Whole Foods Campbell

By Staff (Feb 12, 2009 )

Whole Foods Campbell
1690 S. Bascom Ave.,
Campbell; 408.371.5000

Sometimes a business’s local connections aren’t always easy to see. Like when they show up before everyone’s awake to deliver produce. “We have local farmers that come in their own trucks and deliver to the store,” says Sal Arciniega, marketing team leader for Whole Foods Campbell.

Though the success of the Whole Foods brand has put the emphasis on the company’s ability to open new stores, it’s Arciniega’s job to remind people that Whole Foods Campbell has a mission to make its store unique and to operate as a community member, selling local products as much as possible. There’s a companywide mandate that 15 percent of the store’s goods have to be from local sources, but Whole Foods Campbell is aiming much higher, looking to source 25 percent of its offerings from Silicon Valley.

“It’s part of our core values,” says Arciniega. “Not only are you helping the local economy, you’re reducing your carbon footprint.”

As the store has become more and more focused on expanding its local offerings, and emphasizing its role in the community, Whole Foods Campbell has begun working with Harvidar Singh, a man whose official job description is “local forager.” His job is to source as many products from the area as possible, and to get the word out to as many farmers, mom-and-pop shops and other suppliers as possible about the store’s interest in promoting them.

Whole Foods Campbell opened in 1992, and its innovation has led to impressive success even by the company’s standards—it is ranked in the Top 4 Whole Foods stores in the nation among those more than 10 years old. Arciniega explains that the company is extremely decentralized, which allows it to determine how best to serve its communities’ needs. “Every single store has its own identity, and its own personality,” he says. “This store is vibrant and exciting. It’s a cool, hip place to hang out.”

For Whole Foods Campbell, Arciniega points to local institutions like the popular Sunday farmers market as inspiration. “We want people to think of us as an extension of the farmers market—not a replacement,” he says. “We want to be the next best thing.”