Whole Foods is expanding its reach in South Florida with the opening of its sixth store in Broward County. The new Fort Lauderdale market will be located on the corner of North Federal Highway and SE 17th Street, making it the 17th South Florida location.“We are eager to serve the neighborhood and bring new high-quality grocery offerings to this community,” says Juan Nuñez, president of Whole Foods Market’s Florida Region.Although not slated to open until winter 2020, the store is expected to carry local brands — a large part of the supermarket chain’s philosophy.“Whole Foods is very famous for supporting local farmers and manufacturing,” explains Woody Descorbeth, grocery team leader of the Fort Lauderdale store at 2000 N. Federal Hwy. “We have a ton of local products here.”They include Buzzn Bee's unfiltered and unpasteurized honey, bee pollen, and raw honeycomb from West Palm Beach. Miami products include SuperFuzio's vegan nut butter, Branford’s marinades, and Shawnee’s Greenthumb organic popcorn coated with the superfood algae spirulina. “It’s good stuff,” Descorbeth says.In light of the recent and sudden closure of juice partner Jugofresh, it's not known whether Whole Foods will name a replacement company to fill the cold-press-juice gap. Earlier this month, the juice company's founder and CEO, Matthew Sherman, posted a candid list on social media explaining why JugoFresh shuttered and said, “When you sign a deal with a large company, it is difficult to maintain a clear brand message.”Little information has been released about the opening of the new Whole Foods. “Because this project is still so far out, no specific details are available regarding products or specific offerings in the store,” public relations coordinator Heather McCready says.Whole Foods Market.SE 17 Street and North Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale; wholefoodsmarket.com. Opening winter 2020.*This article was originally published in The Miami New Times by Alona Abbady Martinez and can be found here.
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