On the podcast front, Whole Foods remains the gold standard for cult food brands looking to scale. Speaking with Christina Tosi on How I Built This, host Guy Raz pointed to the grocery giant as a key validator for Milk Bar, noting that "you can go to Whole Foods or Walmart or Sprouts and buy Milk Bar products off the shelf."
Not everyone is buying into the store's house-brand appeal, however. On The Megyn Kelly Show, host Megyn Kelly took a direct shot at the supermarket's organic condiments, complaining, "And then somebody will buy, like, the Whole Foods ketchup, and you're like, 'Ew, what is this-'"
This split narrative captures the ongoing dilemma for Whole Foods. The grocer remains a kingmaker when it acts as a curator for beloved external brands, but it still faces consumer pushback when its private-label products fail to replicate mainstream comfort foods.