Swot Analysis Of Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods Market’s first retail location was in Austin, Texas. Today there are 342 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The growth of this health conscious conglomerate happened over the years by strategic acquisitions of profitable independent stores throughout United States. Mackey’s idealism and respect is exhibited in his openness about the contributions of these retailers to the success of WFM, as the website provides an in depth summary of each acquisition and its contribution to promoting healthier food choices (Whole Foods Market History, 2014). After four years in Austin, Texas WFM branched out into the city of Houston when it purchased the Whole Foods Company, and shortly after, on the west coast, a new store was built in Palo Alto, California. Subsequently WFM began aggressive acquisitions over the next few years, which help to accelerate the growth rate of WFM in other geographical locations. In 2002 WFM opened in Canada and in 2004 through the acquisition of United Kingdom’s grocery chain Fresh & Wild, it opened seven stores. Holistic eating is a worldwide affair that WFM is taking advantage

Whole Foods Market is one of the biggest organic and natural whole food suppliers in the world. They provide a wide variety of select foods that are without hormones or antibiotics and are stamped with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s stamp of approval. They value the fact that they can provide people with access to healthy food and be identified with being socially and environmentally responsible.

In 1978, John Mackey and Renee Lawson borrowed $45,000 from family and friends to open a small natural foods store called SaferWay in Austin. Two years later, Mackey partnered with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles to merge SaferWay with the latter’s Clarksville Natural Grocery, resulting in the opening of the original Whole Foods Market (WFM). Since then, WFM has expanded to 466 stores in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, averaging over nine million customer visits each week. “The company has always represented the highest quality, selection and service while still offering prices customers are willing to pay on premium products”. (Whole Foods Market,

On averaged their stores are roughly 38,000 square feet and their locations typically carried 21,000 SKUs. They make two-thirds of its revenue by selling bakery, perishable items, and prepared foods. (Ager & Roberto, 2014). Peoples tend to shop at Whole Food Market because of their high-quality natural and organic food. In today’s world peoples are more concern about health concise and effect of pesticide products, more people choose to have organic fruits and vegetables. Whole Foods get most of their produces from local people which are natural and organic, which will help them gain more customer than other company because of increasing demand of organic food (Whole Foods Market History, n.d). They also have a strong brand image and they were the first supermarket who commit to completely eliminating disposable plastic grocery bags to help protect the environment. They also sell many USDA-certified organic

All in all, Whole Foods Market Inc. is the most influential organic food retailer in the word. It built its motifs centered around its social responsibilities. The company’s green mission, Whole Foundations, and Whole Trade Guarantee showcase its commitment and reslince in supporting and bettering the world’s community busing food as the

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) lives through their motto of “Whole Food, Whole People, Whole Planet.” WFM opened their first store in Austin, Texas with 19 employees in 1980. Today, WFM has 311 stores in the US, Canada and the UK, and employs more than 72,700 employees. Whole Foods Market is one of the largest natural and organic food retailers in North America. WFM has grown to its size today mostly through mergers and acquisitions of such brands as Bread and Circus and Natures Heartland. In 2011 and 2012 Whole Foods Market was added to the Fortune 100 “Best Places to Work” list. Fortune Magazine (2012)

Sprouts Farmer’s Market, an organic and natural grocery retailer, came about through the creation of the Boney family fruit stand in Arizona that became a market called Henry’s that expanded into Texas. Originally, they sold it to a group called Wild Oats, but Wild Oats eventually was sold to Whole Foods. The Boney family continued to develop a new natural market that was the first version of Sprouts and after they expanded into Texas and California, they combined with Henry’s again and a group called Sunflower under the umbrella of Apollo Management to become Sprouts as it is today and has been available for public trading since 2013. As of today, Sprouts has over 275 stores, launched their mobile couponing venture last year

* Whole Foods Market was founded in 1980 working with natural and healthy foods in Austin, Texas; it’s one of the world’s largest of natural and organic foods supermarkets. In 2009, the sales total $8 billion and had 289 stores in the U.S. The Whole Foods Market plans to come up with strategies to help improve the company but to do so understanding the core values plays a major role in the company’s planning. The strategies

Whole Foods Market was founded by John Mackey as a healthy, socially responsible lifestyle that customers can identify with (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p 29-1). The company differentiated itself from competitors by focusing on quality as excellence and innovation that allows them to charge premium price for premium products (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p 29-1).

The firm’s ability to produce quality organic foods acts as the strategy for limiting adverse competition from its opponents. Furthermore, Whole Foods Market has significantly exploited the product part of the marketing mix, which has positioned it as the sole producer of the best and quality organic foods in the US; therefore, building a strong identity. The concept behind this is to create a consumer experience of “more than just food,” by establishing a talking store, which exceeds a typical supermarket. The third strength is good employer reputation, where the company is dedicated to forming a long and healthy relationship with their team members.

Whole Foods Markets has built its brand by promoting the highest quality, most wholesome foods available. With increased scrutiny surrounding the FDA’s food labeling requirements and the USDA’s organic foods certification standards on suppliers; WFM

Guided by the philosophy of Conscious Capitalism WFM seeks to create value for all stakeholders to include customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and the communities in which they do business. John Mackey, founder and former Co-CEO believes this approach to business helps WFM fulfill their mission of “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet”. WFM’s main purpose is not to seek profits but to positively impact the world in which we live. Mackey believes that as a result of such behaviors profits will follow. WFM’s value driven management style is about making business decisions that align with the specific values of the company, maximizing the overall long-term value for the company.

Whole Foods Market has expanded by a mixture of opening its own new stores and acquiring already existing stores. Today WFM does not follow this strategy, instead their motivation is to open its own large stores. This is due to noticeable sales differences in larger stores as opposed to smaller stores. WFM locates these newer stores in upscale areas of urban metropolitan centers and high-traffic shopping locations. Not all WFMs are isolated structures; some are located in strip malls. WFM offers a larger selection of natural and organic foods than any other grocery store. WFMs marketing expenditure is extremely small. They spend a measly 0.5% of their revenues on advertising. Their chief marketing strategy relies on word-of-mouth. WFM strives to meet or exceed customer expectations. This is so customers receive competent, knowledgeable, and friendly service and become advocates of WFM. The employees here have a decentralized team approach for store operations. This is so some personnel, merchandising, and operating

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.

Associated British Foods PLC is a British multinational food processing and retailing company which was founded in the year 1935 by a Canadian named Willard Garfield Weston and from that date the rest is history. (Grace’s Guide, 2016).