Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (SFM)
Grocery stores, 36,000 team members. Read October 2, 2026 from the annual report for the period ending December 28, 2025, filed February 19, 2026. Ranked 9 of the 21 Consumer Defensive companies read so far, by the share within reach now.
Within reach now
20%
End of 2028
23%
Employees, annual report
36,000
Leading staffing pattern
Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only)
Share of the working time within reach, long-run pace, four times in five
- Now20%
- End of 202723%
- End of 202823%
- End of 203023%
What changes for its people by the end of 2028, by its industries' figures
- Stays with people 77%
- Becomes checking a model's work 12%
- Handed over with lighter checks 12%
The filing states one total and nothing by kind of work or country, so the whole workforce takes the grocery retail pattern by description (c).
The figures on this page come from the company's own annual report and from BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. They are estimates with a stated method. Nothing here says what the company will do: within reach is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
What follows from the reading
Share of working time within reach of AI, on the long-run pace at four in five: 20% now, 23% at the end of 2027, 23% at the end of 2028, 23% at the end of 2030. By the patterns, the work is about 23% desk work, 20% people work and 57% body work. These are the site's industry estimates weighted by the shares below: estimates with a stated method and range, not a forecast of what the company will do. By the same patterns, at the end of 2028 about 77% of the working time stays with people (conversation, in-person and hands-on work), 12% becomes checking a model's work and 12% could be handed over with lighter checks, from the industries' own figures, not the company's roles.
Headcount
36,000 employees as of December 28, 2025 (stated). The stores are in the United States; the filing states no count by country.
The filing: “As of December 28, 2025, we had more than 36,000 team members.”
The workforce as industry patterns
| Pattern | Share | Reason, from the filing |
|---|---|---|
| Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only) | 100% | A grocery retailer whose team members work in its stores (Perishables 57% of revenue, Non Perishables 43%); the filing states no count for stores against distribution and corporate, so one grocery pattern by description (c). |
What the filing says about the workforce: More than 36,000 team members; no collective bargaining agreements; about 3,700 new jobs from store openings and about 6,000 promotions in 2025, with 61% of store manager positions filled from within.
Companies read with the same leading pattern
Other companies whose largest staffing pattern is also Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only), largest first, each read from its own annual report. Within reach now and at the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Kroger (KR, 403,000 employees)19% now, 23% by 2028
- Albertsons (ACI, 280,000 employees)20% now, 23% by 2028
What the filing says about AI
3 sentences in the filing name AI. Three sentences: AI, machine learning and cloud computing being evaluated and integrated for automation and insights, and the risks they may introduce.
- “To further develop our capabilities, we continue to evaluate and integrate emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cloud computing to support automation, generate more timely insights, and enhance scalability.”
- “Significant expenditures could be required to remedy future cybersecurity problems and protect against future breaches, and such threats may continue to increase and evolve with the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.”
- “Emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, may not deliver expected efficiencies and could introduce new risks.”
Its annual reports, year by year
Sentences naming AI in each annual report, counted by one rule, beside the median report in the Index that year. Each count links its filing. Every company, by year and sector
- Fiscal 20210median 0
- Fiscal 20220median 0
- Fiscal 20230median 1
- Fiscal 20242median 4
- Fiscal 20253median 10
Headcount by filing year
As reported in each year's annual report, with the filing. A year marked not read had no figure the reading could take from the report's text.
| Period | Employees | Filed | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-12-28 | 36,000 | 2026-02-19 | 10-K |
| 2024-12-29 | 35,000 | 2025-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2023-12-31 | 32,000 | 2024-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2023-01-01 | 31,000 | 2023-03-02 | 10-K |
| 2022-01-02 | 31,000 | 2022-02-24 | 10-K |
| 2021-01-03 | 33,000 | 2021-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2019-12-29 | 30,000 | 2020-02-20 | 10-K |
| 2018-12-30 | 30,000 | 2019-02-21 | 10-K |
| 2017-12-31 | 27,000 | 2018-02-22 | 10-K |
| 2017-01-01 | 24,000 | 2017-02-23 | 10-K |
| 2016-01-03 | 20,000 | 2016-02-25 | 10-K |
| 2014-12-28 | 17,000 | 2015-02-26 | 10-K |
| 2013-12-29 | 14,000 | 2014-02-27 | 10-K |
Limits of this reading
- No count for stores against distribution and corporate: one grocery pattern by description (c).
- More than 36,000 team members; the total is the filing's stated figure.
Source: the company's annual report on EDGAR, accession 0001575515-26-000008, the filing. Read by Claude Fable 5.1 under rubric version 1, by the method. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Questions about this company
- How much of Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.'s working time is within reach of AI?
- An estimated 20% now and 23% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five, from the workforce Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.'s own annual report describes and BLS staffing patterns for its industries, never from a roster. It is an estimate with a stated method. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings, and it says nothing about what the company will do.
- How many people does Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. employ?
- 36,000 as of December 28, 2025, as its annual report for the period ending December 28, 2025 states.
- What kinds of work make up Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.'s workforce?
- Read from its annual report as a blend of 1 industry staffing pattern, the largest Food and Beverage Retailers (4451 and 4452 only); by those patterns the work is about 23% desk work, 20% people work and 57% body work. Each share has a one-sentence reason on this page that can be checked against the filing.
- What does Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.'s annual report say about AI?
- 3 sentences in the filing name AI. Its annual reports for fiscal 2021 to 2025 name it in 0, 0, 0, 2 and 3 sentences, year by year. They are counted and quoted on this page, never judged: a count says how much a filing talks about AI, not what the company does with it.
- How is this estimated?
- Claude Fable 5.1 read the annual report under the Index's written rubric (version 1) on October 2, 2026: the stated headcount, the share in the U.S. when stated, and the workforce as a blend of industry staffing patterns. The estimates are the site's industry estimates weighted by those shares, from O*NET tasks with estimated lengths and METR's measurements of how long a task AI models can finish. A company can write to info@stratussc.com to have its reading checked against its filing.
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.