Whole Food Company Summary

ACC 300 FSA Project Ratio Analysis of The Kroger Co. and Whole Foods Market, Inc. TEAM Jake Eriksen (002) Brycen Goldstein (002) 16 Ross Wright (001) Nicolas Kim Omar Harb (001) (002) Kroger The Kroger Co. (referred to as Kroger) is a large grocery chain audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

In the documentary Food Inc. declares that most americans have no idea where their food comes from because the food industries does not inform the people on how they process their food to make it look as appetising. Chicken farm owners that work for Tyson are required to follow the rules of Tyson because if any Tyson employee’s, break any type of rules they are required to follow they will be fired or being threatened with getting fired. For example, Tyson requires that if they let anyone video record inside the chicken houses they would be fired because chickens are trapped in a tent, and the chickens are standing in their own feces. These chickens are so big that can only walk up to 3 steps, and then sit back down.

Whole Foods is a supermarket that has successfully become the leader in the organic food segment of the grocery industry. While traditional markets have low brand loyalty and recognition, Whole Foods has focused almost entirely on its brand image, causing their strategy to be one of differentiation over cost leadership. Whole Foods is known as being far more expensive than other chains, due to this brand recognition. In their press release for the Q4 2014 results, they describe their vision and sum up what helps them develop that brand recognition. “We hold the idea of “food” to a higher standard, banning more than 75 ingredients commonly found in other stores, and we believe our unparalleled quality standards

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

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 Food launched it’s Whole Trade Guarantee in April 2007, it was an initiative emphasizing the social responsibility and equitable compensation for producers from the developing world. Whole Foods justifies the its program as a commitment to benefiting to all stakeholders. The program reduced immediate profitability by paying foreign workers better wages, the investment improves relationships, improves the company’s reputation, and serves as a great example of the Whole Foods’ commitment to social responsibility.

The origin of Whole Foods Market began as a small natural food store under the name Safer Way Natural Foods in Austin, Texas, in 1980. As interest in the natural food movement quickly grew, Safer Way soon merged with another local natural grocer. This union was called Whole Foods Market (“Newsroom,” 2015). Though the company started with a mere 19 employees, attraction to this new idea grew rapidly, and it was not long before the company began to build a chain of stores through several acquisitions. Due to the increased interest in natural foods nationwide and very low competition at the time, Whole Foods Market began acquiring food stores all over the nation throughout the 1990s. By 2004, the company had expanded internationally to Canada and the UK “Newsroom,” 2015). Today the company has 414 stores in the US, Canada, and United Kingdom, and approximately 88,000 team members (“Newsroom,” 2015).

Food Inc. is a documentary that tries to teach the viewer about America’s food chain and how it came to exist in its current forum. The film uses a mix of facts and opinions from people who work in the food production industry. Food Inc. does interview workers who are both for and against the current method of food production but not for the purposes of portraying an unbiased film, it comes across as an insincere attempt. During the course of the film we are shown current methods and past practices of food production dealing with meat and vegetables.

John Mackey has done an excellent job leading the company and the growth over the last couple of decade’s show that with revenue growth year over year at 20 percent compounded. Whole Foods achieve this growth by aiming and capitalizing on the interest of consumers what a more nutritious diet when no one else competitor paying attention to this need. While you can criticize Whole Foods on price you never hear someone criticize Whole Foods on their quality of their products which are also the best on the market. We know everyone buys this message by the a team member at a Whole Foods store in Texas when he said “I feel like we’re a part of making the world a better place”(Thompson pg 294). Whole Foods is clearly walking the walk and the employee and bought into the company motto.

Why was the 10-k amended? The original whole foods market 10-k amended Part III items 10 through 14 of the “Original Form”. The amendment includes omitted information from the original form that was in reliance to the “General Instruction to Form 10-K”. Five sections were amended from the original document. These sections are; Section 10, Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance. Section 11, Executive Compensation. Section 12, Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters. Section 13, Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence. And Section 14,

Whole foods Inc. is categorized as a grocery store (SIC code 5411). In the grocery store industry, Whole foods faces competitions from many powerful companies; namely Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and The Kroger’s Company. According to fortune 500, the ranking of all these companies are as follows: Kroger (20), Whole Foods (214), and Sprouts (762). Trader Joe’s is not listed. The Fortune 500 is an annual list by Fortune magazine that ranks the 500 largest U.S. corporations by total revenue in their respective fiscal years (Fortune 500, n.d.).

Whole Foods Market (WFM) is unique in the supermarket industry because of its focus on high-quality food and household products. WF also has an “unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture,” and they show this commitment by offering support to local producers through loans, technical assistance, and more (Whole Foods Market website). With the tagline, “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store,” WFM has positioned itself in the market as a store that offers premium, healthy options for American and UK consumers.

I had the opportunity to visit the Whole Foods Market located near Hwy 7, Markham. Since this was my first time, the atmosphere of the place was unlimited and they had such a wide selection of organic produce available. I was always very conscious and aware of the term organic produce, because organic foods have more nutritional value, better taste, and have smaller environmental footprints. I’ve always believed that what we eat also has a climate impact. Due to this, my discursive consciousness was very analytical towards environmental considerations while I was at the Market. Though my practical consciousness was also just about ‘feeling good’ about what I was eating and buying like majority of the responses from the interviewed Karma shoppers.

Whole Foods Market is a chain of supermarkets that was founded in Austin, Texas in 1980 with the idea of selling higher quality, less processed products. Their first store in New Orleans opened in 1984, and since that time they have expanded to include 479 stores throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The high standards that Whole Foods has put in place and preference for selling USDA-certified organic foods have helped position the company as an ecologically and environmentally responsible grocer and has allowed them to stand out among their competitors.

Whole Foods Market first opened on September 20, 1980 in Austin, Texas, which is the company headquarters. The founders were John Mackey, Renee Lawson, Craig Weller, and Mark Skiles where they decided that the natural food industry was ready for a supermarket format (Whole Foods Market History, 2015). The current CEO’s are John Mackey and Walter Robb IV. Whole Foods Market stock ticker symbol is WFM and their NACIS code is 445110 (WFM Morningstar, 2015). The industry sector the company is listed under is a grocery store and retail trade. Whole Foods Market is the eight largest companies in the United States with 427 stores located in North America, Canada, and the United Kingdom with a total number of employees more than 90,000 people (Newsroom, 2015). Whole Foods Market has a business to business model where they merged with multiple companies like the Bread of Life, Fresh Fields, Food for Thought, Amrion, Allegro Coffee and other organizations with the concept of expanding their enterprise. Whole Foods Markets purchase inventory from suppliers where consumer can buy fresh organic food online or in stores. Some of the products Whole Foods Market specializes in are seafood, meats, cooked foods, and bakery goods (Whole Foods Market History, 2015).