The 365 House Blend, sold in Whole Foods Markets throughout the U.S., is a blend of 100% Arabica beans from Central and South America.

Allegro, the Colorado-based coffee facility that provides the coffee sold at Whole Foods, has 76 different relationships with more than 24 countries, including co-ops in Guatemala and Ethiopia. According to Allegro press materials, its “coffee buyers visit farms to determine first hand that coffee is being produced in a sustainable way and that field worker health and well being is a core value for the farming partners we buy from.”

Ashley Hawkins, national media relations coordinator for Whole Foods, says that annual revenues for Allegro are around 25 million dollars. “The majority of our coffee is sold through Whole Foods Market,” she says. “However, we have a wholesale division that sells coffee to coffee shops/espresso bars, hotels, restaurants and resorts.”

From 2003-2005 Allegro Coffee Company promoted the High Five for Farmers program in which five percent of sales supported community based projects in coffee growing regions. A 2004 Wall Street Journal article entitled “How Fair Is Fair Trade? That's Tough to Figure: Confusing Labels, Claims Make it Hard for Shoppers to Know Where Money Goes” pointed out that the High Five program donations were based on not the consumers’ price, but the lower price paid by Whole Foods to Allegro. According to Whole Foods, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted an inquiry into the program, and while they indicated they had “not seen anything to indicate that Allegro/WFM intended to mislead consumers,” a recommendation was made for Allegro to commit to revising language in Allegro's materials on a going-forward basis. The FTC concluded the inquiry with “no further reason to continue this investigation or take any further action at this time.”

In 2005, Allegro voluntarily discontinued the High Five for Farmers program and launched the Special Reserve program where donations are not tied to sales, but are a flat ten thousand dollars per year per farm for four farms. Whole Foods press materials state, “On the Special Reserve promotional materials, we indicate the exact amount of money being donated to the farm and no longer use language that may be confusing to our shoppers.”

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