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Whole Foods Market stores have quietly been removing their baked in-house vegan products from stores in some areas for months now and I have details as to why that’s happening and when you can expect to see some items return. Some stores may still have baked in-house products available until stockpiles are depleted regionally but some stores haven’t seen items for months.
Why the change?
To reduce labor costs, mislabeling and to reduce cross contamination, Whole Foods Market has made the decision to stop baking off items in stores and to bring in items prepackaged clearly labeled vegan. Stores had been receiving batters and doughs and baking them fresh in store and then labeling with a vegan sticker but this process had issues being very labor intensive and opening up the possibility of stickers being misused. Some stores had neglected to place stickers on vegan items and vegan stickers were going on products that were not actually vegan.
What’s coming back?
The first items that been arriving in stores starting in January 2024 are vegan chocolate chip cookies and blueberry muffins. The cookies are allegedly made by Divvies and the muffins by Abe’s Muffins. They’re clearly labeled vegan and do not list any cross contamination warnings but that does not mean they won’t have trace amounts of allergens. Allegedly, Whole Foods is actively searching for manufacturers with dedicated bake houses to reduce contamination.
Vegan brownie 4-packs are supposedly due to be back in stores prepackaged starting end of January/early February of 2024.
Vegan croissant 4-packs are supposedly coming back March 2024 and singles may be back sometime in late 2024 or 2025 so you may have to wait for those.
Blueberry scone 4-packs are scheduled to be back in March of 2024. I don’t think date walnut or other varieties will be returning just yet. I also don’t know of any plans to sell “take and bake” items again just yet. Croissants, scones and cookies were available at some locations.
Coming in 2025
Whole Foods Market is actively working to bring back whole cakes and slices, cupcakes, oatmeal raisin and double chocolate cookies as soon as possible but right now it might not be until 2025 so we will have to be patient for their return. The shortbread jelly filled sandwich cookies by the pound (seasonal and core flavors) will still be available as they’re a different program I’m told so you will still see those at stores that carried them.
What about the vegan donuts?
Unfortunately, I’ve been told that Posh Bakery vegan donuts are discontinued and they’re only planning on bringing in non-vegan donuts this year. This was due to many factors.
- The donuts broke and crumbled easily leading to a large amount of waste.
- The icing wasn’t stable. It often melted and made for a bad display and eating experience.
- They were difficult to execute by team members.
Some seasonal vegan items like the holiday pies may be returning in 2025 as they source new vendors. They are trying not to leave vegans high and dry so there’s hope eventually that items will be back. Whether or not the quality and freshness will up to snuff is still to be determined but I’ve been told they’re trying. It’s a process of solving issues while offering quality products but from what’s already been distributed, some feel they are already missing the mark. If you’ve tried some of the new offerings, please comment with your thoughts.
UPDATE March 2024
Vegan brownie 4-packs are starting to hit stores. They have different ingredients than the previous brownies sold (stores might still be making singles but from what I’m told, only 4-packs will be sold going forward for $7.99 – price may vary regionally). Singles were $2.50 previously so at $7.99 for four, the new packs are less expensive. The new ones seem a bit thicker and more cake-like to me but I enjoyed them.
