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Premium Body Care® – A Worthy Challenge
| Meet the Blogger | More Posts by Chris Jensen At Whole Foods Market® we are proud of the years of work we’ve put into developing our Premium Body Care® standards. In this first installment of a 3-part podcast series, Lecia Rand, category manager for Whole Foods Market™ and 365 Everyday Value® brand supplements and body care, talks about these top-tier standards which took years to develop and continue to be a worthy work in progress.
- Whole Foods Market developed our Premium Body Care® standards to help define what “natural” really means in body care products.
- There are a lot of products that claim to be natural, but there is no regulatory standard for making that claim.
- Our experts spent years examining ingredients according to the strictest criteria for safety, efficacy and impact on the environment.
- They have found more than 380 ingredients that do not meet our standard.
- We recently reformulated most of our 365 Everyday Value® body care to meet our Premium Body Care® standards. We made that change and kept our prices at an affordable level, which was the biggest challenge.
- 365 Everyday Value® shampoos and shower gels are made primarily with surfactants, ingredients that make them lather are difficult to make to meet our Premium Body Care® standards. This is because our Premium Body Care® standards only allow the gentlest lathering agents.
- These ingredients are more expensive and though they clean just as effectively, lather a bit differently – a challenge for formulation.
- 365 Everyday Value® lotions cannot use ingredients like polyethylene glycol or other ingredients derived primarily from petroleum.
- Alternatives to the ingredients in lotions are also more expensive.
- 365 Everyday Value® shampoos, conditioners and shower gels with wonderful scents like lavender and fresh mint.
- Whole Foods Market™ USDA Organic Castile soaps that are rich-lathering, all purpose liquid soaps for bath and household use.
- A line of Whole Foods Market™ lip balms made with organic oils that will soon be USDA organic.
- Whole Foods Market™ organic bar soaps made in France.
- Whole Foods Market will work closely with our vendors to find new and unique ingredients that meet the premium body care standard.
- We hope to see more choices for ingredients that are effective and safe as our standard helps to shape the market for these products.
96 Comments
Comments
Melani,
Have you tried out our 365 Everyday Value line? The products in that line are well below your price threshold and meet our Premium Body Care standards!
04/15/2010 3:20:22 PM CDT
Many brands we carry, including our own 365 Everyday Value line offer fragrance-free options. Just ask your local Whole Body specialist to help point out the appropriate products for your needs.
04/15/2010 3:30:53 PM CDT
I love shopping at Whole Foods and have trusted that your company screens for unsafe products, so I was disappointed to see that so many of the shampoos contain Sodium Laurel Sulfates. I has become a daunting task trying to find a shampoo. I still love your store and spend a good chunk of our budget there, but I am no longer so naive to think I can rest on my "laurels" while you guys ferret out the bad stuff.
04/16/2010 7:50:21 PM CDT
I was very happy to come across the reasonably priced 356 prodoucts when Whole Foods opened in my city. The low price finally enabled me to switch from the other stuff. However, the conditioner never really worked for me and, since the reformulation, I must use three times more of the shampoo than with the old formulation.
When I use the same amount I always did with the new formlulation my hair was left feeling just as sticky and hard to manage as beore I washed. I would not mind just going though the product three times as fast as before if I could afford to keep buying a large bottle every week.
Unfortunately I have had to switch back to my old brand (not a natural product) because I cannot afford to keep bying the 365 so often (it is the same size but it last two to three months vs. one week for 365). If the conditioner can ever be formulated to work then I will use it in a heartbeat, and the same goes for the shampoo!
On a positive note, I have used the body lotion and body wash since Whole Foods opned here and love it. Also, Desert Organics makes a GREAT face wash with tea tree and awphui with very resonabbly priced economy refills (I have to buy a refill once a year!). Once the shampoo and conditioner issues are resolved my bath will be both affordable and natrual!
04/17/2010 10:45:16 AM CDT
Good idea to create your own standards but my confidence goes to Ecocert ( DRUIDE.CA made in Canada) this is independent, international and is operated for years by ecologists.
High standards by controlling: suppliers,natural and organic ingredients, approved containers material , eco-friendly factory , etc
04/18/2010 12:08:47 AM CDT
A worthy challenge indeed! Thanks again.
04/19/2010 8:56:27 AM CDT
I really actually enjoy the quality of your 365 brand body care line, keep em' coming, and get into the baby products!
04/19/2010 9:01:10 AM CDT
This is a good podcast, but I would like to see you all talk about solutions which are not so heavily focused on product consumption. There are many natural ways to take care of your skin which don't involve cleansers and lotion. Simply a warm water face wash can work wonders.
04/19/2010 9:16:07 AM CDT
Curious that your 365 products are not all "compliant" yet you ask this of others. not to be negative, I am sure it takes time to make changes and this is a great step in the right direct.
04/19/2010 9:37:03 AM CDT
I agree with others here, the 365 brand is a good cost affective option.
04/19/2010 8:52:55 PM CDT
The 365 line sounds good, I'll check it out at the store, and assume it meet the standard you created?
04/20/2010 6:19:49 AM CDT
"Ecocert" is a standard I think you all should consider. It is independent and not created by a commerce engine.
04/20/2010 10:36:01 AM CDT
Another good one.
04/22/2010 8:20:06 PM CDT
I really like the 365 Everyday Value bodycare products except for the fragrance free shampoo. It has a terrible, chemical smell to it. I like the lavender and mint but I would have preferred to use fragrance free. I've used other fragrance free shampoos and they don't have that nasty chemical smell. I think that one could use a re-evaluation.
Thanks.
04/22/2010 9:51:58 PM CDT
I understand the need for natural bodycare, the one problem I have is natural shaing cream doesn't work as well. I get it now- the lack of lathering really inhibits a close shave. I know this sounds silly, but recently I was traveling and had to buy a travel size traditional foam shaving cream, it it provided a much closer shave. I have switched back to this for the time being, it smells synthetic but the results are to good to ignore.
04/23/2010 9:08:03 AM CDT
Good support podcast for the other one.
04/25/2010 8:37:16 AM CDT
I find it comforting that the value 365 line (which I have used for sometime now) is actually made up of good ingredients. I wasn't sure how it stacked up with other products in your store, simply because of the low cost.
04/25/2010 8:39:04 AM CDT
Again- love the 365 brand line!
04/25/2010 2:11:47 PM CDT
Good to know your 365 value brand fits the standard- I really do love the shower gel.
04/25/2010 5:46:08 PM CDT
Thanks again for a great series!
04/25/2010 8:10:14 PM CDT
I used the 365 hair condition for the first time and it works for my natural hair. I am very happy to see that there is a business with a heart and compassion for its customers. I have been searching--a long time--for something to accommodate my hair texture since I went natural. I'm not worry about the less lather because shampoo is not supposed to lather. I am also happy that the essentials oils are not listed first on the ingredients label because too much of it can irritated the scalp. WholeFoods has make a product affordable and useful. Though a business needs to make money, they should not jeopardize the customer's health or use ingredients that are not useful. What WholeFoods did was review their product, found out it should be better and change it. This concepts takes integrity and empathy. Thanks Whole Foods
09/05/2010 1:18:16 AM CDT
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