Whole Foods shoppers report food shortages and empty shelves at some stores as the company faces supplier issue
Hayley Peterson/Business Insider
A Whole Foods store in Richmond, Virginia.
- Whole Foods said Wednesday that its supplier of private-label beans, grains, lentils, and rice unexpectedly closed, leading to shortages of those items nationwide.
- The company also said it recently faced some weather-related issues that temporarily impacted its supply of lettuce from California.
- The shortages are irking some customers. "I cut down on how much I shop there because it's a really frustrating experience," one shopper said.
- Whole Foods said it's working to find a new supplier for those products. The process of finding a new supplier could take months, the company said.
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Whole Foods shoppers are reporting food shortages and empty shelves at some stores, as the company faces some unexpected supplier issues.
Photos shared with Business Insider and on social media over the past several weeks show barren or sparsely stocked displays of food in some Whole Foods departments, including produce, dairy, bulk foods, and packaged foods like lentils and rice.
In response to Business Insider's outreach on these reports, Whole Foods said Wednesday that its supplier of private-label beans, grains, lentils, and rice unexpectedly closed, leading to shortages of those items nationwide. The Amazon-owned company also said it recently faced some weather-related issues that temporarily impacted the availability of lettuce from California.
A Whole Foods store in Richmond, Virginia.
This could explain many of the recent complaints coming from Whole Foods customers.
Shoppers in Washington, DC, and New York told Business Insider that some types of rice and lentils disappeared from Whole Foods' shelves more than a month ago.
"If you look on the shelves where the rice is kept, it is bare," said Michon Boston, who shops at two Whole Foods stores in Washington, DC.
Whole Foods said it's working to find a new supplier for those products. The process of finding a new supplier could take months, the company said.
Hayley Peterson/Business InsiderA Whole Foods store in Richmond, Virginia.
In the meantime, Whole Foods said it's working to stock its shelves with branded alternatives that should become available in stores in the coming weeks.
"We work hard in partnership with all of our suppliers to ensure that customers find the products they are looking for when shopping our stores," a Whole Foods spokesperson said. "Unfortunately, weather and other supply factors outside of our control occasionally impact product availability. When this happens, we work as quickly as possible to find solutions and provide alternative options that meet our unparalleled quality standards."
The problems are irking some customers, like Joni Sweet, who said she has recently experienced shortages of tofu, soy milk, and eggs at her local Whole Foods store.
"I cut down on how much I shop there because it's a really frustrating experience," Sweet said. "They are frequently out of the items I like to buy."
Hayley Peterson/Business InsiderA Whole Foods store in Richmond, Virginia.
She said problems with out-of-stock items at the Whole Foods store on New York City's Upper East Side have persisted for months and seem to have recently worsened. On a recent trip to buy eggs, "there was almost nothing on the shelves, and even the eggs that were there were broken and smashed," she said.
Brad Thompson said food shortages have been a consistent and ongoing problem at his local Whole Foods store in San Francisco.
"Most of the problem seems to be around produce but I was there yesterday and half the spice rack was gone as well," Thompson said on Wednesday.
Some shoppers are venting their frustration on social media.
Hayley Peterson/Business InsiderA Whole Foods store in Richmond, Virginia.
Jeff Tetrault tweeted on Wednesday, "In all the years I have been a @WholeFoods customer, I can never remember shelves being so consistently bare & products perpetually out of stock until post @amazon acquisition. Has demand for food rapidly increased or is AMZN supply chain actually just brutal?"
User @AnnFairview tweeted Tuesday, "In recent weeks the Spring House, PA location has many empty shelves which is becoming increasingly disappointing. What's going on @WholeFoods?"
Business Insider visited a Whole Foods store in Richmond, Virginia, this week and found holes in inventory in multiple departments, including prepared foods, dairy, produce, juices, and soup broths.
Hayley Peterson/Business Insider
A Whole Foods store in Richmond, Virginia.
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Here's what some people are saying on social media:
This is not real! Whole Foods in ashburn is the worst and not even partnership can help, rotation in manager for perishable is incredible!!Complaint twice on social media, every time I go to the store, and all I received is "we are sorry" but no actual solution to the problem! pic.twitter.com/kkj1TVUBZv
- patricia calderon (@Calderon04Patty) January 22, 2020
In all the years I have been a @WholeFoods customer, I can never remember shelves being so consistently bare & products perpetually out of stock until post @amazon acquisition. Has demand for food rapidly increased or is AMZN supply chain actually just brutal? cc: @tomfgoodwin
- Jeff Tetrault (@JeffreyTetrault) January 22, 2020
@WholeFoods is like a Soviet-era grocery these days. This is what greets me EVERY time I enter the store.
This is Whole Foods TriBeCa today: pic.twitter.com/XSR1wAPnbM
- rbe (@perdidostschool) January 20, 2020
When is @WholeFoods going to fix their awful supply system pic.twitter.com/FNAk25LixY
- Alex Huie (@HuieAlex) January 20, 2020
I remember when @WholeFoods was Dean & DeLuca as a supermarket. Now, it's an overpriced Trader Joe's with a crap supply system. Remarkably, Amazon and CEO John Mackey somehow managed to drive a great store into the ground. pic.twitter.com/PsI9PCI78e
- Jose Garriga (@josegarriga) January 20, 2020
@JeffBezos @amazon @WholeFoods how is this acceptable? Are we in Moscow circa 1987? Been like this all week. This never happened before Amazon took over. pic.twitter.com/s2LKt5iym1
- alex johnson (@alexjohnson01) January 18, 2020
what gives??? @WholeFoods located at 1440 P St NW DC 20005 shared with @amazon and those lockers are always full..... #goodjob #sarcasm pic.twitter.com/dp5F2I2LNm
- Lynda Pejic (@Lynda_Pejic) January 18, 2020
Went to the Friendship Heights @WholeFoods to buy rice, beans and quinoa but it seems that people are hoarding these items only brown rice and green lentils left... pic.twitter.com/25JgitrwXS
- Mariana Alfonso (@Mariana_Alfonso) January 18, 2020
Hey @WholeFoods wtf? No salad at P Street DC. AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/0xB0kfIXEu
- Earl Burger (@KempDjkemp) January 18, 2020
@WholeFoods it's Friday and you have run out of greens. This is ridiculous. #wholefoods #amazonistheworst pic.twitter.com/RVAoOTdpud
- minisub (@minisubsandwich) January 17, 2020
@WholeFoods for the past 4 weeks I've been welcomed by empty shelves at your Harlem store. I took pictures today so you see proof of mismanagement. I could never take advantage of sales bc I'm told, "no raincheck." Shelves never look this bad downtown with different demographics pic.twitter.com/6yc6nNPIQQ
- Dena Simmons (@DenaSimmons) January 14, 2020
@WholeFoods again! Ashburn whole foods is the worst!!! More than one year that I complaint and nothing has change! pic.twitter.com/Tr5ppYZKER
- patricia calderon (@Calderon04Patty) January 13, 2020
Not much better on Jan 11 pic.twitter.com/cME4JK9rNq
- Amy Kim (@amesjkim) January 12, 2020
Empty shelves seems to be an ordinary occurrence at @WholeFoods lately #whatsupamazon pic.twitter.com/n0pyl0tBtO
- Lisa Cera (@lisacstyles) January 10, 2020
In recent weeks the Spring House, PA location has many empty shelves which is becoming increasingly disappointing. What's going on @WholeFoods? #WholeFoods pic.twitter.com/jaygD9CdEn
- Lulu (@AnnFairview) January 10, 2020
You would've thought @WholeFoods was going out of business the way the produce section looked tonight. Empty shelves, out of a lot. What up @amazon?#ProduceYourProduce pic.twitter.com/YKfjuhLyW3
- Brad Thompson (@BradAT) January 8, 2020
Once again, ventured into @WholeFoods to do my weekly grocery shopping to be met with empty shelves and droves of Prime shoppers someone needs to get on top of ordering so there is SOMETHING edible on the shelves. I mean, there isn't even a snowstorm on the way. pic.twitter.com/BxEhcZs5OS
- Love, Cameron (@HighKingCam) January 5, 2020
@WholeFoods Just trying to do our weekly grocery shopping at the Riverdale, MD store but were faced with empty shelves. WTF? pic.twitter.com/T9Lm7fkkwA
- Katie Ly (@katie_leesman) January 5, 2020
@WholeFoods Is your Upper East Side location trolling us with these empty shelves, or has it just given up? @WholeFoodsPR pic.twitter.com/RASR71F9Yu
- Joni Sweet (@JoniSweet) January 2, 2020
Sure am glad I went to @WholeFoods today where the salad and lettuce section was mostly empty. Um, ok? #wholefoods
Had to go to @kroger for spinach. They had tons! Thanks Kroger!
✌ pic.twitter.com/M0sxR4bPXh
- TheRealBM (@TheRealBM7) January 9, 2020
.@WholeFoods is your p street location in dc going out of business or something? this is becoming way too common here. pic.twitter.com/JHl7vZaB3Y
- Blake Whitney (@blakewhitney) January 6, 2020
This is what it looks like @WholeFoods when the delivery network optimization is out of sync with consumer demand. The Lakeview store was cleaned out all over. Explanation: No deliveries for past 2 days. #distribution #RealEstate pic.twitter.com/VwtIrq3Dpo
- Dan Spiegel (@dl_spiegel) January 3, 2020
@WholeFoods Why are there no beans in Ann Arbor, MI stores? It's been like this for weeks. pic.twitter.com/ZxICAU2DOl
- Guilherme Campos (@gcampos444) January 22, 2020
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