products in order to
support projects like education for children with special needs,
agriculture and environmental initiatives, as well as nutrition and
wellness training.
In June, Whole Foods Market stores in Northern California, Washington, Oregon and British
Columbia began selling LIFE Line's "LOVE" bracelet to show
support for job creation and fair wages in Africa. These hand-beaded bracelets, designed
exclusively for Whole Foods Market and created by women from the
Maasai tribe in Kenya, are a
beautiful way to connect the maker and the wearer with a common
purpose.
Alaffia was founded to maintain the handcrafted tradition
of creating shea butter from Togo's natural resources while advancing
gender equality and alleviating poverty in West Africa. Whole Foods Market supports
Alaffia's vision for how traditional practices can contribute to
the global economy and recognizes how powerful one purchase of shea
butter can be to empowering African communities.
For chocolate lovers, Madecasse isn't just another
run-of-the-mill chocolate bar. Although 70 percent of the world's
cocoa comes from Africa, it's rare
for production to stay local. Madecasse recognized an
opportunity to source, produce and package each bar on the island
of Madagascar in order to make a
truly positive social impact in the community.
Whole Foods Market shoppers may be familiar with Allegro Coffee.
Allegro travels the globe searching out coffees that are as unique
as their places of origin. Currently, Allegro is sourcing coffee
from 25 different counties, including areas in East-Central Africa,
and many family-run farms and coffee cooperatives within each
country.
Whole Foods Market and the Whole Planet Foundation® are proud to
support many businesses throughout Africa and the rest of the world as they grow
and thrive. Whole Foods Market has partnered with entrepreneurs to
extend microcredit to them and their businesses. Because of this
microcredit, they are able to improve the lives of their employees
and their community.
About Whole Foods Market®
Founded in 1980
in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods
Market (wholefoodsmarket.com) (NASDAQ: WFM), is the leading natural
and organic food retailer. As America's first national certified
organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named "America's Healthiest
Grocery Store" by Health magazine. The company's motto,
"Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet"™ captures its mission to
ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and
happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and
environmental improvement. Thanks to the company's more than
90,000 team members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of
the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America
by FORTUNE magazine for 17 consecutive years. In fiscal
year 2014, the company had sales of more than $14 billion and currently has more than 421
stores in the United States,
Canada and the United Kingdom.
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SOURCE Whole Foods Market