Whole Foods Summary

1.0 Executive Summary

Whole Foods originated in Austin, Texas in 1980. Over the last thirty years they have evolved into the world’s leader in natural and organic foods, with more than 300 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. The original store was collaboration between four people and had 19 people as employees. It was an instant hit.

Whole Foods business aspiration moved on to larger goals. In 1984 they documented a vision to become an international trademark. They wanted customers to link their brand with not only natural and organic foods, but to pick them as the leader in providing communities with the best, healthy products possible.

Whole Food’s marketed themselves as a socially and environmentally conscience member of the community. Whole Foods includes their commitment to superior quality, the belief in natural and organic products, commitment to the environment, and ethics in animal welfare in their mission statement. They clearly positioned themselves as a company that provided all people, not just people who only bought natural and organic products, the best produce, meat/seafood, dairy and prepared foods possible in the community. These strict guidelines created Whole Foods to become more costly than conventional grocers.

As Whole Foods endeavors into this new store it needs to use its values the CEO and co-founder John Mackey has operated upon since inception. This is “business with a conscience”. By taking the principles applied in providing the best natural and organic products, they now should be applied to targeting the “locally grown” market.

Local food is fresher and healthier than food that is shipped long distances from other states or countries. Local farmers can offer produce varieties bred for taste and freshness rather than for shipping and long shelf life. This will also bring down a lot of the administrative costs in getting a product on Whole Foods shelf.

Buying local food allows for dollars to circulate in specific...