Whole Foods Loan Program July 11, 2007
Posted by Trish in General.trackback
At our July meeting, Jenny Brown from Whole Foods came and explained the details of their loan program. It is available to farmers as well as small food businesses. Here are the facts:
- It is a nonexclusive loan, which means you can sell your product to other retailers in addition to Whole Foods.
- Maximum loan of $100K
- 5-12% interest rate
- $65 processing fee covers the credit check and UCC filing
- Must be used for capital expenditures and not operational expenses
- Businesses are using the loan to get their products into Whole Foods
- Takes 1-3 months to get approval
If you’d like to ask Jenny a specific question, feel free to email or call her anytime at 512.542.0895. Lisa Gargas is the local Whole Foods Forager for the Southwest Region.
Just to clarify:
- The interest rates are actually 5 to 9%, not 5 to 12%.
- We’ve also streamlined the process, so it shouldn’t take more than a month to get approved.
- The processing fee is only applicable if you get approved – there is no fee to submit an application.
Thanks!
Does anyone know what types of permits or special packaging is required for Whole Foods to take a new local product in consideration? Once you have those permits, do you simply contact the Whole Foods Forager to try your product?
Thank you, Summer