Food Waste Shareholder Proposal at Whole Foods Garners Nearly 30% of Vote

March 23, 2016: During Whole Foods Market’s (NASDAQ: WFM) recent annual meeting, shareholders sent a strong signal to the company’s management team when nearly 56 million shares (28.1%) were voted in support of a proposal requesting improved transparency around the company’s food waste management efforts.
The proposal was filed by Trillium Asset Management, along with co-filers First Affirmative Financial Network and Green Century Capital Management, and was the very first proposal related to food waste filed at any company.
Investors asked the company to:
“[I]ssue a report by August 1, 2016, at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information, on company-wide efforts (above and beyond its existing reporting) to assess, disclose, reduce and optimally manage food waste.”
ISS Proxy Advisory Services, the leading provider of proxy voting advice for investors, recommended shareholders vote in favor of this proposal, stating:
“Disclosure of current up-to-date initiatives and metrics related to the company s food waste program would aid shareholders in assessing the company s food waste reduction performance and the effectiveness of programs used to manage this effort.”
The strong vote in favor of the proposal sends a clear signal to companies that shareholders are interested the tremendous environmental and social impacts associated with food waste. In addition, this result indicates that shareholders are concerned that WFM may not be adequately managing the risks and opportunities presented by food waste.

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 For more information: Randy Rice, Trillium Asset Management, rrice@trilliuminvest.com, 617-515-6889
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