One of World's Best Olive Oils Now at Florida Whole Foods Markets

MAYSVILLE, KY--(Marketwired - Jun 24, 2015) - A new, multi-award winning olive oil is now available in all 24 Whole Foods Market locations throughout the state of Florida. Bill Sanders' First Fresh -- California extra virgin olive oil is a Gold Medal winner and has been named one of the 'Best Olive Oils in the World for 2015.' Sanders himself will appear in stores to introduce his product to Whole Foods shoppers at the South Florida locations through July 5th.

Immediately upon entering the marketplace in 2012, First Fresh earned high praise from top grocers, chefs, and renowned judges. The Gold Medal honor and listing in the 'Best Olive Oils' index came in April at the third annual New York International Olive Oil Competition held in New York City. The prestigious event draws a renowned judging panel of top expert tasters from nine countries sampling entries over a three-day period. This year's competition featured 671 entries representing 26 countries. Additionally, the oil is a four-time winner of Prestige Gold/Gold at the Terraolivo Mediterranean International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition in Jerusalem, Israel, and is kosher supervised by KOF-K. This certified California extra virgin is a blend of four olive varieties -- arbequina, manzanillo, ascolano and arbosano -- and is produced in the Upper Sacramento Valley in Corning, California by Lucero Olive Oil.

Whole Foods is also offering Sanders First Fresh -- 3 Village Blend. This blend of three olive varieties -- arbequina, barnea and coratina -- is produced near three small villages surrounding the town of Chilecito in the Andean foothills of the La Rioja province in Argentina. Kosher supervised by the Orthodox Union, this is your workhorse of the kitchen. Both multi-purpose oils are known for their freshness and have their harvest date printed on the label.

Based in Maysville, Kentucky, First Fresh olive oils can be found in over 200 stores in 22 states including independent gourmet markets across Florida, Fairway Market in the New York City area, and select Kroger locations in Kentucky and Ohio. For more information and locations, visit sandersfirstfresh.com. First Fresh olive oils are distributed by Global Specialty Foods, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, visit http://www.globalspecialtyfoods.com/.

About Sanders & Co. and Bill Sanders First Fresh^®
Bill Sanders is a widely recognized international authority for fresh extra virgin olive oil. As founder and co-managing partner of Sanders & Co, LLC, Bill released First Fresh extra virgin olive oil for the first time in 2012. This international award winning olive oil is produced from trees spanning three centuries. He launched his 3 Village Blend in 2013. Sanders has been involved with olive oil since 1999, including studying sensory evaluation of olive oil at the University of California-Davis and in Tuscany. He served as the U.S. spokesman for 100% Tunisian Olive Oil and has conducted consumer and employee education programs for major retailers. In 2010, he founded crushandpress.com, an online gourmet food store. He is a frequent guest on radio and TV talking about the virtues of fresh extra virgin olive oil. His passion for olive oil and wine has propelled his visits to many of the world's great wine and olive oil regions.

About Whole Foods Market^®
Founded in 1980 in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market (wholefoodsmarket.com) (NASDAQ: WFM), is the leading natural and organic food retailer. As America's first national certified organic grocer, Whole Foods Market was named "America's Healthiest Grocery Store" by Health magazine. The company's motto, "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet"™ captures its mission to ensure customer satisfaction and health, Team Member excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder value, community support and environmental improvement. Thanks to the company's more than 88,000 team members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work For" in America by FORTUNE magazine for 18 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2014, the company had sales of more than $14 billion and currently has more than 417 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. For more company news and information, please visit media.wfm.com.

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