Whole Foods Market Overview

Stiff competition within the industry would be one of the key threats that Whole Foods will face. Strong competitors, coupled with grocery stores that have incorporated natural food sections into the stores, have made it more challenging for Whole Foods to maintain its pole position in the market. As the market for organic foods expands rapidly, mainstream supermarkets are also competing for a slice of the pie. Strict government regulations and the lack of prime locations have made it more

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 will need to research and figure out marketing strategies to keep the customers loyal to Whole Foods. One of the main reasons customers will go to different supermarkets that have organic foods is because of the different department stores inside the grocery market. For instance, some grocery stores sell organic vegetables, but also have regular vegetables. Some of the larger grocery stores have banks, photo stores, insurance companies that make your stop at the larger grocery store

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

The Whole Foods (WF) annual report for 2010 states “Our growth strategy is to expand primarily through new store openings. We have a disciplined, opportunistic real estate strategy, opening stores in existing trade areas as well as new areas, including international locations. Our new stores typically are located on premium real estate sites and range in size between 35,000 and 50,000 square feet which we believe is appropriate in most circumstances to maximize return on invested capital and Economic Value Added (“EVA®”). Our growth strategy includes opening new stores in existing and new areas and operating those stores successfully.” (Flanagan, G. 2010). This means they are growing and spreading their wings out into a large variety of regions. The report also stated in order to meet those goals “many of our competitors went back and forth on their pricing strategies, we stayed true to our goal of offering a clear value choice in every department through compelling prices on known value items, as well as targeted pricing and promotional strategies” (Flanagan, G. 2010).

Who exactly are Whole Foods? They are one of the finest natural and organic foods grocery store in the US. The store maintains the strictest quality standards in the natural foods industry and an unshakable commitment to sustaining agriculture. Whole Foods as a brand are currently growing and spreading like wildfire. Moreover, with the successful chain planning to open 100 new stores by 2017, we are yet to see how much more the organic grocer has lined in store for us.

While the foods retail industry is highly competitive, Whole Foods has established a reputation and maintains a brand loyalty with its customers. Increased rivalry will occur in the larger grocery chains like Wal-Mart and Kroger, because of their flexibility in the products they can offer, and the pressures they can put on the sales growth and overall profits of Whole Foods. They have a larger cash and customer base, and the ability to better advertise their products, while Whole Foods still generates most of their

Historically Whole Food Market has grown by opening new locations and acquisitions within affluent neighborhoods that target wealthier more educated consumers Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p 29-12). Whole Foods Market has been the number one supplier of natural

Whole Foods has been adaptive in fitting its competitive strategy to its situation. The store first grew to prominence by being a stylish antithesis to the crunchy mom-and-pop organic grocery stores, providing a relatively normal but

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.

The main cost reduction strategy that had been suggested by Whole Food Company is the reduction of 1,500 jobs as of 2015 (Kowitt, 2015). This decision was made because the company had been under intense scrutiny from the other organic and natural food competitors. As such the company is planning to reduce the prices of their commodities. To realize more profits under reduced prices means that the company should cut down the costs. Salary costs are the main expense that cuts down the profit margins of the company and so is the decision to reduce the

Marketed as ‘America’s healthiest grocery store’ the company has successfully grown to 408 stores across the world with sales of $14 billion in 2014 (Whole Foods Market, 2015). The firm is positioned as an upmarket grocery due to the emphasis on natural, organic origins, and as a result are able to charge a premium for their products. Through efficiently running its operations and stores, Whole Foods are able to maintain healthy 4.02% profit margins (Financial Times, 2015) and operating margins well above the American grocery store industry average at 6.58% (Bloomberg, 2015). Looking at 2015’s quarter 1 figures it is clear to see that Whole Foods have had a hugely successful year with sales of $4.7 billion, up 10% from the same period last year. Furthermore, they opened 9 new stores and have signed a further 11 new leases.

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.

Strategic planning is the process of gathering information from stakeholders, market players, professional entity, and government agency. The purpose of gathering information is formulating a realistic and a workable framework that any organization can implement and work with. Evaluation of information is a key aspect in determine the kind of plans that the organization wish to a chive over certain a period. Strategic planning ensures the implementation is, crafted well, and parties involved be acquitted with it. Developing a good Strategic plan helps a company to implement its missions and visions effectively, and helps the company to evaluate