The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation

What The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation does

The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation is a charitable foundation established in 2015 and operated under Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: SFM), a publicly traded healthy grocery chain headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona with approximately 490 stores across 25+ U.S. states. The Foundation's mission is to support children's nutrition education and hands-on gardening programs through grant-making, nonprofit partnerships, and direct community engagement. Its programs include Impact Grants, Neighborhood Grants, and Healthy Communities Grants awarded to qualifying organizations, alongside flagship initiatives such as the 24 Gardens in 24 Cities school garden build program, the Growing School Gardens Summit, and Virtual Garden Tours.

The Foundation operates a partnership ecosystem of more than 100 nonprofit organizations delivering educational programs in school and community gardens, supported by a School Garden Network that convenes educators for best-practice sharing. Since 2015, the Foundation has awarded $18 million in grants to 430 community organizations and built more than 160 school and community gardens, funding over 12 million hours of nutrition education. Recent annual activity has scaled to $10 million in grants to 550+ organizations in 2025 alone, plus a September 2025 single-day in-store donation initiative distributing $3.3 million across 450 neighborhoods. Strategic partnerships include Angel City Football Club (10% of sponsorship value redirected to LA community programs, 1M+ pounds of produce donated, 8 school gardens refreshed since 2022), Young Men's Service League, and GrowingSchoolGardens.org.

The Foundation has no commercial revenue model; it is funded through Sprouts Farmers Market corporate sponsorship, in-store customer donations, and partner contributions. Its underlying infrastructure is non-technical, relying on Sprouts' retail footprint as a distribution channel for community engagement, volunteer mobilization (1,000+ team members annually, 4,000+ Day of Service hours), and in-store donation events. The Foundation also sits within a broader Sprouts corporate social responsibility portfolio that includes the PowHERed by Sprouts women's health initiative supporting 160+ female athletes. As a charitable arm of a public company rather than a distinct corporate subsidiary, the Foundation's financial standing is tied to Sprouts Farmers Market's continued corporate sponsorship.

Name

The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation

Legal name

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.

Website

https://sprouts.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation is a 2015-established charitable foundation operated by Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ: SFM) that funds nutrition education and school garden programs through grants, serving children and partnering with 100+ nonprofits across 25+ U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Nutrition Foundation

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK), K–12 Support & School Improvement Nonprofits (BPAGADAB), Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI)

Keywords

• Nutrition education programs
• School garden grants
• Community health foundation
• Healthy eating initiatives
• Children wellness programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Phoenix

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation is the charitable arm of Sprouts Farmers Market that funds and operates nutrition education and hands-on school gardening programs for children. It disburses Impact Grants, Neighborhood Grants, and Healthy Communities Grants to 100+ nonprofit partner organizations, coordinates school garden builds, runs the bi-annual Growing School Gardens Summit, and engages Sprouts team members through an annual Day of Service. The foundation leverages Sprouts' retail footprint across 23+ states to connect schools, nonprofits, and communities around garden-based learning and fresh food access.

Product overview

Sprouts Farmers Market operates as a healthy grocery store offering a unified retail platform with both physical store locations and digital commerce capabilities. The core offering includes fresh produce, natural and organic foods, vitamins, and supplements. Digital products include shop.sprouts.com for online ordering, a mobile app for iOS and Android, and the Sprouts Rewards loyalty program. Fulfillment is handled through in-store pickup, curbside pickup, and delivery via Instacart integration. Additional services include catering, gift cards, and the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation which supports nutrition education and school garden programs. The company operates over 490 stores across 25 U.S. states.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sprouts Brand: The company's private label brand offering unique and better-for-you products.
• Forager Finds
• PowHERed by Sprouts

Products and services

• Impact Grants
• Neighborhood Grants
• Healthy Communities Grants
• School Garden Network Support
• Growing School Gardens Summit
• 24 Gardens in 24 Cities Initiative
• Team Member Annual Day of Service
• In-Store Community Donation Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Children who grow their own fruits and vegetables tend to eat more fresh produce
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and core.

• Angel City Football Club (ACFC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs part of the partnership with ACFC, 10% of the sponsorship value is re-allocated to benefit the Los Angeles community. Together they provide greater access to fresh foods and nutrition education for children. Since 2022, they've refreshed eight school gardens and donated over 1 million pounds of fresh produce.
• Young Men's Service LeagueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVolunteer organization that has partnered with Sprouts team members to build school gardens, such as the garden built at Solar Preparatory in Henderson, Texas.
• Growing School Gardens SummitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBi-annual national gathering that brings together school gardening professionals from across the country for three days of workshops, field trips and networking to advance school garden education.
• GrowingSchoolGardens.orgminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization hosting the coast-to-coast Virtual Garden Tour event in 2021 that captured how school gardens are advancing nutrition education and environmental literacy.
• 100+ Nonprofit OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit partners delivering educational lessons to students in school and community gardens through Impact Grants and Neighborhood Grant Programs. Organizations include those reaching large numbers of students across entire cities or multiple states.
• 450 Neighborhood Partner OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal partners supporting nutrition and wellness programs that received in-store donation presentations totaling $3.3M across Sprouts store locations.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• American Heart Association: A national voluntary health organization focused on nutrition, physical activity, and childhood health. Comparable as a broader nutrition-and-child-health grantmaker and program operator that addresses overlapping chronic-disease-prevention themes with the foundation's nutrition-education mission.

Peers

• FoodCorps: A national nonprofit that places service members in schools to teach kids about healthy food through hands-on garden and cafeteria education. Directly comparable as a school-garden and nutrition-education program operator that the foundation funds and partners with via its 100+ nonprofit partner network.

Emerging players

• Meals on Wheels America: A national nonprofit addressing senior nutrition and food insecurity through a federated local-organization model. Comparable as a nutrition-focused nonprofit that funds and supports a network of 100+ local partner organizations to deliver nutrition programs, mirroring the foundation's distribution model.
• Big Green (The Big Green Nonprofit): A national nonprofit building learning gardens in schools with a focus on underserved communities. Comparable as a school-garden-focused nonprofit whose mission and program design closely align with the foundation's Impact Grant and Neighborhood Grant priorities.

Broad incumbents

• Target Foundation: The philanthropic arm of Target Corporation, which invests in education, food-security, and community-wellness programs. Comparable as a large general-merchant-affiliated foundation with overlapping nutrition and youth-education priorities.
• Walmart Foundation (Walmart.org): The philanthropic arm of Walmart, which operates major programs in nutrition, hunger relief, and economic opportunity. Comparable as a much larger retail-affiliated foundation with overlapping nutrition-education and food-access mandates.

Direct peers

• The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation: The Kroger-affiliated foundation focused on hunger relief and food-waste reduction. Directly comparable in mission (nutrition access, food education) and in being a large U.S. supermarket-chain-affiliated grantmaking vehicle.
• Whole Planet Foundation: The philanthropic arm of Whole Foods Market (now Amazon-owned), focused on alleviating poverty through microfinance and community programs. It is the closest direct peer as another natural/organic-grocery-affiliated foundation operating in nutrition and community-wellness programs.
• Publix Super Markets Charities: The charitable arm of Publix Super Markets, focused on youth, education, and community health, including nutrition and food-security programs. Comparable as a regional grocery-chain-affiliated foundation with similar grantmaking and volunteer-engagement models.

Regional players

• The Wegman Family Charitable Foundation: Affiliated with Wegmans Food Markets, the foundation supports health, nutrition education, and community programs. Comparable as a grocery-chain-affiliated foundation focused on nutrition education, though with a primarily Northeast U.S. geographic footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/sprouts
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SproutsFarmersMarket
• Facebookfacebook.com/SproutsFarmersMarket
• Instagraminstagram.com/sprouts
• TikToktiktok.com/@sproutsfarmersmarket
• Pinterestpinterest.com/sproutsfm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sprouts-healthy-communities-foundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments6 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation