A special thank you to Earth Fare of Concord for inviting me to their VIP opening! It was so fun learning about the company and getting to tour the new location. For participating, I received two Earth Fare gift cards, one for myself and one to give away. Read to the end to enter to win!
Photo credit: Earth Fare Concord
Of all the pictures I took, I forgot to take one of the outside! Apologies for the cell phone quality, I should have brought my DSLR. Or if someone wants to gift me an iPhone 7, that’d be great.
I’ve shopped at Earth Fare before, but the new store opening in Concord, NC is the best I’ve seen. During the tour, I learned that Earth Fare’s first store opened in Asheville, NC 42 years ago (1975) and the Concord location is the 41st store with 24,000 square feet.
Earth Fare is the first in history to ban high fructose corn syrup, and all their products are free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives. In fact, they have what’s known as a “Boot List” where if you find a product that you believe has an ingredient that goes against their policies, they will investigate and pull it from the shelves! Their full boot list can be found on their website.
They have the largest bulk food section I’ve ever seen!
You can buy bulk teas, bulk foods and even bulk liquids. I believe the bulk liquids is unique to their store, I’ve never seen one like it. You can buy bulk honey, balsamic vinegar, unfiltered apple cider vinegar and unrefined virgin coconut oil.
Earth Fare loves to support local farms and companies. This Concord location carries more 50 state-local vendors.
On top of that, over 70% of the produce is organic. They take extra precaution to make sure that organic produce does not come into contact with non-organic. They even use reverse osmosis filtered water to spray the certified organic produce, so there is no potential water contamination.
The olives are HAND-PICKED.
I have such a crush on their olive bar.
Earth Fare’s private brand has over 750 products on the shelves, with hundreds more coming in the next several months. These items are 100% non-GMO.
Another cool feature: Each store has a “Community Advisory Board” made up of volunteers from the community. These advisors are responsible for getting customer feedback and reporting to the stores what could be improved, added, or changed for a better customer experience. The addition of organic yoga wear in their stores came from feedback that organic clothing was hard to find!
Their cameras also caught me tasting some granola samples during the tour.
(Photo source: Earth Fare Concord Facebook)
I loved getting to participate in some of the behind-the-scenes for the new store opening. If you’re in the area, I highly recommend you check it out!
Now one lucky winner will win a $25 Earth Fare gift card! Valid at any location. Contest closes July 12, 11:59pm EST. Good luck!
$25 Earth Fare Gift Card Giveaway
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wendi watson
Wednesday 12th of July 2017
i would love to try the produce looks so fresh
Elicia P lesh
Wednesday 12th of July 2017
I have tried Earth Fare before. I love the bulk section so many times I only need a bit and I would love if ALL stores everywhere would have bulk. It would save me TONS of money and not waste food.
Sean
Wednesday 12th of July 2017
Thanks for the giveaway! that's awesome!
Claudia
Wednesday 5th of July 2017
I love that they carry so much organic produce. It always looks gorgeous too! I've even noticed some of their organic produce is less than conventional at other groceries when it's on sale!
MK
Tuesday 4th of July 2017
Everyone should try their fresh organic baguette, made daily with only three ingredients. Also, their refrigerated organic tortillas are very good and their alkaline water is a good deal as well. Love EarthFare!