Whole Food Market

Whole Foods

1. The chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing a fresh, natural and organic food and product with no preservatives or artificial ingredients. The company proclaimed that, "its deepest purpose as an organization was helping support the health, well-being, and healing of both people and the planet" (Thompson 246). Whole Foods Market can do this by promoting a healthier eating/lifestyle and increasing consumer knowledge on food safety, the environment and how pesticides affect the land as well as the human body itself. With giving knowledge to the public on how pesticides and growth hormones are toxic to a human body they can make the public question what they are putting into their body and by that they can get the public to soon become customers and get them to go the organic route of eating. Not only do they give knowledge on how these chemicals can harm the human body but they can also harm the environment, and with our planet trying to go more of the "green" route, Whole Foods also has an advantage on getting more customers that way.

2. The strategy is well matched to recent developments and conditions in the natural and organic food segment of the food retailing business. The Whole Foods strategy has worked well for the company. They have good products including their own "Whole" brand name as well as several other brand name products throughout the shelves of this super market. Also through the reading it is seen that they keep their employees happy. These employees are well trained in their department in the store to help and customers that have any questions. All their employees also obtain shares in the company, they also have different benefit packages for their employees to choose from to best suit their needs or their family's needs. They do not have much competition only on smaller scales or small areas in existing regular food markets as they bought out their closest competition, Wild Oats. The company is still expanding even in this poor market and acquiring new stores and companies.

3. Yes, I do think that John Mackey has a good strategic vision for Whole Foods. Looking at the company's profits and growth I believe Mackey has an excellent strategic vision for this company and employees. He has managed to maintain a top quality product, expand stores all over the country, offer good employee incentives and expand his food store chains all over the USA, Canada and Europe, while still making good profits. What is quite interesting is in a bad economy, Whole Foods, as expensive as they say it is, is still growing quite a bit in a bad economy and is not struggling like most big companies have been in the last few years. The motto, "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet" isn't two impressive it is just a play on words to somehow match the stores name "Whole Foods", if I didn't know we were talking about Whole Foods I would have no idea what message that motto was trying to convey.