New NYC Whole Foods Location Has a Produce Butcher

In January, Whole Foods Market opened its 468th location near Manhattan’s Bryant Park, but with an innovative twist. The vegan-friendly grocery store features an in-house vegetable slicing professional—or “produce butcher”—housed behind a counter teeming with vegetables. For a fee—$1 per pound for bulk items and $1 per individually sold items—shoppers can have vegetables such as onions, squash, peppers, and more, precisely julienned, diced, sliced, and grated. This new concept is proof that the term “butcher” is no longer solely reserved for animal products, a fact further evidenced by the expanding list of vegan butcher shops across North America. The Bryant Park location also features a tahini cart, where company Seed + Mill freshly grinds sesame seeds into tahini. Whole Foods has become known for its innovative in-store services, including an outlet of famed eatery by CHLOE—which opened in the first Whole Foods’ 365 (a smaller and more affordable concept) store in Los Angeles last year.