Pest Analysis For Whole Foods

Whole Foods Market has prided itself in the selection of the products it sells and uses by quality, taste, value, and production processes strengthening their business further. They have carried out this key strategy by tasting every product before they purchased them, sourcing from local, organic farmers, requiring livestock and seafood items from farmers to be raised humanely and raised on pasturelands, well water, wholesome grains, and not use steroids, hormones or byproducts. Keeping products at high quality, great taste, comparable prices, and environmentally friendly will allow repeat customers and word-of-mouth advertising to increase the value of Whole Foods Market. (Thompson, 2012)

Whole Foods’ “product” is composed of two key concepts: physical organic goods and a healthy organic lifestyle. All goods sold at Whole Foods Market are organic, and there are various events hosted at individual locations that feature cooking classes and nutrition seminars. “By providing healthy eating education we inspire and empower our stakeholders to make the best…food choices to maximize health and vitality” (“We Promote,” n.d.). This provides a unique added benefit for its customers. In this way, it delivers value, both in the product offering of numerous healthy food substitutes and in the care that the company has for its patrons.

The organic food industry has seen a huge spike in growth that is expected to continue into the future due to an increase in consumption. This will provide Whole Foods Market with huge opportunities. In addition, a wave of ethical and responsible consumption has swept across America. Whole Foods’ decision to pursue sustainable activities will certainly give consumers an added incentive to purchase its organic products.

Whole Foods is a retailer that specializes in organic foods and it has done an excellent job of determining its target market and how to position itself. Instead of going head to head with large food retailers such as Wal-Mart, Whole Foods has found a niche market that works perfectly for itself. This niche market is one that prides itself on being health conscious and environmentally responsible and Whole Foods has done a great job of positioning itself in the same way through its environmentally safe actions and its use of the local community to stock its stores. However, as Whole Foods grows and expands, a person has to wonder if the company will be able to maintain this same position or will have to make

Whole Foods Market offers a wide collection of natural and organic products with an importance on unpreserved foods. The company offers a massive variety of products from groceries, catering and prepared foods, body care, lifestyle products, and supplements. Aside from the products, the company established many more brands such as ‘365 Organic Everyday Day Value’, ‘Health Starts Here’, and ‘Whole Fields’, just to name a few that emphasize an approach to eating healthy by building better meals and endorsing animal welfare on ranches and farm.

As of September 2015 Whole Foods Incorporated had 431 stores in the United States, Britain and Scotland. Over the years since its inception Whole Foods Incorporated has grown steadily recording high revenues that have made it to be recognized as a Fortune 500 company. It has accomplished this by sticking to its original mission of retailing organic foods in a market where other retail stores mainly retail processed foods that are high in calories and hydrogenated fats. During the 2008 recession, revenues in Whole Foods Inc. dropped as this company struggled to meet its operation costs with a receding number of shoppers, this caused the company to close some of its stores in Britain for failing to meet is profitability targets (Market, 2008).

Whole Foods was having a hard time finding organic beef and chicken suppliers big enough to supply all of their stores. Another force, potential new entrants, was affecting the company. Most supermarkets were starting to stock a growing number of natural and organic food items. Customers were increasingly buying organic foods and beverages for the freshness, the avoidance of pesticides, and health and nutrition. Customers believe that natural and organic foods were better for their health. The only substitutes for organic foods were the processed foods normally purchased in the supermarkets, but customers were trying to get away from them.

Many Americans today are making the decision to eat and buy organic products and food. Organic food are grown without the use of pesticides or chemicals and do not contain additives, pesticides, pesticides, antibiotics or hormones. The fruits and vegetables are fresher healthier and contain fundamental minerals that are prone to reduce heart disease, osteoporosis and other health issues. As a result, it can have a grave impact on your mental and emotional health as well as the environment. Due to these factors, John Mackey’s, CEO of Whole Foods is dedicated to promote the vitality and well being of all individuals by supplying the highest quality, of wholesome foods available, flavorful, least processed where customers can shop in an enjoyable

Whole Foods Market Inc. is an American supermarket chain specializing in organic food that opened on Sept. 20, 1980, in Austin, Texas, its current headquarters. Whole Foods Market Inc. has 431 supermarkets among the United States, Canada, District of Columbia, and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market has sales revenue of 15.39 billion, total assets of 5.74 billion, and a net income of 536 million in the annual report of September 2015. Whole Foods Market’s common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under ticker symbol “WFM”. Whole Foods Market’s primary products are organic and natural food products, including fresh and prepared meats, poultry and seafood, canned and frozen foods, fresh fruits and vegetables and various dairy products. Whole Foods Market Inc. is in the retail supermarket and grocery store industry, in which makes up the largest food retail channel in the United States. The Supermarkets and Grocery Stores industry faces a high amount of internal and external competition, particularly from large retailers like massive warehouse stores and supercenters. The barriers to entry in this industry are the medium range, but are increasing.

1.2 Executive Summary Whole Foods Market, Inc. is been respected as a pioneering company for their quality values, a commitment to community and eco-friendly awareness, a healthy growing model and widely admired employment performs. Nevertheless, the business has confronted current problems as a consequence of the economic recession, growing competition, and difficulties from acquisitions. To renew the company from past lows in its hardest year in history, Whole Foods Market must reconsider its expenses, relocate its development strategies, and encourage its brand to participate for the falling customer spending dollar. Throughout the fluctuations in strategic initiatives it’s imperative for the business to preserve Whole Foods Market’s core values and its brand image integral.

1. Whole Foods philosophy states a value in education and an informed society. They market themselves to a buyer with a slightly higher income and education level because they feel that these people are more conscious of their overall health. The demographics of an area guide’s Whole Foods in the selection process of each location. They seek out highly dense, urban areas that have high foot traffic, where at least 40% of the residents have a college degree. 2. Overall demand for natural and organic products has increased and with that rise in demand, came a rise in competition. As a result of the competition, Whole foods became the first “Certified Organic” grocer by a third party inspector. As many of their competitors continued to follow the guidelines of the USDA’s Organic Rule, Whole Foods was willing to take the extra step to become certified and have their products authenticated. Their hope is to deter consumers from buying the competitor’s products that are not certified and may not even be labeled “USDA Organic.”

As Pollan has continued to discuss in his article, "Of course the trickiest contradiction Whole Foods attempts to reconcile is the one between the industrialization of the organic food industry of which it is a part and the pastoral ideals on which that industry has been built" (Pollan 177); organic foods have transformed to industrial food by the food company. They have gradually lost their original meaning of being organic. Although the food descriptions that Whole Food has placed on the products are true, they are not wholly

Whole Foods Market (WFM) is struggling to stabilize the natural and organic market share among competitors. One of the major problems is their organic product prices are very high for average consumers and they are using the same food distributor in the U.S. According to the Business Insider report, the WFM brand image is no longer attracted to new customers because they can find alternative organic products with cheaper prices in the competitor stores. And also WFM competitors such as Trader Joe’s and Kroger are maintaining their private-label products to make unique organic products and promote their band image.

Whole food Incorporation is an American company, which focuses on food globally. It has several branches in the Whole mainly investing in the United Kingdom and United States of America. They exclusively sell foods without artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, sweeteners, and hydrogenated fats. They come up around 1980's after the rise of lifestyle diseases like cancer and blood pressure. The company has done much to expand their market and reach the levels they are today. This has been done though some ways the main ways are discussed in the paragraphs

Whole Foods Market is a supermarket chain that specializes in natural and organic food and is considered the largest retailer of natural and organic foods in the United States. Whole Foods was incorporated in 1978 and came into existence on September 20th 1980 with a Grocery Store/ Health Food Store industry. Their product line includes meat, poultry, prepared foods, seafood, bakery, coffee etc. The company has only one operating supermarket segment that is natural and organic foods. In the year 2003, Whole Foods became the first national “certified organic” grocery store. One of the company’s missions is “to promote the vitality and well-being of all individuals by supplying the highest quality, most wholesome foods available.” Their