Whole Foods Legacy

Every retail location carries a variety of products that distinguishes it from other stores in the same chain. Not surprisingly, it is difficult to achieve economies of scale. Supply Chain Mackey describes his consumers as being “part of a cult”. Whole Foods believes that the company’s emphasis on perishables and locally-sourced produce differentiates their stores from run-of-the-mill supermarkets and attracts loyal and devoted customers. However, “fresh produce” is one of the most challenging product categories to operate due to limited product shelf life and high cost of spoilage. Whole Foods has tried to circumvent most of the problems inherent in supplying fresh produce to its stores by sourcing locally and having short and flexible supply chains. In the case of fruits and vegetables, Whole Foods has buying relationships with local farmers who supply the store with seasonal produce. Thus, if one farmer is unable to produce a sufficient amount of yellow corn or heirloom tomatoes, the shortfall can be made up by another farmer. Although challenging to perfect, these short supply chains are agile and difficult for other big retailers to duplicate.

In the article “Can Whole Food Serve Chicago Southside Soul”, Natalie E. Moore reveals the announcement of the executives of a nationwide organic grocery chain, Whole Foods, on its opening store in Englewood, Chicago South Side. Moore pulls out several tweets of individuals’ concerning the chance of success of Whole Foods, which are mostly negative. However, in my point of view as a consumer, there are many opportunities for Whole Foods in term of the location, the neighborhood’s background history and more jobs for local resident regardless the disadvantages resident’s low income status and the complication on neighborhood security.

One of the strongest arguments against capitalism is the quote “It was a monster devouring with a thousand mouths, trampling with a thousand hoofs; it was the Great Butcher – it was the spirit of Capitalism made flesh.”(334), the description of monster depicts capitalism as barbaric instead of those under the influence of capitalism being barbaric. This quote lends itself to the idea that people must fight for what they

In the article “Can Whole Foods Serve Chicago Southside Soul?” Natalie Y. Moore reveals the plan on an opening of a nationwide organic grocery chain, Whole Foods, in Englewood, on Chicago’s South Side. Moore pulls out several negative tweets of individuals concerning the chance of success of Whole Foods. In a place where “it is easier to buy guns and drugs than food” (1), it is understandable that people are concerned about the success of a new store. However, according to Mari Gallagher, a well-known food deserts expert, the new Whole Foods in Englewood has the “potential to attract other quality retailers to Englewood, and at the same time support local grassroots efforts, such as urban agriculture

John Mackey, Cofounder and Co-CEO of Whole Market, Believes in "Conscious Capitalism" (pp. 29 & 30)

Since the time we are born we are fed the lies of capitalism. We are taught that capitalism hurts no one and that capitalism is the only way. Johnson and Robbins have some very influential ideas about capitalism. Johnson writes about the complexity of privilege. He also addresses why some privileged people do not feel privileged through the matrix of capitalist domination. Robbins gives us a background on how privilege became what it is today. He addresses the anatomy of the working class by drawing attention to how they were mobile, divided, powerless, and anxious for a revolution. Through Johnson and Robbins’ eyes we can begin to see how the world is not the one we were taught it was.

In Marion Nestle’s essay, The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate, she claims ” From their (supermarkets’) prospective, it is your problem if what you buy makes you eat more food than you need and more of the wrong kinds of foods in particular” (62). Nestle introduces several tactics that supermarkets use to increase their profits, for example, particular ways of they put the products, surveys or membership cards that they give to customers and even coordination’s with food companies. From my perspective, these tactics are all justifiable, since the supermarkets can operate better and gain profits by applying these strategies. Firms’ higher payoffs may lead to positive outcomes: higher salaries and better welfare programs for their workers, donations to charities or higher national GDP. Because society is a large context, even there might be some worse off situation for some people, but considering the whole, people still become better off.

Brown, E. 1979 5 R ichard R o ckefeller M edicine M en: M edicine and Capitalism in Am erica, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press.

What is Capitalism? Is it a free enterprise where industries and trading are privately controlled? According to Michael, Capitalism is ‘a system of taking and giving, mostly taking’. In the documentary Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore tackles the issue of Capitalism in a never ending quest to educate society. Capitalism: A Love Story directed by Michael Moore is a one-sided representation of Capitalism and its negative effects and irresponsibly promotes unlawful revolt against the government and large corporations. The documentary achieves this through the silencing and marginalising of alternate viewpoint and perspectives. It uses irrelevant evidence and out of context analogies to entice disapproval towards Capitalism. Most concerning, the documentary exaggerates the power of the upper class and the vulnerability of the middle class when it could have created a balanced representation of Capitalism.

Whole foods strategy consists of high margins on premium and natural foods. They also offer a wide variety of prepared foods for affluent buyers. Managers are given freedom to stock their stores based on local tastes. Mackey also opposed the idea of unions because of their parasitic existence.

In this review and report I will be talking about "Fired Up About Capitalism", which is a short novelette written and created by Tom Malleson. Within this review I will be covering multiple areas, the first being the style and content of the text as it written. The next area I will address is the arguments made for and against the behalf of capitalism from the opinion of the author and those mentioned in the novelette. The final and concluding point of this review will be my own thoughts, opinions, as well as my overall choice of this text as a valid text or reading material.

John Mackey, founder and CEO, considerers that Whole Foods Market fast growing in the market has much to do with the preferential and distinctively mission with the selective products that they sell. Mackey’s vision was for Whole Foods to become a global

Capitalism is an unnatural perversion of society in Marx and Engel’s The Communist Manifesto. It is constantly consumptive, unable to exist without further expansion. It warps society through its exploitation of labor and the class that provides it. The Communist Manifesto goes beyond just a sociopolitical critique of capitalism, and adds otherworldly, almost Gothic elements. Repeated supernatural, fantastical language reinforces the idea that capitalism is an illegitimate twist of the natural state of human affairs.

I located Whole Foods at the Philanthropic Responsibility level of the pyramid. John Mackey stated that “If one stakeholder is winning, someone else must be losing. It comes from sports, where there is one winner and lots of losers, and this idea of a fixed pie, where if someone is getting a bigger piece, someone else has to be getting a smaller piece, and what’s needed for social justice is to make sure people get equal pieces. But a conscious business recognizes that you can have an expanding pie, and potentially everyone can get a larger piece.” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013)

In his book “The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference,” Malcolm Gladwell (2001) indicates the power of intelligent action and the potential of little changes are responsible for starting epidemics. These epidemics occurred, according to the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The law of few affirms the influence on communication. That connector, maven, and salesman each has its ability to conjoin, collect, and cajole; they distribute information globally. The stickiness factor refers to a technique that allows information to stick in the minds of society. Moreover, he acknowledges how repetition and direct information bring success to Sesame Street. Last, the power of context stresses that not only human reactions are responsible for epidemics, but also the environment’s elastic. Gladwell, intelligently, collects the secret keys to successful business. To capture customer’s attention, to hire the perfect leaders, and to invest in the firm’s future, Whole Food Market enlarges its potential market even when large chain retailed competition increases.