Buying Local at Sprouts Farmers Market
Sprouts Farmers Market is a fusion of Trader Joe's, Fresh Market, Whole Foods and Publix. I took a tour of the store, which opened this week at The Shoppes of Webb Gin in Snellville and was amazed by the array of healthy products, both from their own private label brand and the prices.
"The two barriers for healthy grocery shopping is that people don't know where to start, and they are intimidated by price," said CEO Doug Sanders. When I asked him what the biggest difference between Sprouts and Trader Joe's is- "we are a full-service grocery store, we compete in that market but aim to be approachable to consumers."
The chain, which started in 2002, was recently named one of the top five grocery stores by Consumer Report, and for good reason. Here are some fun facts that Sanders shared with us on the store tour:
- All the ingredients have no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives
- Throughout the store you can find QR code scanners that offer instructional videos, like "how to cut a mango." This is part of their aim to focus on the educational side of healthy eating
- There are 17,000 products in the store. 1,400 are Sprouts' private label.
170 products are local to Georgia, and below is an extensive list.
o Taylor Farms peaches
o Boat Wrights blueberries and blackberries
o Shuman Vidalia onions
o Herndon Farms collard greens
o Country Charm eggs
o Stone Mountain pecans
o Granny’s Kitchen- jams, syrups, condiments
o Kickin' Mule- BBQ sauce, rub, salsas
o Week's honey
o 3 Beer BBQ- rub and sauce
o Garlic Clove Foods- pilafs, soup mixes, seasonings
o Blackberry Patch- syrups, jams, salsas, sauce
o Fly By South- sauces, marinades
o Sweetwater Growers infused olive oil
o Via Elisa pasta sauce
o Logan Turnpike Mills- grits, cornmeal, pancake and cornbread mix
o Pappa Johnny’s sauce
o Sock's Love rubs
o Joe Kem's BBQ sauce
o Pure Bliss- granola, energy bars
o Marilyn’s gluten-free bake mixes
o Old Mill Corn kettle corn
o Laurie Jo's pickles
o NaturAlmond almond butter
o Ole’ tortilla chips
o Dunwoody Bakery gluten free bake mixes
o Striplings jerky
o High Road ice cream
o Arden's Garden juice
o Sparkman's milk
o Blue Donkey iced coffee
