...Whole Foods Market evolved into the “world’s largest retail chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets.” The product awareness is harder for companies to prove their products are better products compare to other similar products in the market. However, the Whole Food has motivated this trend through the healthiness and wellness by highly selected organic foods. This strategic idea lays out the key areas of opportunity based on consumer requirements, brand equities, and attitudes that convert consumer behavior into purchasing the product. For that reason, Whole Food charged a premium price for the offered products. Whole Food is a leader in this segment of the industry; which enjoys the strong awareness of the brand (Egan, 2009). Whole Foods post strong profit and revenue in the market due to the company’s rapid growth and size, which gives realization about economies of scale in its chain supply. Until the last decade, people did not have enough knowledge about the organic food; therefore, Whole Foods has given information’s about organic products, which made consumer knowledgeable. The company has been pioneered in this segment that utilized well through opening new stores in different areas, for that reason, Whole Food became in a competition with retail leader Wal-Mart as well as other traditional stores. However, Whole Foods' growth and profit may reduce in the near future because Wal-Mart is expanding their sections of organic food along with other products, which...
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...Entry mode strategy Objectives The prime objective of wholefoods moving into France would be to become the market leader of organic products in retail. This can be accomplished if wholefoods proceed to do the following; Brand positioning Build and reinforce strong brand equity for wholefoods Focus on in-store activities In order to successfully enter the French market the store not only needs to be recognized but favored amongst other similar retailers. A suggestion for this would be for in-store sampling. As introduced in other countries such as Italy and Brazil, the store could host a “try our whole world” event in the opening store. This would not only create a buzz about the store but promote word of mouth, which is the most effective and cost saving form of advertising. Expert opinions and research Wholefoods should not only conduct extensive primary research but get some professional advice on the needs and norms of the average French person, or at least who the suggested product is targeted at. The cultural differences evident in the differing country’s wholefoods has already conquered suggest previous entry skills and action plans. Perhaps the same cultural analysis should be considered while entering France. Famous/relevant testimonials As wholefoods seeks to promote a healthy life style, gaining a celebrity endorsement or well-known iconic , healthy French citizen on board and prompting the store is another mode of entering the French market successfully...
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...Introduction Founded in 1993, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has expanded from a local favorite consisting of a single location in Colorado to an international chain with over 1500 locations today. There are countless example of various corporations that experience growth trends similar to that of Chipotle’s, however, as a result of the rapid expansion and gains in sales, most of these corporations tend to neglect their corporate social responsibilities (CSR). Chipotle, on the other hand, does not fall susceptible to this trend. Through a complete examination of Chipotle’s CSR initiatives and activities, as well as detailed explanations of Chipotle’s contributions to the three “pillars” of sustainable development, one is able to see that Chipotle is a leader and an innovator in its industry regarding the corporate management of ethical dilemmas and moral responsibilities. A thorough comparison with a similar corporation in the same industry, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Inc., provides further evidence that Chipotle places immense value corporate transparency and quality morals in addition to being a genuinely ethical and responsible corporation. Following the major comparison are explanations of possible underlying motives and “market nudges” leading Chipotle to participate in particular CSR activities. Lastly, a discussion of government initiatives and potential upcoming regulations has been included to indicate the possible future direction of every firm’s corporate social responsibilities...
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...anaylsis of organic wines in australia xiangyun Dai, SID:220113354 MM110 Assignment 1 Market anaylsis of organic wines in australia xiangyun Dai, SID:220113354 2013 2013 Unit coordinator: Fredy-Roberto Organic Wines Organic wines are made from wine grapes produced under organic agricultural practices, as defined by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture movements as the ‘production system that sustains the health of soils, ecosystems and people. It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted to local conditions’ with its core principle in achieving high yields without artificial fertilizers and pesticides (IFOAM, 2008). With over 11 million certified hectares of land, the Organic agricultural industry in Australia has received rapid growth in the recent years due to the trend to a more ‘healthy, and environmentally responsible’ consumer culture and a willingness to pay more for their values (Remaud, 2008). In the following years the industry is expect to continue to receive respectable double digit growth. The recent growth in organic produces has translated well into the growing market for organic wine (107% growth during 2010-2012) and it is expected to continue into the future (Mascitelli, 2012). While the average consumer are not so willing to pay the premium for the ‘organic’ label on their wine, research have found that a significant cluster (~14%) of Australians are willing to pay up to a 9% premium for organic wine (Chvyl,...
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...external that endlessly facilitate in attaining the pre-set objectives. External Forces & Trend Consideration In the ‘External Forces Analysis’ organic and natural health food shops the major forces included are the legal & regulatory forces, economic forces, competitive analysis and social factors. Legal and Regulatory Factors The legal and regulatory forces are very important for the business of organic food and natural health products. Human health is a highly sensitive issue for the company, so the legal regulation regarding this business is the license of human health administration to sale the food product (Wheelan & Hunger, 2004). It is necessary for the shop to get a certification and license of the nutrition available in the products (Bradford & Duncan, 2000). The legal and regulatory framework would enhance the capability of the strategy formation of the company with the inclusion of the varied legal and regulatory aspects of food and health products (Brown, 2009). Economic Factors The economies of the countries have frequent fluctuations in them due to changing economic environment (Wheelan & Hunger, 2004). This will have a great impact on the business of health and food products. Due to the changes in the economies condition of consumers, the firm would have a rapid growth in such kinds of organic food product (Pierce & Robinson, 2004). Competitive factors Due to the preference...
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...the trends in retailing of organic foods and the impact of these trends on Whole Foods Market Organic Foods now occupy prominent shelf space in the produce and diary aisles of most mainstream U.S food retailers. Retail sales of organic foods have increased from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $21.1 billion in 2008. Whole Foods Market which is the world’s largest retail chain of natural and organic foods was founded in 1980. The company has stores in the U.S, Canada, and Great Britain with sales of $12 billion for year ending 2010. Among the trends impacting in the retailing of organic foods is the inclusion of organic products by mainstream supermarkets such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, Publix, Safeway and Save-a-Lot. In addition, stores such as Harris Teeter have introduced their own private-label brands of organics. The impact of this trend on the operations of Whole Foods is loss of customers and profit. As demand for organic foods increased, mainstream supermarkets would continue to expand their offering and selections. (Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, 2009) Most of these supermarkets will leverage on their wide network of stores dotted all over the United States. Wal-Mart and Krogger had 2,297 and 2,477 stores respectively, as against 188 stores by Whole Foods for year ending 2006. Customers will therefore be attracted to the mainstream stores due to convenience and the fact that they have now become one-stop-shops. Secondly, retailing of organic products is experiencing increase...
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...Part A Company Q does not currently have a positive attitude toward social responsibility. They recently closed several stores in higher crime areas. This has eliminated job positions that were held by residents of the area and taken away revenue from the community itself. This is not being socially responsible. The company just started offering a limited selection of health and organic foods despite that the demand from customers has been there for years. They have also made the decision to not donate day old food to the local shelters, opting instead to waste the food by throwing it away. Company Q needs to make several changes in their company behavior in order to become more socially responsible. Part B Company Q closed down several stores in a high crime area due to negative profits. Instead of closing these store locations Company Q should have made a comprehensive evaluation of the business to determine why they weren’t making a profit. This would have allowed them to determine what the issues were, find a way to fix them and turn the stores profitable. Being that the locations are in a high crime area, was there a large amount of theft resulting in the loss of product and income? Were the products and corresponding prices tailored to the surrounding community? For instance, selling higher priced items with brand names versus lower priced generic items in a low income community is going to result in low sales. Part of being socially responsible is being...
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...The organic food movement has gradually increased world hunger. Organic agriculture is a lot more expensive than inorganic food, and yields a much smaller and inferior quality type of crop. The world already has a shortage of food, causing starvation. If all agriculture were organic, the world would starve. Only-organic farming does not seem like a realistic idea because of the world’s large population; there would be limited supply of food. Of course, if half the population were to die off, it may seem a little more practical, but that is not the case. Four percent of Europe is currently using organic ways of growing which is a bigger percentage than America (one percent). However, Africa and most of the Western hemisphere happen to be 100 percent organic, which may be why a lot of those countries are poor. Those countries may have the food, but they do not have the money to purchase such resources. Organic farming is not cheap, and neither are the costs at the grocery store. Economically, a wholly organic agricultural system would cause a collapse in much of this developing planet. "A wholly organic world agricultural system would quickly lead to mass starvation” not to mention "economic and political collapse in much of the developing world (Ngin)." It would burn a hole through people’s pockets, especially with the economy not being at its best at the moment. Research has shown how organic farming may significantly increase yields for poor farmers and consumers...
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...MGT 499 Whole Foods Case Review Summary Whole Foods Market, Inc. has long been admired as an innovative company with quality standards, a devotion to community and environmental responsiveness, a healthy growth model and highly regarded employment practices. However, the company has faced recent difficulties as a result of the economic recession, increasing competition, and complications from acquisitions. To revitalize the company from historical lows in its toughest year in history, Whole Foods Market must reassess its costs, refocus its expansion strategies, and promote its brand to compete for the diminishing consumer spending dollar. During the changes in strategic initiatives, it is also important for the company to keep Whole Foods Market’s mission and its brand value intact. The chain is known for its high standards, quality, and ethical practices; this image is at stake when any changes in brand or reputation are made. It is of utmost importance to balance the positioning in order to increase awareness and sales, but at the same time avoid diminishing the brand and message of the company. Without the value behind the Whole Foods brand, the company will not survive—recession or not. If Whole Foods can successfully complete these initiatives that include major restructuring while also generating public relations buzz that coincides with its vision of quality and goodwill, the specialty food retailer will be well positioned to experience rapid growth again when...
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...positive interaction in the city because they closed several of their stores. A socially responsible company is aware of, and positively acts on the concerns of its consumers and the environment. The company does not seem very disturbed with the concerns and the requests of its customers. It took them years to respond to the customers’ requests for healthier options and organic products. When the store finally did bring in these much requested food items, they were very limited and were very expensive. A socially responsible company cares about the way that it influences and affects the people it deals with on a daily bases. In the case of Company Q being asked to donate day-old food to a local food bank, it denied their request. A socially responsible company is not completely concerned with maximizing their profits, but they understand that the people they serve are just as important as making a profit. The company thought that they would lose revenue due to the possibility that their employees might steal food under the guise of them donating it, and therefore the company decided to not donate any food to the food bank. Part B When a company improves its social responsibility, it will not only benefit the community and the people it interacts with, but it will also benefit the company. Being socially responsible is a win-win for everyone involved. With a positive social responsibility plan, the company will reap financial profits, it will gain a good reputation and brand image...
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...assumed that the expansion will continue in the following five years. It is better for Trader Joe's to keep current demographic, but it has limited selection of products. For example, some customers are complaining that Trader Joe's doesn't have coke, so they have to go somewhere else to get it. Analysis Trader Joe's has had success in the past with a demographic of well-educated customers. Trader Joe's stores are fairly small are typically located near colleges. They offer products that cannot usually be found anywhere else. Most of the products are very healthy and organic. However, some things have changed and now there is competition. For example, Wal-Mart has adopted a small business strategy to compete with small stores. This is a big threat for Trader Joe's because Wal-Mart has many customers and has a large variety of products. Whole Foods Market also competes and provides natural and organic food. It maybe harder for Trader Joe's to keep current customers or attract new clients. Trader Joe's should have a wide selection of products to attract customers and gain market shares. Alternative Trader Joe's could survey what new products its customers would prefer to have, and allow customers leave feedback on what products they like. Since the stores are small and it's impossible for Trader Joe's to enlarge existing stores, Trader Joe's could replace less popular products with the new products. However, it could disappoint customers who like the replaced products....
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...ABCVEGGIES.com E-MARKETING PLAN ABCVEGGIES.COM’S PLAN FOR ONLINE EXPANSION Nanette Riggs 288311 QRT2 18 March 2013 PROPOSAL AND Marketing Plan ABCVEGGIES.COM’S COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR ONLINE EXPANSION A1. Viability in an online market ABCveggies Today ABCveggies is an independent, organic farm, currently operating out of a warehouse located in the north end of Sarasota, FL since early 2009. The unique feature of ABCveggies is that the produce is grown on the roof of a warehouse located in a light industrial zone. ABCveggies is dedicated to the following principals: • Sustainable organic gardening • Feeding families • Education, and • Earning a living The business consists of a vertical grow system installed on the rooftop of the warehouse and has in place 200 poles, each with 6 stryofoam buckets, capable of growing at least 4 plants each, for a total minimum capacity of 4800 plants. The owner has an additional 5 acres of land available for installation of vertical grow systems, but doesn’t want to develop it ahead of a customer base to purchase the produce. While the owner has been operating the rooftop farm successfully since 2009, there is still not a very strong customer base. In order to expand the business and to develop a customer base consisting of substantial proportion of repeat clientele, the owner has decided to expand the online presence of the business. In order to determine the best design...
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...convenience stores; wholesale clubs (Sam’s); restaurants and fast food chains and natural food stores (Whole Foods, Wild Oats Generally the concentration of competitors has been fragmented by geography. However, through recent consolidations, the emergence of regional and national chains has started to prevail along with the decline of the independent/local shops. This consolidation activity has allowed many companies to spread their fixed costs over a wider range of output, thus creating more efficiency in operations. Often, it is cheaper for a company to acquire an incumbent due to the location of their stores and access to customers rather than to raise the capital for entirely new stores, which is how Whole Foods has been able to expand following their growth model strategy. Whole Foods acquisition growth plan has helped them to gain enough economies of scale to better compete with the Wal-marts and Sam’s Clubs. Threat of Substitutes Price of substitutes plays a role in determining a company’s profitability. Organic food is priced at a premium to conventional food reflecting the high labor costs in cultivating the product. The price premium may be one reason why organic food has not become mainstream. Another reason is that consumers either lack education about its benefits (or don’t care) so that the price premium does not appear to be justified. However, when comparing upscale organic and prepared foods to competitors such as restaurants, the benefit/cost ratio appears...
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...Whole Foods: Final Paper Whole Foods Market, Inc Jess Tourville Endicott College Managing in the Evolving Workplace TJ Hanratty March 5, 2013 From the fairly humble beginning of being a one-store entrepreneur living on the third floor and taking baths in the dishwasher, John Mackey has seen his 1978 Safer Way grocery store grow into an $8 billion a year corporation. As of September 2008, Whole Foods had 264 stores in the United States, six in Canada, and five in the United Kingdom. Whole Food’s is now the leading chain of natural food supermarkets in the United States. The company's stores average 28,500 square feet in size and feature foods that are free from artificial preservatives, colors, flavors, and sweeteners. They also offer many organically grown products. Many locations include in-store cafes and juice bars. Whole Foods has also developed a growing line of private label products such as organic pasta, freshly roasted nut butters, oak-aged wine vinegars, and aromatic teas. After the company was founded in 1980 with a single store, it grew dramatically into a chain of more than 130 stores in 25 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. It is a Fortune 1000 company, ranked as the 41st largest U.S. supermarket and the 730th largest U.S. company overall. There are few companies that attract the kind of following Whole Foods and its CEO/founder has both among its customers and the national media. Their corporate website averages more than 50,000 visitors...
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...Organizational Goals and Objectives Whole food presents a “Declaration of Independence,” (the combined single mission statement) as follows: Our motto — Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet — emphasizes that our vision reaches far beyond just being a food retailer. Our success in fulfilling our vision is measured by customer satisfaction, Team Member excellence and happiness, return on capital investment, improvement in the state of the environment, and local and larger community support. Our ability to instill a clear sense of interdependence among our various stakeholders (those who are interested and benefit from the success of our company) is contingent upon our efforts to communicate more often, more openly, and more compassionately. Better communication equals better understanding and more trust. Whole foods clearly has instilled in its core values the importance of having a balance within their stakeholders which makes whole foods have a inviting nature for all parties involved. Subsequently, the Whole Foods mission statement satisfies the needs of all stakeholders. Although, whole foods does pride that their costumer is their more valued stakeholder. Our customers are the most important stakeholder in our business. Therefore, we go to extraordinary lengths to satisfy and delight our customers. We want to meet or exceed their expectations on every shopping trip. We know that by doing so we turn customers into advocates for whole foods. We guarantee our customers 100%...
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