NYC Whole Foods Store Debuts Matchaful Location
Matchaful has opened an in-store café on the ground floor of the new Manhattan West Whole Foods Market location, located on 10th Avenue at East 31st Street. The concept offers high-quality single-origin matcha beverages and seasonal plant-based food. A member of the Friends of Whole Foods Market program, Matchaful is one of a number of innovative businesses that provide the grocer’s shoppers access to unique flavors and cuisines.
Founded in 2015, Matchaful served the greater New York City area through a series of pop-up locations before establishing its current home on Manhattan’s Canal Street.
“Each of our previous café experiences has given us a chance to learn and evolve as a brand over the last three years,” noted Matchaful founder and “Chief Matcha Officer” Hannah Habes. “When the opportunity came to launch our café experience as a Friend of Whole Foods Market, it was a no-brainer. With a shared commitment to community and sustainability, it felt like the perfect partnership.”
Along with the in-store café, the brand’s line of single-origin, pesticide-free matcha is now available for purchase at 30 Whole Foods Market locations across the Northeast.
“At Whole Foods Market, our mission is to provide customers with the highest-quality natural and organic foods,” said Chris Manca, Northeast region local forager at Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods. “Matchaful’s dedication to those same quality standards; ingredients, taste, freshness and safety — along with the knowledge and craft they bring to their products — makes them a perfect fit for our stores.”
The new café will serve a variety of matcha-based beverages, including such longstanding Matchaful favorites as its signature Vanilla Zen latte and Matcha Avocado Yogurt. As at the Canal Street café, all products at the Whole Foods Market location are plant-based, contain organic ingredients, and focus on the quality and sustainability of the materials.
Open daily, the Manhattan West café has implemented strict cleanliness and safety protocols to keep customers and employees safe during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
A Matchful spokeswoman told Progressive Grocer that "now that they are a part of Whole Foods' Friends program, this opens the door for more expansion opportunities together. They are also looking into more collaborations with other partners like Whole Foods."
Owned by Seattle-based Amazon, Whole Foods is No. 24 on The PG 100,PG's 2020 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. Amazon is No. 2 on the list.
