Analysis Of Whole Foods: Whole Trade Guarantee

Whole Foods Market started off as being Safer Way natural grocery store in 1978. However they were not

Whole Food’s belief is treat an employee well and watch your profits soar. Whole Food’s belief

Whole Foods has the Philanthropic Responsibility on Carroll’s global social responsibility pyramid, mainly for their involvement in educating employees, and customers on the importance of lifestyle changes in eating more organic, healthy foods. Moreover, Whole Foods involvement in volunteer work through the communities they serve; however,

Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are grocery retailers who have become very successful. Both these companies offer whole, natural, and quality products but operate to a wide extent particularly in terms of inventory management and supply chain organizations. Trader Joe’s has incredible inventory management and their supply chain focuses on private labels and extreme secrecy while Whole Foods has poor inventory management but their supply chain is quick, nimble and versatile. A huge competitive advantage that Whole food has is that they keep their shelves packed with about 25,00 to 45,000 products while Trader Joe’s keeps about 4,000 products. However, Trader Joes’ still made about $1,750 per square foot in 2009, more than double of what Whole

As our short-term objectives evolve with Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s, it is important to identify and clearly state our objectives the long run.

The Whole Foods (WF) annual report for 2010 states “Our growth strategy is to expand primarily through new store openings. We have a disciplined, opportunistic real estate strategy, opening stores in existing trade areas as well as new areas, including international locations. Our new stores typically are located on premium real estate sites and range in size between 35,000 and 50,000 square feet which we believe is appropriate in most circumstances to maximize return on invested capital and Economic Value Added (“EVA®”). Our growth strategy includes opening new stores in existing and new areas and operating those stores successfully.” (Flanagan, G. 2010). This means they are growing and spreading their wings out into a large variety of regions. The report also stated in order to meet those goals “many of our competitors went back and forth on their pricing strategies, we stayed true to our goal of offering a clear value choice in every department through compelling prices on known value items, as well as targeted pricing and promotional strategies” (Flanagan, G. 2010).

Whole Foods Market, Inc, is an Austin, Texas based foods grocery that has the finest natural and organic food available, including produce, seafood, grocery, meat and poultry, bakery, prepared foods and catering, beer, wine, cheese; in addition to whole body, floral, pet products, and household products. Whole Foods is among the most profitable health food retailers in the United States. The rapid growth and market success has much to do with having remained a uniquely mission-driven company, highly selective about what they sell, dedicated to their core values, stringent quality standards, and committed to sustainable agriculture.

If you were to ask people if they enjoy going to work on Monday, I am sure most of them would give you a funny look, and say “No”. Americans dislike of their jobs is very evident. To see the magnitude of this just look on social media. On Fridays, there are vast amounts of thank god it’s Friday (TGIF) memes indicating how happy they are that they are done with work for the week. Many American simply do not enjoy working. However, a select few actually do. They enjoy their jobs and their co-workers. Sure, they may be far and few between, but if you ask one of the 54,000 Whole Foods Markets employees you are sure to get a “Yes”. If fact, not only does Whole Foods Markets employees enjoy their work, their company is one of the top 100 companies to work for according to Fortune.com. What is so special about Whole Foods Market that their employees actually enjoy their jobs, and what is makes them different from all the other companies out there?

When people shop at their local grocery stores they expect to get what the label says they are getting. If the label says three pounds of meat then they expect to get three pounds of meat, not two and half, but three. Unfortunately it was found out that the customer is not always getting what they pay for.

There are several factors that appeal to me for working at Whole Foods. In doing my research about the Whole Foods Market and John Mackey I learned a lot such as how it was established, and the history of John Mackey as well. In today's era it is very rare to find an employer who has a genuine concern with his employees, giving back to charities, and the community. I feel it is heartwarming to know that Mackey set-up a fund for his employees if they were going through personal issues and needed monies. He gave money to charities, and got to a point in his career that he no longer saw it as a profit to himself. He also promotes growth and encourages his employees to push for higher expectations. I would most definitely work for this company

Whole Foods' utilizes a differentiated strategy, focused on organic and natural foods. This distinguishes them from mainstream grocery competitors, and puts them into competition with other specialized grocery outlets (Urani, 2008). This differentiation, combined with more traditional grocery industry size and operations, gives the company an advantage over most of its competitors.

Whole Foods Market includes premium products. The products are selected for exceptional taste, authenticity, and remarkable quality. This product lines is made of up natural and organic choices that includes everything from Magnolia and Poppy Organic Laundry Detergent to Traditional Biscotti.

Natural organic trend still can be a very attractive industry since the healthy eating trend is very important to customer. According to Organic Trade Association, Growth of organic products is expected to continue to outpace total food sales in the year ahead and beyond.

Whole Foods Market (WFM) was founded in 1980 as a single local grocery store by John Mackey for natural and health foods. By 1991, WFM had 10 up-and-running stores with revenues of about $92.5 million in United States Dollars (USD), and a net income of about $1.6 million in USD. In 1992 WFM became a publicly traded company with its stock trading on the NASDAQ. By 2006 Whole Foods Market had progressed into the world’s largest retail chain of natural and organic foods supermarket. As of September 2007 WFM has 276 stores up-and-running. 263 of the stores are located throughout 37 of the U.S. and the District of Columbia. 7 of the stores are in Canada and 6 in the U.K.

Whole Foods Market began in 1970 as a local supermarket. Over the past 31 years, Whole Foods Market has grown from a single store in Austin, Texas, to becoming one of the worldwide leaders in providing consumers with natural and organic foods. They have grown to over 300 stores in both North America and the United Kingdom. (Whole Foods Market, Inc., 2011) This report examines the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market has put into place. Also, it uses past financial data to provide an assessment of the condition of the company going forward. Those assessments include recommendations of future actions, along with concerns I have about the way the company is currently operating and some difficulties that may be on the way.