Sprouts Farmers Market

History

In 1943, Henry Boney opened a fresh-fruit stand in San Diego, California, which grew into a handful of open-air farmers markets. In 1969, his sons developed Boney's Market, which grew into a community grocery store. By 1997, the family's small-box farmers-market grocery stores were renamed Henry's Farmers Market after their father. Sprouts Farmers Market was founded in 2002 in Chandler, Arizona by members of the Boney family.

In 2011, Henry's, Sun Harvest, and Sprouts came together again under Apollo Global Management, and all were rebranded as Sprouts stores. In 2012, Sunflower was acquired and was rebranded Sprouts. Sprouts became a public company traded on NASDAQ in 2013. In 2015, Apollo Global Management exited its position in the company by selling off 10.4% of Sprout’s overall stock, or about 15.8 million shares. This represented all of the remaining stock in Sprouts owned by Apollo.

Fortune included Sprouts on its list of the World's Most Admired Companies in 2018 and 2019.

In 2021, Sprouts Farmers Market partnered with MyFitnessPal to provide food-related content support to the app, which included a library of healthy recipes, health and fitness challenges, and food- and health-related articles.

Charitable giving

In 2015, Sprouts founded the Healthy Communities Foundation, which supports local health and wellness-related causes. Since then, the foundation has awarded more than $18 million to nonprofit partners across 23 states. In 2021, the foundation gave away more than $3 million in grants to over 115 organizations.

Sustainability

Sprouts participates in a food waste diversion program that provides food to those in need, feed for animals, and nutrients for agricultural soil. All edible food that is no longer fit for sale is donated to hunger-relief agencies, and food that is not fit for them is donated as cattle feed. Everything else is donated as compost. In 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized Sprouts with several recognitions through its GreenChill program, a partnership with food retailers to reduce refrigerant emissions and decrease their impact on the ozone layer and climate change.

The store's use of the term farmers market has been criticized by local farmers and food sovereignty advocates for appropriating a term they believe should be reserved for direct-to-consumer sales venues.

Stores

Sprouts offers a selection of products that are minimally processed and free of artificial flavors, food coloring, preservatives, and synthetic ingredients. The company says that 90% of its products meet this standard.

Sprouts has its own private-label brand of products that includes more than 2,400 items. Stores offer beef products that range from choice cuts to grass-fed. Each store's vitamins and supplements department typically includes about 7,500 products. Produce makes up about a quarter of the business for Sprouts, and the stores carry around 200 varieties of organic produce. One-third of the store stock is always on promotion.

As of 2025, Sprouts has locations in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Animal welfare concerns

In April 2017, the network Direct Action Everywhere released the results of their investigation into Sprouts's cage-free egg supplier Morning Fresh Farms, including a video showing chickens that were injured or starving due to lack of food and water. The Phoenix Business Journal covered the investigation and included comments from Sprouts, stating that Morning Fresh Farms had provided assurance that the video was not reflective of the farm's cage-free facility.

References

References

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4. (2022-03-15). "Sprouts Farmers Market expected to open grocery store in Haddon Township".
5. Riemenschneider, Pamela. (June 12, 2018). "A timeline of Sprouts Farmers Market".
6. Cashman, Ryan. (2022-07-21). "Sprouts Farmers Market Had A Humble Beginning".
7. (April 21, 2014). "Retailer Smart & Final Preparing IPO". Wall Street Journal.
8. (March 10, 2012). "Sunflower markets being bought out, will be Sprouts".
9. "Our Story".
10. "Huge Profits in Aisle Five".
11. "Apollo sells remaining Sprouts stake".
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13. (14 July 2021). "Sprouts Farmers Market Teams Up With MyFitnessPal".
14. (2021-07-14). "Sprouts becomes MyFitnessPal's first retail partner".
15. (2016-10-18). "Sprouts Awards $1.6M to Health-focused Nonprofits". ProgressiveGrocer.
16. (2020-05-22). "Sprouts Foundation Taking Applications For Neighborhood Grants Program".
17. Packer, Peggy. (October 20, 2021). "Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation Donates $3M in Grants to Strengthen Local Food Systems and Nutrition Education; Jack Sinclair and Lyndsey Waugh Share".
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19. US EPA, OA. (2019-09-11). "EPA Applauds the Smart Refrigerant Management by Weis Markets and Supermarkets Across America".
20. (2019-08-02). "Harford grower takes issue with grocery using farmers market term".
21. Murphy, Cat. "Healthy choices ripe for the picking at Sprouts Farmers Market". The Murfreesboro Post.
22. (2024-08-06). "Sprouts Farmers Market Delivers a Health Wave: True Sea Moss Now In-Store!".
23. Taylor, Natalie. (October 23, 2018). "Sprouts to Open 30 New Stores in 2019".
24. "12 things shoppers need to know about Sprouts Farmers Market". The Tennessean.
25. (18 September 2018). "Here's a look inside Sprouts Farmers Market at Lincoln Square".
26. (21 February 2017). "Tampa Bay's first Sprouts Farmers Market opens Wednesday". Tampa Bay Times.
27. (January 22, 2025). "Find a Store".
28. Totten, Steven. (18 April 2017). "Investigation finds starving chickens at Sprouts Farmers Market egg supplier". American City Business Journals.