Does Sprouts Take WIC? (No Do This Instead!)

People ask, does Sprouts Farmers Market take WIC?

If you receive benefits from the WIC program, you may be wondering which grocery stores in your state accept WIC payments for food.

If you are questioning whether your local Sprouts Farmers Market stores accept WIC, you have come to the right place.

Sprouts Farmers Market is a supermarket chain that sells fresh, organic produce with a focus on affordability and accessibility.

Does Sprouts take WIC? No, Sprouts Farmers Market does not accept WIC as payment at their stores. However, Sprouts do accept SNAP payments through EBT cards. This is because SNAP is a nationwide program which must be accepted at all grocery stores, whereas WIC is specifically for women, infants, and children. Although Sprouts do not, many other grocery stores accept WIC.

Read on to find out more about whether Sprouts accepts WIC, which other payment methods Sprouts accept, and which grocery stores in different states accept WIC payments.

What is Sprouts?

Sprouts Farmers Market, also known as Sprouts, is a chain of supermarkets that is designed to resemble a farmer’s market that is indoors and open seven days a week, therefore open whatever the weather.

The first Sprouts store opened in 2002 in Phoenix, Arizona, and has expanded in the decades since to more than 370 stores in 23 states, employing over 35,000 workers.

Each Sprouts store is around 30,000 square feet and offers a fresh grocery experience, aiming to make natural foods more accessible and affordable by dedicating one third of the store to items on promotion.

Sprouts offer fresh, healthy, and organic products that have less processed ingredients and have no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.

What Do Sprouts Sell?

Sprouts Farmers Market offers a variety of natural, fresh, organic foods. These include fresh produce, meat including choice cuts and grass-fed beef, seafood, dairy, deli goods, baked goods, frozen goods, over 7,500 varieties of vitamins and supplements, natural body care, and home supplies.

Sprouts sell around 200 varieties of organic produce, and has its own brand of products, with over 2,400 own-brand items.

What Is WIC?

WIC stands for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

The WIC program provides aid for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to the age of 5 who are at nutritional risk.

WIC provides federal grants to states to aid with foods to supplement diets, health care referrals, and nutrition education such as information on healthy eating and breastfeeding support, for those women and children at nutritional risk.

What Is SNAP?

SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal program administered by the FNS, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.

SNAP provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of low-income individuals and families. The SNAP benefits can be used at grocery stores to purchase healthy food.

This is a nationwide program, with local FNS offices responsible for the monitoring of which grocery stores accept SNAP.

As it is a nationwide program across all 50 states, all grocery stores should accept SNAP and EBT payments.

What Is EBT?

EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer and is the electronic system that allows those with SNAP to pay for food using their benefits.

Those on the program will have an EBT SNAP account and when they purchase food from a SNAP authorized retail store the credits are debited from the EBT account to reimburse the store for food.

EBT payments are accepted in all 50 U.S states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

Does Sprouts Accept WIC?

Sprouts Farmers Market does not accept WIC payment for foods as the stores are not approved for the WIC program.

Although Sprouts does not, over 46,000 stores are currently authorized to accept WIC.

Does Sprouts Accept SNAP?

Yes, all Sprouts Farmers Market stores accept SNAP payments for foods. This is because SNAP is a nationwide program and must be accepted at all grocery stores, unlike WIC.

Does Sprouts Accept EBT?

As EBT is the payment method for SNAP, Sprouts Farmers Market does accept EBT payments also. EBT payments are accepted at Sprouts to pay for food purchases.

An EBT card payment is accepted payment in any Sprouts store nationwide, so can be used even when travelling outside of your local area.

Sprouts Farmers Market only accepts EBT cards for in-store grocery purchases and not online orders.

However, EBT card payments are only accepted for groceries and there are certain products which are ineligible to be purchased at Sprouts with an EBT card. These include:

• Medications
• Vitamins
• Supplements
• Herbs
• Pet food
• Home supplies
• Body care products
• Make-up
• Alcoholic drinks
• Plants and flowers

What Other Payment Methods Does Sprouts Accept?

According to Sprouts, a customer’s first order should be paid by check, wire, or ACH.

After the first order, Sprouts accepts a wide range of payment options, including:

• Cash
• Credit card – Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card
• Debit cards
• EBT cards
• Apple Pay
• Samsung Pay
• Google Pay/Android Pay
• Check
• Prepaid cards
• Sprouts gift cards

What Grocery Stores Accept WIC?

Although Sprouts do not accept WIC, there are many other grocery stores which do accept payment from this program.

Stores which accept WIC vary from state to state, but you can use the online WIC store locator to find which of your local grocery stores accept WIC payment.

In many cases, stores that accept WIC will have a logo in the window to let customers know, and eligible produce items inside the store will also have WIC stickers on to help easily identify which foods can be purchased with WIC.

There will also be a ‘what to buy’ section with the WIC check which can inform you further on which foods and produce are eligible to purchase as part of the program.

Certain items will be ineligible, which can vary depending on which store and state you are in, and items you are eligible to purchase with WIC can also depend on your child’s age and medical requirements.

Read also: What Grocery Stores Accept EBT Online? (120 Shop For Groceries With SNAP Benefits)

References

https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic

https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt