Sustainable Products

As retailers of animal-derived products, we recognize our responsibility to uphold animal welfare within our supply chain. We expect our suppliers to uphold the Five Freedoms framework for animal welfare, which mandates freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, or disease; freedom to express normal behavior; and freedom from fear and distress.

We expect our suppliers to comply with all applicable laws and to take a zero-tolerance approach to animal cruelty, abuse, and neglect. We encourage suppliers to continually improve their animal welfare standards and practices, and to work toward recognized animal welfare certifications or industry guidelines that include welfare provisions. For information about animal welfare at Whole Foods Market, see our Meat Department Quality Standards.

Amazon and Whole Foods Market are committed to sourcing fresh and frozen beef from regions with low deforestation risk or with full supply chain traceability in our grocery Private Brands in North America and Europe by the end of 2025.

Amazon is committed to sourcing cocoa, coffee, and tea that is certified against sustainability standards by Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade International, or Fair Trade USA for our grocery Private Brands selection in North America and Europe. For cocoa products, other independently verified third-party schemes (such as Cocoa Horizons) may also be used. Our grocery Private Brands selection in Europe already meets these standards. In North America, most of our ground, whole bean, and pods coffee Private Brands are already certified and we expect the remaining selection to be certified by early 2023. We expect instant and ready-to-drink coffees, as well as certain tea and cocoa products such as chocolate bars, baking chocolate, and trail mix, to be certified in North America by 2025.

All 365 by Whole Foods Market brand chocolate bars, chocolate chips, and baking chocolate are certified by Fair Trade USA, and in 2021, we transitioned all tea under the same brand to be certified by either Fair Trade USA or Rainforest Alliance. In addition, all 365 by Whole Foods Market packaged coffee is responsibly sourced and certified according to an approved third-party certification, including Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade USA, or Fairtrade International. Whole Foods Market is also a member of Conservation International’s Sustainable Coffee Challenge, a collaborative effort of companies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, research institutions, and others to transition the coffee sector to be more sustainable.

We’re striving to source all cotton for our Amazon Private Brands apparel products from more-sustainable sources by the end of 2022. This includes using cotton sourced from recycled materials, from farms certified as producing organic cotton, through US Cotton Trust Protocol, a data-driven sustainable cotton initiative where full transparency is key, or through Better Cotton, a global nonprofit that aims to transform the cotton supply chain by developing Better Cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.

Amazon is committed to sourcing cage-free eggs in our grocery Private Brands whole shell egg products in North America and Europe. At Whole Foods Market, all shell and liquid eggs sold in our dairy cases and used in our kitchens and bakeries in the U.S. go beyond cage-free and are audited to one of four production systems to meet Whole Foods Market’s Animal Welfare Standards for Laying Hens. At Whole Foods Market in Canada, all eggs come from cage-free hens.

We’re striving to source all leather for our Amazon Private Brands apparel and shoe products from more-sustainable sources by the end of 2023. To achieve this, we will source from tanneries that meet the Leather Working Group’s bronze level award or higher.

We’re striving to source all man-made cellulosic fibers—including rayon, viscose, lyocell, and modal—for our Amazon Private Brands apparel products from more-sustainable sources by the end of 2022. We use the nonprofit Canopy’s tools and reports to help avoid fibers sourced from endangered forests, endangered species’ habitats, or other controversial sources.

Amazon uses palm oil certified against sustainability standards in our Private Brands food and nonfood grocery products in North America and Europe. In a small number of cases, palm oil credits may be used to cover small volumes and complex derivatives. We revisit these cases annually with applicable suppliers and agree on plans to transition to physically certified palm oil where possible. In addition, 100% of 365 by Whole Foods Market brand food items containing palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm fruit oil, and palm shortening are produced using sustainable oil products. Whole Foods Market is committed to expanding this sourcing standard to non-food items under its exclusive brands.

In North America and Europe, Amazon grocery Private Brands are committed to sourcing paper products such as paper towels, toilet paper, and facial tissue that are certified against sustainability standards or as recycled by organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification. In addition, all 365 by Whole Foods Market paper products are either made from 100% recycled materials or certified by FSC.

We are conducting further analysis of the paper packaging used in our grocery Private Brands and will share more information by the end of 2023.

In addition to complying with the European restrictions on the use of gestation crates, Amazon is committed to sourcing gestation crate-free pork by 2025 in our grocery Private Brands fresh pork products in North America. At Whole Foods Market, all pork sold in the Meat Department is also crate-free and certified by the Global Animal Partnership—a nonprofit alliance of producers, retailers, animal advocates, and scientists that certifies producers’ animal welfare practices to more than 100 animal welfare standards. See Whole Foods Market’s Meat Department Quality Standards for more information.

As of 2020, all new woven labels in Amazon Private Brands apparel products are made from recycled fabric and all new swing tags are made from paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

We’re increasing the use of recycled fabrics in Amazon Private Brands apparel products, including moving from conventional to recycled polyester, and launching products made from innovative recycled fibers.

Amazon is committed to sourcing seafood that is certified or rated against sustainability standards for our grocery Private Brands selection in North America and Europe, as well as throughout Whole Foods Market’s Seafood Department. For wild-caught seafood under these selections, single-ingredient fresh, frozen, and canned products must be sourced from fisheries that are certified against sustainability criteria by the Marine Stewardship Council Standard or rated “Green” or “Yellow” by Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.

Amazon’s grocery Private Brands wild-caught seafood products may also be part of a credible fishery improvement program with a progress rating of C or higher. For single-ingredient farmed seafood, Amazon grocery Private Brands products must be certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, certified organic by EU organic, Naturland, or other approved schemes, or certified 2 stars or higher by the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices. All Whole Foods Market farm-raised fresh or frozen seafood meets our Responsibly Farmed standards, is traceable to the source, and requires third-party verification of water quality and dozens of other quality standards. See Whole Foods Market’s Seafood Department Quality Standards for more information.

We are working with a third-party advisor to further analyze soy used in our complex supply chain and will share more information by the end of 2023.