Whole Foods Market 401(k) match, vesting and fees
What Whole Foods Market's 401(k) plan says about matching contributions
The Plan allows a Company matching contribution in an amount determined by the 401(k) Committee of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (Plan Administrator). The Company made a matching contribution on behalf of eligible participants equal to 50% of each participant’s contributions up to 4% of their annual income in 2024, and equal to 14% of the first $1,000 of each such participant’s contributions, excluding rollover contributions, for 2023. The Company’s matching contributions for each year were made to the Plan in the following year and therefore were recorded as a receivable as of December 31, 2024 and 2023. The Company’s matching contributions are made in the form of cash. The 2024 and 2023 matching contributions were invested according to the participants’ investment directions in place on the date of contribution, in accordance with Plan procedures.
Quoted directly from the filing. Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.
Plan features
Indented passages are quoted word for word from the audit report; plan terms may have changed since, so check your current Summary Plan Description.
| Employer match | Quoted from the filing above | Audit report, p. 49 ↗ |
| Match vesting | For Team Members who became participants in the Plan before 1/1/24 all employer matching contributions are 100% vested. For Team Members who became participants in the Plan on 1/1/24 or after, the employer matching contribution will vest once a Team Member has worked at WFM for a minimum of 1,000 hours annually for 3 years. | Audit report, p. 50 ↗ |
| Automatic enrollment | Effective 1/1/2024, all newly eligible Team Members are automatically enrolled in the Plan after 90 days of employment at a 2% deferral rate. Each Plan year, Participants shall have the percentage of their annual compensation that the Participant has either elected or is deemed to have elected to contribute to the Plan automatically increased by one percent (1%) until the percentage of annual compensation that such Participant elected or is deemed to have elected to contribute to the Plan is equal to ten percent (10%). Participants may opt out of the automatic increase program or affirmatively elect a different percentage increase at any time. | Audit report, p. 49 ↗ |
| Loans | Participants may borrow from their fund accounts a minimum of $500, up to a maximum equal to the lesser of $50,000, less the highest outstanding loan balance in the prior year, or 50% of their account balance. The loans are secured by the balance in the participant’s account and bear a reasonable rate of interest, as determined by the Plan Administrator. Principal and interest are paid by participants through weekly or bi-weekly payroll deductions, or as a lump sum for the outstanding loan balance. Partial repayments of the outstanding loan balance are permitted. | Audit report, p. 50 ↗ |
| Recordkeeper | Fidelity Investments Institutional | Schedule C ↗ |
| Independent auditor | Forvis Mazars, LLP (unmodified opinion, limited scope) | Schedule H ↗ |
| Plan type and status | 401(k) · Active | Form 5500 ↗ |
All rows are from the plan year 2024 filing; plan features from its audit report.
How the plan compares
Plan year 2024 medians for 22 defined-contribution plans in retail trade with 50,000 or more participants.
| Whole Foods Market: employer contribution per participant | $532 | |
| Peer median | $1,179 |
| Whole Foods Market: average balance | $24,549 | |
| Peer median | $58,043 |
| Whole Foods Market: admin expenses ÷ assets | 0.19% | |
| Peer median | 0.09% |
Admin expenses are the plan's reported administrative expenses divided by its assets; they do not include fund expense ratios.
Plan history
Plan assets went from $2.1B at the end of plan year 2023 to $2.4B at the end of plan year 2024.
| Plan year | Participants | Assets | Employer contributions | Per participant | Admin expense ratio | Match formula | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 117,275 | $2.4B | $52.8M | $532 | 0.19% | Quoted in the audit report, p. 49 ↗ | Form 5500 ↗ |
| 2023 | 122,881 | $2.1B | $8.7M | $79 | 0.23% | Not published | Form 5500 ↗ |
Common questions
Does Whole Foods Market match 401(k) contributions?
The audit report attached to the Whole Foods Market Growing Your Future 401(k) Plan's plan year 2024 Form 5500, page 49 says: “The Plan allows a Company matching contribution in an amount determined by the 401(k) Committee of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (Plan Administrator). The Company made a matching contribution on behalf of eligible participants equal to 50% of each participant’s contributions up to 4% of their annual income in 2024, and equal to 14% of the first $1,000 of each such participant’s contributions, excluding rollover contributions, for 2023. The Company’s matching contributions for each year were made to the Plan in the following year and therefore were recorded as a receivable as of December 31, 2024 and 2023. The Company’s matching contributions are made in the form of cash. The 2024 and 2023 matching contributions were invested according to the participants’ investment directions in place on the date of contribution, in accordance with Plan procedures.” Plan terms may have changed; check your current Summary Plan Description.
When is the Whole Foods Market 401(k) match vested?
The audit report attached to the plan year 2024 Form 5500, page 50 says: “For Team Members who became participants in the Plan before 1/1/24 all employer matching contributions are 100% vested. For Team Members who became participants in the Plan on 1/1/24 or after, the employer matching contribution will vest once a Team Member has worked at WFM for a minimum of 1,000 hours annually for 3 years.”
Who manages the Whole Foods Market 401(k)?
The recordkeeper listed on Schedule C of the plan year 2024 filing is Fidelity Investments Institutional. The plan administrator is The Whole Foods Market, Inc..
I left Whole Foods Market. How do I find my old 401(k)?
Your account stays in the plan until you move it. Contact the plan administrator (The Whole Foods Market, Inc., (512) 477-4455) or the recordkeeper, Fidelity Investments Institutional. The Whole Foods Market old 401(k) page lists the contacts from every plan filing. Find an old Whole Foods Market 401(k)
Data from the public Form 5500 annual reports Whole Foods Market filed with the U.S. Department of Labor (plan years 2023 and 2024) and, where noted, the attached independent auditor's report. Plan terms may have changed since the filing; check your current Summary Plan Description. PlanFacts is not affiliated with Whole Foods Market. Not financial advice. Report a correction · Methodology