Whole Foods Market: Business Overview

In response to your request for a thorough analysis of the strategic position of Whole Foods Markets, and the industry in which it operates, an analysis has been performed and the results can be found below. In conclusion, a recommendation for Whole Foods Markets, based on the analysis, will be given.

Whole Foods' utilizes a differentiated strategy, focused on organic and natural foods. This distinguishes them from mainstream grocery competitors, and puts them into competition with other specialized grocery outlets (Urani, 2008). This differentiation, combined with more traditional grocery industry size and operations, gives the company an advantage over most of its competitors.

The company’s mixture of collective knowledge and core capabilities in the natural food industry has allowed Whole Foods the competency to not only establish a solid brand recognition in this market, but has afforded them the opportunity to remain competitive in the grocery industry. Their effective organizational development, integrated with the team of five senior executives, who function as a CEO team, collaboratively make decisions in all facets of the company’s strategic initiatives.

Whole Foods strategy performed sound well from a strategic perspective. Whole Foods Market became a leader in the organic and natural retailer WFM’s strategy seems to have produced a successful outcomes. Whole Food Market has totally 379 stores with 15 000 square feet- 75000 squared feet in 2014 and become the largest and biggest retailer in the organic and natural segments. Whole Food Market picks target metropolitan areas with the growth of 10-23 stores per year since 1991. These stores often located in the high – traffic shopping locations on premier real estate site.

At Whole Foods we are able to use America’s trend of healthy living that allows us to thrive under a focused differentiation strategy. Americans are willing to spend extra money on our products since we go out of our way to guarantee the products are organic. We are able to achieve growth in our market by opening on average ten stores per quarter across the nation. We plan to reach a total of one thousand domestic stores in the future.

Whole Foods Market has had experience in the natural/organic retailing industry since 1980. For the past 30+ years they have built over 300 large customized stores in North America and also in the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market is known to provide the highest quality of products.

Whole Foods main product is organic, healthy food. Their target market is people who want to eat healthy, people who are active, vegetarians, and people with special diets. Their competition is another organic food store, Trader Joe’s. However, their main competition is regular grocery stores, like Kroger, who offer organic food at a lower cost. They are different from their competition because their products are pure, healthy, top-of-the line and environmentally friendly. Their products are fresh and have no artificial preservatives. They offer their own store brand name called, 365 which is less

The fundamental elements of Whole Foods Market revolve around offering the finest organic and natural foods to the customers through the retail grocery stores. It strives to sell products of the highest quality, most flavorful, least processed, freshest, and naturally preserved food available. Whole Foods market ensures that the goods are not just labeled organic; instead, they are grown and treated without hormones, pesticides, artificial fertilizers, and other additives. In this case, the ability to deliver superior value to customers under sound environmentally Fair Trade Practices best depicts Whole Foods. It is in tandem with the food industry, although part of its success originates from the narrow market

In 1980 Whole Foods Market opened its first store. Over the last thirty-five years, Whole Foods has transformed the organic and natural grocery industry. Whole Foods Market’s vision is “to become an international brand synonymous with carrying the highest-quality natural and organic foods available and being the best food retailer in every community in which a whole foods store was located” (Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, & Strickland, 2015, pp.C11). By understanding Whole Foods’ strategies, insightful strategic elements, competition, and future recommendation, it would then be possible to build a better understand of the success of the organizations and the change it has brought to the industry.

Abstract Whole Foods is a fast growing all natural organic food market. It made its impact in the grocery store industry by supporting the local farmers and businesses. Whole Foods Market promotes a healthy food source for individuals looking for a healthy lifestyle. The Radical style of John Mackey, John P. Mackey and Walter E. Robb IV is what pushes Whole Foods Market to the top of the grocery empire. What are some of his strategic strategies that are put in place to be the best?

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).

Whole Foods has incorporated the strategy to become the top food retailer that sells the healthiest foods that are both natural and organic. The company’s strategy classified as differentiation strategy, where they attract specific market consumers and supplying the store with products that satisfy customers’ preferences and tastes. To make this possible, Whole Foods uses numerous elements for their strategy so that they can accomplish everything from the products they sell, expanding store locations, prices, marketing, and growth.

Whole Foods Market has drastically improved from the time it had started in 1978. The company has gone through some hard times, but has also seen many good moments. After all, it is listed in Forbes top 100 companies. Without the young couple making a move towards creating a store that sells natural food, we may not be living in a generation where healthy and natural foods is considered important. The case study will discuss Whole Foods Market’s history, development, and growth of the company over time; a SWOT analysis; corporate-level strategies; business-level strategies; organizational structure; and recommendations. The company has done very well with expansions and becoming known throughout the entire world in only 38 years. While there will always be the ability to purchase processed foods, there is now a healthier option for the people who would rather spend a little more money on natural foods. Overall, Whole Foods is trying to make the world a healthier place.

The supermarket industry is seeing a shift with more customers opting for “organic” and “fresh” foods over “processed” and “packaged” foods. The grocery stores are now focused on the health of the customers and the environment than pursuing mass-market sales volume and narrow margins. The grocer that is doing an exceptional job is the Whole Foods Market.

Whole foods is a natural/organic food market who has developed a “game changing business model which is wrapped inside an even more iconoclastic management model” (Hamel, 2007). Whole Foods business and management models creates a competitive work environment that fosters care, trust and innovation. Because of the unique organization and management Whole Foods Market, Inc. is the largest natural-foods grocer in the United States with more than 360 stores in the U. S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods 2013 annual sales were $12.9 billion, with an operating profit of $893 million and cash flow of 472 million.