Whole Foods Offers Chance for Free Holiday Gift Boxes

Natural and organic foods retailer Whole Foods today launched a new holiday initiative in which it’s offering U.S. customers a chance to receive one of its new holiday gift boxes.

By signing up for any of the company's free email newsletters in stores or online at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/newsletters, one shopper every 12 days will be selected to receive a free Holiday gift basket.

"We are spreading a little cheer by giving 12 lucky winners one of our new holiday gift boxes,” said Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods’s global VP of purchasing, Jim Speirs. “From snacking to relaxation, we carefully selected the ideal products to fit the theme of each gift box."

Whole Foods Market offers three newsletters designed to help shoppers get the latest local sales information, coupons, recipes, exclusive offers and even healthy holiday tips:

• Whole Foods Market News: Features the latest specials, store news, coupons, health-and-money-savings tips, delivered several times a month.
• Whole Foods Market Recipes: Features simple cooking tips and delicious recipes celebrating natural, fresh ingredients delivered twice a month.
• Whole Foods Market Local Store News and Sales: Features the best deals, special sales and community event updates from a shopper's favorite store.

The new box line has five different themes and is available for purchase online only at www.wholefoodsmarket.com/giftbox. Ranging from $40 to $60 each (plus shipping), the selections include:

• The Gift of Grub ($60): This includes all-natural summer sausage, pretzel crisps, and aged cheddar cheese straws, to organic peppermint stick chocolate, classic shortbread, and gourmet pecans.
• You're Zenzational ($60): With its lotions and potions, this gift box includes lavender lotion and shower gel, mineral bath salts, pillow mist, a sleep mask, a bath pillow, and even a candle and tea.
• Get Warm, Get Fuzzy ($50): Inside this box is a collection of specialty coffee, tea, and hot chocolate paired with treats like gourmet caramel sweetener, fruit-and-nut mix, mocha wafer rolls, biscotti bites, and dark chocolate espresso beans.
• You Rock Box o' Choc ($50): This box includes organic and Fair Trade selections of chocolate bars, a gift collection of chocolates, dipped sandwich cookies and brownie bites, peanut butter chocolate wafers, chocolate cherry trail mix, and hot chocolate.
• Ciao Down ($40): This selection includes pasta, Italian herb pasta sauce, basil pesto, extra virgin olive oil crostini, dry roasted almonds, and truffled espresso clusters.

All Whole Foods newsletter subscribers who sign up in-store or online December 6 through 17, 2010, will be automatically entered into a monthly drawing for a Gift Box.