Amazon introduces Whole Foods 365 line to Singapore in brand test

[SINGAPORE] Amazon.com’s Whole Foods Market is taking its house brands to Singapore, a test of how the private-label goods will fare in a market where the grocer has no brick-and-mortar presence.

About 300 items – most of them under the 365 by Whole Foods Market label – will be available on Tuesday (Sep 23) for shoppers there. Amazon’s Fresh delivery service and local chain Little Farms markets will carry the products.

Previously, they were sold only in the US, Canada and the UK, the three countries where Whole Foods operates retail stores. A spokesperson for the chain said Whole Foods intends to expand private brand sales to other new markets, without specifying where.

“Whole Foods Market has passionate fans around the world, and we’re thrilled to bring a piece of Whole Foods Market to Singapore,” chief merchandising and marketing officer Sonya Gafsi Oblisk said in a statement.

With shoppers trading down amid rising food prices, private-label sales have been a bright spot for US grocers. Walmart and Kroger both said this year that their in-house product lines gained market share against other brands.

Amazon, which bought Whole Foods in 2017 to help jump-start food sales, has used the 365 label to boost its broader grocery franchise, stocking and selling the products online in areas of the US where it does not operate Whole Foods stores.

“They have really expanded the range” and availability of private-label products, said David Bishop, a partner with Brick Meets Click, a grocery and retail consulting firm.

As part of an effort to shed the “Whole Paycheck” label, Whole Foods has also used 365 to roll out lower-priced items, including products that are typically more expensive.

“This has been a key way for us to connect with customers,” Jason Buechel, Amazon’s grocery chief, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television last year. “It has grown a lot.”

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Sales of Whole Foods private-label products year-to-date have increased more than 50 per cent from 2019, the company said. The grocer offers about 4,000 private-label items, which in addition to the 365 line includes Whole Foods Market exclusive and Whole Paws brands.

Whole Foods operates about 535 stores, up from about 460 when Amazon bought the Austin, Texas-based chain. Amazon also owns a smaller line of Amazon Fresh-branded mainstream grocery stores, which don’t adhere to Whole Foods’ quality and ingredient standards.

After largely running its grocery businesses separately, Amazon recently rolled them into one organisation.

Buechel, Whole Foods’ CEO since 2022, got responsibility for Amazon’s entire grocery business earlier this year. A reorganisation announced in June will place Whole Foods’ corporate employees on Amazon’s pay and benefit programmes. BLOOMBERG