Whole Foods

[jaimek]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I contacted my local Whole Foods market yesterday, and they informed me that the gluten-free bakery is up and running. I am going to go check it out this weekend. They have breads, pies, cookies, cakes, brownies, pizza crusts,etc.......... I am SO excited. The woman said that a lot of the products will not be out, but if I can't find anything to just ask and they will most likely have it in the back. I would suggest everyone call their local Whole Foods market since this bakery is supposed to open in a lot of the other locations! People are starting to acknowlege us and it is all VERY exciting!!!!

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Ours had a grand opening just a few weeks ago and my mom and brother are always bring goodies home from there (even though they are terribly expensive)!

[mdixon]

What city is the Whole foods in.

[lovegrov]

The Whole Foods bakery is somewhere in the Carolinas. They started distribution in the Carolinas and some in Georgia and are now spreading out. I understand the one in Charlottesville, Va., now has the products. None west of the Mississippi I don't believe.

richard

[Ruth]

I just came from Whole Foods. I did not check out the bakery... but the frozen section was well stocked! Better than usual. I went crazy on desserts --- it is expensive, but during the busy holiday season it is always good to have frozen goodies on hand for company, etc.

[dbuhl79]

The Whole Foods bakery is somewhere in the Carolinas. They started distribution in the Carolinas and some in Georgia and are now spreading out. I understand the one in Charlottesville, Va., now has the products. None west of the Mississippi I don't believe.

richard

Richard, I assume this is a distribution of Whole Foods brand items correct ? I live in Charlottesville, VA and inquired yesterday with the staff, but didn't have time to speak to the actual Bakery. The other staff (cashier and mgmt) wasn't sure, butsaid that the individuals working the Bakery would know the most.. I'm going to pop in today again to see what the story is or call them. I'll let evferyone know what I find out and how it is!

I know they have a plentiful supply of foods such as Ener-G Tapioca bread etc, but something made on site or what not would be great!

[tarnalberry]

It's not an onsite bakery, but it is a bakery owned and run by Whole Foods. They only distrubute to their east coast stores (and not even all states along the east coast), but - per an email response - are looking into setting up such a bakery out on the West Coast as well. The entire bakery is dedicated to gluten-free products, and you can find a story of how it got started (a Whole Foods employee!) on the Whole Foods website.

Unfortunately, for those of us who are casein free as well, most of their products do have dairy. (But not all.)

[dbuhl79]

I just wanted to cconfirm that the Whole Foods distribution is going on in Charlottesville, VA Whole Foods with everything from cream biscuits to pizza crust. YUM!!! I was so excited and I think overstated my joy upon stumbling into tthe rack carrying all of these goodies. Being new to a gluten-free diet this was a true delight! I certainly hope Whole Foods intends to expand their distribution to all locations!

The bread and crusts seem much lighter than anything I've made.

Another note, Lundberg has these wonderfully delicious rice chips out too. They are addictive in fact! I just can't seem to get enough of them! Also an item carried at Whole Foods.

So for all of those in the VA area, check their products out. I highly recommend them!

[MySuicidalTurtle]

Whole Foods is in all sorts of cities (I've been to them in Atlanta and Baltimore). . .they also own Harry's.

[jaimek]

So, I went to the Whole Foods (I live in the Philadelphia area) and bought blueberry muffins and Corn bread. I have to admit that the muffins were the best muffins I have ever tasted (including regular and gluten-free)!!! They were amazing. Granted, they are VERY expensive so I will only buy them for special occassions but they are well worth it. They had individual pies that were $8 a piece so I didn't buy them but I am sure they are good as well. The corn bread was delicious too. I really hope they expande out to the west coast cause everything I bought was mouth watering!!!!

[Melanie]

I have a Sucky Whole Foods here in Fort Collins. They don't even have Ener-G breads at all even though their list said they did. I've had 3 people try to help me find stuff. I would really like to get some muffins though . (and not have to order expensive ones in addition to paying shipping and handling)

[dbuhl79]

Melanie,

I'm hoping this might help but I'm not sure what your grocery stores are like there in Fort Collins. However, I've noticed at many of my mainstream stores (I live in Viriginia) that Kroger, Giant and even Food Lion, seem to have a "h ealth food" section of the store. Here I've found a ton of gluten-free stuff. In fact its cheaper than Whole Foods and on occassion they have items Whole Foods didn't stock. They carry various gluten-free baking mixes, cereals, soups etc. If you haven't searched for this in some of your mainstream stores it might be worth the time to poke around. I know not every town has an awareness to healthy or allnatural eating so it might be hard. But I wish you luck. And just keep in mind more and more peopel are becoming aware of the need for such products!

The only other solution I'd suggest is traveling to a nother city nearby and checking out their gr ocery items. I tmight be worth a trip once a month to stock up on your gluten-free needs.

Good luck and Best wishes to you!

[Racheleona]

The whole foods on the west coast don't have such a bakery : ( I contacted my local whole foods and they said they don't have any plans to have a gluten free bakery any time soon either. You guys are lucky!

[MySuicidalTurtle]

The bakery isn't at the stores. . .it's by them shipped to them. Maybe you should ask for them to recieve shimpments?

[tarnalberry]

Whole Foods has stated that they will not be delivering their gluten-free bakery items to the West Coast, as the bakery is intended for East Coast distribution. According to the folks in charge of putting together the bakery, though, they are working on a plan to open one up on the West Coast, they simply don't have any sort of time table for that yet. (And, I'm sure, they want to see how profitable the one on the East Coast is to verify the business case.)

[MySuicidalTurtle]

I don't see how they do that. . .the sotres bring in products from all over special order but they won't special order their own?

[dbuhl79]

An update on Whole Food gluten-free Products:

I've just bought their blueberry muffins today, and I have to say they are mighty tasty! One of the best gluten-free bread products I've had. They are very moist compared to the more dry, and heavy bread products that are gluten-free, but they are almost too moist. I definitely need a fork to eat this! They taste great, but keep in mind, that means more calories and definitely more sugar.. 10 grams, in one serving which is half a muffin. Well nobody said gluten-free was Fat free!

Another Note, on the gluten-free Pizza Crust, even though its yummy and decilious its shelf life is not long. I went to purchase one also today, and discovered all 3 remaining packages completely full of mold! Yuck!

[pixiegirl]

I'm on the East Coast and our Whole Foods knows about the bakery but at this point our store isn't on the short list for getting any of the products. bummer.

susan

[anglepoise]

I went to Whole Foods in Falls Church, VA, yesterday, not knowing about the gluten-free bakery news, turned a corner & there ran into a 6 foot tall shrine to gluten-free baked goods. My jaw dropped, my eyes welled up & I stood there in stunned silence for a moment, then reverently began to explore the options. I looked over and noticed a couple of employees standing there watching me with amusement. I was awestruck & bought a Lemon Poppyseed cake (absolutely delicious!) a blueberry pie, a pecan pie, muffins, chocolate chip cookies (which gluten-free or not, are amazing) creme biscuits. Next time round I'll pick up some scones, some of the gourmet breads, and sample some other cookies. I am so grateful to Whole Foods. We need to all call or email WF and let them know our gratitude and to keep it coming!

angel

[pixiegirl]

Oh I'm so jealous, wow, how exciting. I'd love to have that in our store in MA, we are not that far away I wonder why they don't ship up here.

Susan

[edgewalker-sc]

When I saw the gluten-free bakery items at my Whole Foods, it was like the heavens opened up and a choir of angels started singing "hallelujiah"! It wasn't the first time that I stood in front of a bakery rack with tears in my eyes, but it was the first time that I cried tears of joy instead of tears of longing and despair.

Then I took them home and ate them - and cried with joy again! I agree that the blueberry muffins are the absolute best gluten-free baked item I've ever had. So good, you can eat them straight out of the package with nothing on them. Even my nonGF husband with the finicky palate said they were delicious!

Also loved the cherry almond muffins, cheddar cheese scones, and the cream biscuits (exactly like the buttermilk biscuits I've been longing for)

I noticed the same problem someone else mentioned - mold on the pizza crusts. My WF has dealt with this problem by keeping some of the gluten-free items in the refrigerated section. Maybe you can make this suggestion to your local store.

All hail Whole Foods! I'm so sorry for those of you on the west coast and Florida (they don't ship gluten-free bakery items there, either) -- but they seem to be responsive to customer feedback. Email them and let them know you want a gluten-free bakery!

Yes, the stuff is rather expensive. But SOOOO worth every penny.

Andria

[Rikki Tikki]

My sister-in-law went to the Whole Foods in Sacramento, California but they just handed her a list of gluten-free food and sent her off. Alas, they didn't have any gluten-free food in the bakery.

I was so bummed. The food they did have was the same items I can find where I live.

[pixiegirl]

I have written to Whole Foods 3 times now asking for their gluten-free bakery products in my MA store and as much as I love the store, they have not once written back. Sigh.

Susan

[aaascr]

I've had to be very persistant (with a smile on my face of course) with the Whole Foods in Atlanta GA as well as Harry's in Duluth GA in ordering products, but eventually they do. They also carry the gluten-free bakery goods there - unfortunately I can't eat them due to allergies .

I have found that if I can speak to the person that orders for whichever dept. I usually get what I need. Grocery shopping sure has changed for me!

Just found the Notta Pasta gluten-free Rice spaghetti, linguine etc. in Harry's Asian foods section rather than in their pasta section!

[lovegrov]

Distribution of Whole Foods bakery items is just in the East now and not even the whole East yet. It's moving up the seaboard. I don't think you'll find them anywhere west of the Mississippi.

richard