Whole Food Markets Case Analysis Essay

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.

Whole Foods Market is a leader in the quality and differentiation food business, they offer natural and organic products. Whole food market was opened in 1980 by John Mackey, Renee Lawson Hardy, Craig Weller and Mark Skiles. It was founded in Austin, Texas. In 1984, they start to expand their business out of Austin such as Houston, Dallas and later to others states within the US. In 2002, they entered the Canadian market in Toronto and they entered the United Kingdom in 2004 by acquiring seven Fresh & Wild stores (Whole Foods Market History, n.d). Whole Foods Market is ranked as the nation’s leading retailer of natural and 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

6. How well is Whole Food Market performing from a strategic perspective? Does Whole Food enjoy a competitive advantage over its 3 chief rivals – Wild Oats, Fresh Market and Trader Joe’s? Does the company have a winning strategy? (points 15)

Whole Foods Market Website Review Whole Foods Market is a growing company aimed to provide consumers with the highest quality natural and organic items available. In order for the company to reach out to wider potential markets, Whole Foods Markets has embarked on the latest technology marketing strategy. By doing so the company has launched a website through which shoppers can access products information, customer support and other relates services. The menus are clearly set and marked for ease access by the customers.

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).

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

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.

Barbara Farfan (n.d.) explains that, “Whole Foods Core Values define how Whole Foods leaders and employees interact with their products, customers, employee team, shareholders, communities, suppliers, and align everyone behind the mission of improving health in general.” For example, Whole Foods believes in satisfying their consumers by selling the highest quality of natural and organic products obtainable. The company strives to maintain the highest standards of quality, not only in the products they offer but in supporting excellence in the development their employees, communities, and the environment. Whole Foods direct core values as listed on the company website (2015 Whole Foods Market IP. L.P.), also

The corporation places the consumer as their most important stakeholder. The second core value of Whole Foods Market is to satisfy and delight the customer (Whole Foods Market, Inc., 2017). The company thrives on the passion they have for quality food since it was founded in 1978 by John Mackey. Whole Foods Market, Inc. was the one who formed the whole trade guarantee in order to facilitate corporate responsibility by providing better wages and working conditions for their employees, more money given to producers, environmental responsibility, development in communities and donating 1% of their profits to Whole Planet Foundation – a foundation that seeks to alleviate world hunger (Whole Foods Market, Inc.,

The Whole Food’s Mission is Whole Food, Whole People, Whole Planet. Whole Foods consist of the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful and naturally preserved foods available locally and grown from all over the world. Whole People result from empowering, the best people they can recruit, to make many operational decisions, creating a respectful workplace where team members are treated fairly and are highly motivated to succeed. Whole Planet is the belief that companies, like individuals, must assume their share of responsibility for our planet through supporting organic farming on a global basis. Whole Foods mission statement does an excellent job of describing their present situation and the purpose of the company going forward. Their mission statement identifies the company’s product being whole foods, specifies the buyer needs that they are seeking to satisfy, and it gives the company their own identity by separating them from the other natural and organic grocers through environmental stewardship.

Whole Foods Markets attempts to discourage employees from forming unions. Susan Mohammad notes that Mackey once compared unions to herpes, saying "once you have them, you can never get rid of them,"(Canadian Business 2009 p. 63). Mackey believes this because at Whole Foods they have implemented programs and pay scales that are already ideal for its employees. Whole Foods also has very strategic plans to promote its organic food lines.

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

Over the past few decades, the diet and health food industry has become big business. Americans, along with people in many other countries, have become more educated about the benefits of exercising regularly and eating healthy. Whole Foods Market is pursuing a business strategy that strives to offer products that are of the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful and natural foods possible (Whole Foods Market,

Whole foods Market targets people who are more interested in consuming high quality organic foods and living a healthy lifestyle. They want natural and organic foods and are willing to pay higher prices for that. They live in urban areas and are comparatively wealthy. Whole foods Market provides a lot of options for them and a memorable consumer experience when they shop for food. It makes sure to attract these people. In addition to this, to target average consumers it has introduced 365 everyday value offering products at reduced prices.