Dive Brief:
- Whole Foods Market announced Monday it is expanding its international reach through its private label line by bringing more than 300 of its products to Singapore.
- A selection of the specialty grocer’s store brand products will be available in the country through Amazon.sg and Amazon Fresh as well as stocked in-store at Little Farms, a local natural and organic supermarket chain.
- As Amazon continues to tap Whole Foods executives to bolster its grocery operations, Whole Foods is making the most of Amazon's e-commerce network to expand its private label reach.
Dive Insight:
Starting Tuesday, shoppers in Singapore will have access to hundreds of Whole Foods private brand items despite the specialty grocer having no physical storefront in the country — or on the continent of Asia. This move comes as Whole Foods and Amazon continue to merge their grocery operations.
Customers in Singapore can now shop an assortment of products from three Whole Foods private label lines — 365 by Whole Foods Market, Whole Foods Market Exclusive Brand and Whole Paws — including a number of items that were previously only available for purchase in the U.S.
Whole Foods is primarily a U.S. retailer, but has an international presence that includes a dozen stores in Canada and six stores in the U.K. In March, Whole Foods opened its first new store in the U.K. in over a decade on King’s Road in London’s Chelsea neighborhood.
Whole Foods said Monday that bringing a portion of its private label goods to Singapore builds on its broader growth strategy, which includes expanding its small-format Daily Shops, which debuted a year ago, as well as bolstering its direct-to-consumer shipping for private label products across the U.S. The retailer also noted it currently has 100 stores slated to open, but did not provide a timeline.
Whole Foods currently has over 4,000 SKUs in its private label portfolio. So far this year, sales for its store brands are up by over 50% compared to 2019.
