The Whole Plate Standard

The mark for food made of real ingredients.

One simple promise: ingredients you’d find in a home kitchen. The Whole Food Approved badge makes that promise visible — wherever your products are sold.

Why a Standard

On a shelf full of “natural,” “clean” and “wholesome,” shoppers have learned those words can mean almost anything — and the brands doing it properly get lost in the noise. The Whole Plate Standard is a single, published, plain-English bar for genuinely whole, minimally processed food. When your products meet it, shoppers get one signal they can trust: this is the real thing.

It’s a mark you earn, not a badge you buy — which is exactly what makes shoppers believe it. And the way “keto-friendly” became a category people actively look for, the Whole Plate seal puts your brand in front of a growing, engaged real-food audience that’s already searching for what you make.

The criteria

Published openly. Honest, not gameable.

A product must…

  • Contain only ingredients you’d find in a home kitchen (broadly NOVA 1–2).
  • Have no industrial additives, cosmetic emulsifiers, flavour enhancers or colourings.
  • Show a recognisable ingredient list — short, plain, in real-food terms.
  • Be honestly described — no health claims beyond those legally substantiated.

A partner must…

  • Have at least 70% of their range meeting the product Standard.
  • Publicly link to wholefoodearth.com/the-whole-plate.
  • Use the full campaign name and our supplied visual assets in any public mention.

Why suppliers & brands join

What you get

  • The Whole Food Approved badge for your packaging and site.
  • A free listing on the Whole Plate Map of trusted producers.
  • Recipe and product placement in the daily Pledge emails.
  • Cross-promotion to the Whole Food Earth audience and the whole partner network.
  • Founding-signatory status — named among the first to back the Standard.

What we ask

  • Meet the Standard (70%+ of your range) and keep to it.
  • One signature recipe for the Pledge welcome pack.
  • A discount code for participants — from your own promotions.
  • A link to the hub, and use of our supplied campaign assets.

The Standard launches with Whole Plate September 2026.

We’re assembling the founding coalition now. Founding signatories are announced at the September flagship — the first brands and producers to carry the mark. Be one of them.

Become a founding signatory

Tell us about your range — conversations are opening now.

Free · No obligation · We’ll be in touch

Want to champion the real-food story instead? Become an Ambassador →

#TheWholePlate · #WholePlaters · #MyWholePlate

Built in Britain by Whole Food Earth.