The meeting four years ago launched her then five-month-old company from its Portland, Ore., base onto the shelves of Whole Foods across the country.

Its imprimatur can open the way not only to Whole Foods’ more than 400 stores, but also to bigger retailers who covet the cachet of brands carried at Whole Foods, entrepreneurs say. Whole foods entrepreneurs

Whole Foods Entrepreneurs

As a result, small companies are willing to do a lot to get into Whole Foods and stay there-from changing recipes and tweaking packaging to selling certain products exclusively through the chain. Whole foods entrepreneurs

Today, the Louisville, Colo., company has multiple products in Whole Foods nationwide, including a bottled iced tea it developed exclusively for the chain. Whole foods entrepreneurs

Whole Foods lists roughly 80 “Unacceptable” ingredients including vanillin, bleached flour, and aspartame that must be removed from products seeking to appear on its shelves. Whole foods entrepreneurs

Cultivating new brands and exclusive products has become even more important to Whole Foods as mainstream retailers have expanded natural-food offerings.

Whole Foods buyer Errol Schweizer said that over the past 12 to 18 months the retailer has offered 250 products that were exclusive for at least some time. Whole foods entrepreneurs

A couple of years ago, Third Street’s Mr. Simmons recalls, he met with a buyer for a big retailer who had photos of his company’s tea at Whole Foods, and demanded those products.

Whole Foods isn’t afraid to throw its weight around when it wants a supplier to create a new product, get a certification or make a design change. Whole foods entrepreneurs

Whole Foods flagged the cursive script on High Road Craft Ice Cream’s packaging when the Marietta, Ga., company was working on a new ice cream for the grocer, BLVD Tasty Ice Cream, a company executive said.

To keep its pipeline full, Whole Foods has provided low-interest loans totaling $15 million to small food makers over the past nine years. Whole foods entrepreneurs

Hain Celestial Group Inc., which had $2.15 billion in revenue last fiscal year, sells more than 800 products under various brands in Whole Foods, its biggest customer. Whole foods entrepreneurs

“Whole Foods doesn’t like it when our products grow up,” he said-adding later that he understands its concerns and meets with its executives regularly to ensure they are working together.

(Credits to ANNIE GASPARRO And LESLIE JOSEPHS)

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