AUSTIN, TX (January 19, 2012) – Whole Foods Market Team Members once again named the company to FORTUNE magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. The nation’s leading natural and organic supermarket was ranked No. 32, and is one of only 13 companies that have made the list every year since its inception in 1998.

“Our Team Members are the heart and soul of this company: that’s our not-so-secret sauce,” said Walter Robb, Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market. “Our more than 65,000 talented Team Members put us on this list, and we appreciate each and every one of them for their dedication to our company’s mission. They are empowered, bold, and passionate and they make great things happen for our customers, communities, supplier partners, investors, environment, and themselves each and every day.”

FORTUNE cited one of the reasons Whole Foods Market again made the list is its equitable pay structure, noting that the company caps salaries of executives at 19 times the average full-time salary.

Whole Foods Market was listed as No. 16 on FORTUNE’s “Most Diverse” list, with a workforce made up of 44 percent women and 43 percent minorities, and made the “Best Perks” list for offering gym membership discounts, compressed workweeks, and gay-friendly policies and benefits. Whole Foods Market was also included on a list of companies with the best health care benefits, for offering Team Members 100 percent paid health care premiums. The company was No. 5 on the list of top-10 companies for job growth, citing 2,699 new employees in the past year, and was among those listed for “Big Pay: Annual Salaries.” It also ranks eighth out of 38 larger companies on the list.

The list and related stories appear in the Feb. 6 issue of FORTUNE, which will be available on newsstands on Jan. 23 and at www.fortune.com.

In the past 15 years, Whole Foods Market has earned the following rankings on the list:

• 2012 – No. 32
• 2011 – No. 24
• 2010 – No. 18
• 2009 – No. 22
• 2008 – No. 16
• 2007 – No. 5
• 2006 – No. 15
• 2005 – No. 30
• 2004 – No. 47
• 2003 – No.32
• 2002 – No. 48
• 2001 – No. 41
• 2000 – No. 72
• 1999 – No. 48
• 1998 – No. 34

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 65,000 Team Members, Whole Foods Market has been ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE magazine for 15 consecutive years. In fiscal year 2011, the company had sales of more than $10 billion and currently has 317 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

About the Survey

To pick the 100 Best Companies to Work For, Fortune partners with the Great Place to Work Institute to conduct the most extensive employee survey in corporate America; 280 firms participated in this year’s survey. More than 246,000 employees at those companies responded to a survey created by the institute, a global research and consulting firm operating in 45 countries around the world. Two-thirds of a company’s score is based on the results of the institute’s Trust Index survey, which is sent to a random sample of employees from each company. The survey asks questions related to their attitudes about management’s credibility, job satisfaction, and camaraderie. The other third is based on responses to the institute’s Culture Audit, which includes detailed questions about pay and benefit programs and a series of open-ended questions about hiring practices, methods of internal communication, training, recognition programs, and diversity efforts. After evaluations are completed, if news about a company comes to light that may significantly damage employees’ faith in management, we may exclude it from the list.  Any company that is at least five years old and has more than 1,000 U.S. employees is eligible. For information on how to apply, visit www.greatplacetowork.com.