Our Core Values

Our core values shape our culture at Ellwood’s and distinguish us from other natural grocery stores, and we make sure everything we do upholds them.

Product Standards: We provide a diverse selection of products with an emphasis on local, organic, minimally processed, sustainable foods.

Food & Product Safety: You deserve food and products with superior standards and clear labeling. We are first and foremost a buying agent for you, not a selling agent for our suppliers. We prioritize health over profits, always.

Environmental Impact: We work to preserve the environment for the next generation by recycling, harnessing solar energy, composting, donating waste, supporting sustainable and regenerative agriculture, and rewarding customers who travel in environmentally friendly ways.

Local Love: The great City of Richmond is our home. We work with local organizations, source local products, and encourage everyone to buy local goods throughout our community. Our market showcases local artists who share our social consciousness and add to Richmond’s rich culture.

Community Consciousness: We stay engaged with the Richmond community by hosting events and supporting causes that reflect our mission and lead to positive change.

Animal Welfare: Animal rights are especially important to us. We only buy from farmers who treat their animals ethically and humanely and don’t use growth hormones, antibiotics, or irradiation in raising them.

Respect for Stewards: Diversity, equality, and ethical treatment of employees is of the utmost importance at Ellwood Thompson’s. A collaborative management style adds to the entrepreneurial spirit of our employees, breeding all-around responsibility and integrity.

At Ellwood’s, advocacy and inclusivity are crucial core values, and we want to do our part to make our community a more equitable place. Ellwood’s stands behind policies that support fair wages, gender equality, corporate responsibility, and consumer empowerment. We champion other small, local businesses, especially those that are independent or minority-owned.

Fillers, toxins, GMOs, and preservatives have made their way into the products sold in conventional grocery stores disguised as “natural” and “fresh” due to inadequate regulations on what food companies can put on their packages.

We seek out and source the cleanest, healthiest, most minimally processed products from vendors who are open and willing to sharing their processes and ingredients.

Most of our vendors obtain third party certifications or invite us to their farm or facility to see for ourselves. They don’t just say they’re transparent, they live by it.

Please feel free to come in, ask questions, read labels, learn about certifications, and let us help you get to know and love the products we choose to represent.

Marketing unhealthy food to your children can put pressure on you as a parent, and is something we don’t practice at Ellwood Thompson’s.

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Studies have shown that food and beverage marketing practices strongly influence children’s food preferences and purchase requests. Younger children are especially vulnerable to the marketing of unhealthy food and beverage products that use brand mascots or media characters because they have difficulty distinguishing between advertising messages and factual information. Children develop emotional bond with brand mascots and media characters as if they were their personal friends. These relationships are based on attractiveness of the brand mascots and media characters, and they can influence children’s food choices and diet. Toys and games distract from honest food choices. They come with poor options like fries and sugary beverages.

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The meals we serve our children should be good food. At our grocery store, we’ve removed all products that are packaged to target your children through these kinds of ploys. Instead, we provide ways you can educate your children to help them build a nutritious diet and recognize the merits of a healthy lifestyle.

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SOURCES

• Food Politics: WHO Europe takes on food marketing to children
• Healthy Eating Research: The Use of Brand Mascots and Media Characters: Opportunities for Responsible Food Marketing to Children

Loss of privacy is loss of control.

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Our customer privacy is important to us, especially in a world where consumer data is being collected and utilized on a larger scale than we have ever seen before.

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At Ellwood’s we do not and will not collect your data without your consent. We pride ourselves on truth, transparency, and a warm, community experience with education around our environment and food. We hope that our customers look forward to coming into Ellwood’s to enjoy a good meal and connect with their neighbors.

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Read more, HERE.