For all you folks who think that Whole Foods is like heaven on earth, we have some news that is definitely going to solidify that for you: it looks like they may start brewing their own beer. Whole Foods already sells beer from more than 500 different breweries, so that’s not what we’re talking about. We mean they are legitimately going to make their own beer and sell it.
The Huffington Post reports that Whole Foods started soliciting applications for a brewmaster last week. Nichole Becerra, who oversees the beer programs for the Southwest, told Huffington that what they end up brewing will depend on who they hire. “The regional team isn’t going to dictate what they make. We really want to make it up to the expert and up to someone who might offer us a really great recipe,” she said.
It seems, however, that this is more of an experiment taking place in a Texas store rather than something that’s going to sweep the nation right away. A location set to open on Houston’s Post Oak Boulevard in the summer is planning to pour beer under the Whole Foods label. Whole Foods says they don’t have any current plans to open any more breweries, but there’s definitely a chance this could expand if it is successful (which you know it’s going to be).
The details of this endeavor are not really in place yet. They haven’t decided what the store’s brewing capacity is going to be and whether or not they’ll distribute beyond the Houston location. As for the name of the beer, they’re turning to their staff around the country to come up with something clever. Everyone is being encouraged to submit an idea and Becerra said the name will be “something really fun.”
All of this seems like a natural expansion for Whole Foods; they already have bars in a lot of stores and it only makes sense for them to start pouring their own brew. If they get the right person to kick off the program and really make a stellar beer, we think this could be a hit. We just hope they don’t rush into it, though. It seems like a lot of details are still up in the air and there might be a little pressure to have everything ready for the new store opening in the summer.