Premium Essay

Whole Foods Strategy Analysis

In:

Submitted By bouncygrape
Words 2884
Pages 12
Whole Foods’ market strategy is built upon their fundamental differentiation from conventional supermarkets. We strive to meet our strategy by working under the motto of Whole Food, Whole People, Whole Planet. At Whole Foods we use a focused differentiation strategy to offer unique products to our customers in a narrowed market. We focus on selling high quality organic and healthy foods that our customers can feel comfortable eating at a higher price. Whole Foods’ competitors include Kroger, Trader Joe’s, and Fresh Market. These three competitors operate under different strategies to set themselves apart in the grocery market. Kroger operates under the cost leadership strategy. They set the floor price in the market that still allows them to earn a profit. They achieve this by cutting back on advertising, research costs, and production costs to increase the scale of operation. Also, Kroger offers coupons and a Kroger card to add discounts to already low prices. Whole Foods does not focus on low prices like Kroger because doing so would take away from the high end feeling it markets to its customers. Next, Fresh Market operates under the broad differentiation strategy in the grocery market. They offer unique products that a wide range of buyers will find appealing. Fresh Market differentiates themselves by selling the freshest products from local and global vendors. Fresh market is not interested in entering the narrowed market of organic foods that Whole Foods operates in. This allows Fresh Market to be a differentiated firm to a broad consumer base and Whole Foods to rule the market for organic foods. Also, Fresh Market focuses on making shopping in their stores relaxing and comforting compared to other grocery stores. Lastly, Trader Joe’s strategy is cost focus. Trader Joe’s focuses on simple operations, like cutting out middle men and buying high quality goods at

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Strategic Review

...obesity, it is important to follow a healthy diet and exercise lifestyle. Unfortunately, this healthy diet food is under attack by use of GMO, pesticides, hormone additives, antibiotics, and other chemicals which are harmful to the body and cause other health problems. Zerbe (2010) reported that the President’s Cancer Panel is now urging people to eat foods grown without such harmful chemicals; organic foods. Due to such health concerns, organic food markets are slowly gaining popularity again as consumer demand is rising. This is great news not just for the consumers, but also the local organic farmer stands, e-commerce organic product sites and stores like the Whole Foods Market. In fact, this research will present the Whole Foods Market, Inc. strategic analysis. This analysis is being conducted to provide advice on how to integrate Whole Foods into ABC Company. It will cover the first step in the strategic planning process which is Whole Foods Market’s mission, vision and values; followed by presenting company’s Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis. This research will further discuss competition within the industry by conducting the Porter’s Five Forces Analysis and describe Whole Foods Market’s strategic position. Based on this analysis, I will provide my recommendation for the integration of Whole Foods into ABC Company. Whole Food...

Words: 2591 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Strategic Management Whole Foods Case Analysis

...Running Head: WHOLE FOODS CASE ANALYSIS 1 Whole Foods Case Analysis Thomas Edison State College WHOLE FOODS CASE ANALYSIS 2 The Whole Foods company mission is whole foods, whole people, whole planet. The Whole Foods company strategy reflects the company mission. Their whole foods mission is achieved by offering a wide variety of food and non-food items that are organic or natural. They source their products locally and usually have stricter store guidelines for the definition of “local” requiring a shorter maximum distance for traveling. “Locally grown” n.d. Their standards of quality are high and they strive to provide products that are fresh, safe and support well being. They have a list of unacceptable ingredients for food and quality standards for other products. “Quality standards” n.d. Their mission of whole people is achieved through the formation of teams at the store level. The teams manage themselves and are encouraged to make decisions about their department they are responsible for. Compensation is in part from stock options so they are invested in the profitability of the store. Fortune magazine has listed them as on the top 100 companies to work for for 13 years in a row now. Team members can go on field trips to...

Words: 1043 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Whole Foods Casebstudy

...of Business Prairie View A&M University Group Case Study: Whole Foods Market Jamal Bacon, Briana Bedford, Alexis Castleberry, Jordon Powell Strategic profile & case analysis purpose Whole foods was the world’s number one leading retailer of natural and organic foods. It was founded by John Mackey when he started with one store, but it has now grown to the nation’s leading food chain. The purpose of this business case study is to explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing Whole Foods. In 2005 whole foods had 172 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods Market was created in 1979 when John Mackey partnered with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles. The new company was established in Austin, Texas, in 1980, and consisted of a natural food market with a staff of 19 members. The success of Whole Foods was attributed largely through mergers, acquisitions, and several new store openings. In the United States, Whole Foods is considered the largest natural food supermarket. Whole Foods Markets is driven by its mission, “the company is highly selective about what they sell, dedicated to stringent quality standards, and committed to sustainable agriculture. They believe in a virtuous circle entwining the food chain, human beings and Mother Earth: each is reliant upon the others through a beautiful and delicate symbiosis” (Hunger and Wheelen pg.28-2). Whole Food’s objectives consisted of targeting their locations where there...

Words: 3216 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Whole Foods

...Whole Foods Industry Analysis How well is Whole Foods’ present strategy working? (Bad:1 23 4 5:Well Preliminary answer: Whole Foods works five strategies now. Growth Strategy: Whole Foods had expanded via combination of opening its own new stores and acquired small, owner-managed chains that had capable personal and were located in desirable markets. Based on Wild Oats acquisition, management stated that Whole Foods growth strategy based on primarily opening new store rather than acquisition. Works: 2 Store Location Strategy: In March 2010, Whole Foods had 290 stores in 38 states; it planned to open an additional 9 stores by the end of fiscal year 2010, 17 new stores in 2011, 17 new stores in 2012. But economic had a recession in 2008~2009, this strategy did not work as planned. In fact, Whole Foods had its own internally developed model to analyze potential market to work this strategy. Works: 4 Product Line Strategy: Whole Foods product line included natural, organic, and gourmet food and nonfood item to satisfy all products requirement and customers’ needs. Works: 4 Pricing Strategy: this strategy aimed at selling products at competitive and valuable price. But based on Whole Foods products characteristics, and its high cost, most of Whole Foods products had premium prices. Works: 2 Merchandising Strategy: the driving concept of the strategy was to create an inviting and interactive store atmosphere that turned shopping for food from a chore into a fun...

Words: 395 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Whole Food Market Case Study

...Unit 5-Whole Food Market Case Study Analysis Kaplan University School of Business MT460 Management Policy and Strategy Author: Andrea Reed Professor: Dr. Marian Leerburger Date: November 21, 2012 Whole Food Market Case Analysis Introduction In 1978, John Mackey opened a natural foods grocery called Safer Way that focused mainly on vegetables. The store was not very successful and in 1979 Mackey joined with Craig Weller and Mark Skiles and they started Whole Foods Market. What Craig, Weller and Skiles wanted to do was change the world’s diet to a healthy one. Whole Foods not only has markets they have several other business; Allegro Coffee company, Pigeon cove seafood processing and Produce Field Inspection Office and Select Fish (Harasta and Hoffman, 2007). Whole Food Markets looks forward to one day providing the highest quality good tasting foods available. Synopsis of the Situation Whole Foods Market is a leading seller of natural and organic food. With over 100 stores their goal is to become one large store instead of a number of small ones. Whole Foods Market would like to make shopping for food into a pleasant, fun experience. It is the desire of Whole Foods to make the customer think of home when they enter one of their markets. The vision of Whole Foods is to have a brand known worldwide, and to introduce the future generation to a healthy diet and be the best in food retail( Key Issues With the growing demand will World Food Market be able to...

Words: 945 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Public Health

...Whole Foods Markets Based On the Congruence Model Name Institution Whole Foods Markets Based On the Congruence Model Introduction  World Food Market just like any other established organization, regardless of size and the capacity to facilitate production, enters the business world with expectations to meet targets for the desired outcomes. The desired outcomes in most instances rely on the possibility of implementing the appropriate business strategy from which a baseline is derived to attain the set goals and objectives through systematic planning, execution, and review. Imperatively, the current world economy is directed by the evolving market dynamics. Currently, Whole Foods Market is regarded as the most prolific and reputable organization in the global industry. For Whole Foods Markets to achieve goals and objectives set by the top management through the implementation of top quality strategies instituted to steer the organization to new heights. However, with many prolific organizations as with Whole Foods Markets, challenges are not unavoidable and quite inevitable. Whole Foods Markets have encountered numerous challenges that have impacted the organization’s ability to achieve its postulated projections as depicted by the current higher rates of competition within the natural food industry, a fledgling economy and the inherent problem of identifying and acquisition of business locations (Thompson, 2012). Consequently, Whole Foods Markets have come up...

Words: 2247 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Strategy

...By 2006, Whole Foods Market (WFM) had evolved into the “world’s largest retail chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets.” (Case Analysis-Whole Foods Market 2005 p.1). An example of strategic decision making is WFM implementation of “Health Starts Here” ; an initiative to offer healthier pre-fab food options with limited add-ons such as refined flour and sugar and processed ingredients. The purpose is to encourage better eating among its shoppers. To make it successful they hired healthy eating specialist for each store and created wellness clubs. This is unconventional, and WFM is performing different activities from rivals, and more important this new activities fit and reinforce the other activities such as: selling the highest quality, least processed natural food, satisfies and delights their customer, active support of organic farming, sustainable agriculture that helps protect our planet and decentralized, self-directed team culture. Their Strategic Based Position is a Needs-Based; they seek to meet organic grocery needs of its target customers which are college educated residence interested in eating natural and organic foods. There strategic position is sustainable because of the trade off of being so streamlined with their organic options that tend to be higher priced, by doing so gives up their service to lower income families by not providing lower cots options. As well as only purchasing from farmers that meet WFM’s organically certified requirements...

Words: 498 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Whole Foods Case Study

...f Unit 5 Whole Foods Case Study Analysis Kaplan University School of Business and Management MT460 Management Policy and Strategy Author: Devin Thomas Professor: Dr. Thigpen Date: January 17, 2012 Introduction Whole Foods Markets is a food market that prides itself on providing its customers with the highest quality of natural and organic foods. Through the acquisition of a number of other companies, whole Foods have grown to become the largest natural food supermarket in the United States. Staying true to their mission statement and original ideals is the formula the company credits their success to. Synopsis of the Situation Founder John Mackey may not have dreamed that the one Whole Foods market store he helped to create back in 1980 would grow to become the leading supermarket in the natural foods industry. Whole Foods has come a long way since the first store opened in Austin, Texas over 30 years ago: subsequently, so has the organic food industry in its entirety. Expansion of the natural foods industry has brought with it increased demand for organic food and new competition. With such demand on the rise, supply has now become a concern for Whole Foods. Key Issues Only 3 percent of US farmers grow organic products. US shoppers spent 45 billion dollars on natural and organic products in 2004. (Harasta, Hoffman, 2007). The growing organic foods industry has created major competitors like Trader Joes that offers high quality products at low...

Words: 904 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Whole Foods

...| Whole Foods Market | Case Study Analysis #1 | | Britney Brumfield | 3/2/2014 | | Whole Foods Market was found in 1980 and has progressed from a local super market found in Texas, into the globes largest provider of natural and organic foods with over 270 stores worldwide. The rapid growth and success of Whole Foods is due to having “remained a uniquely mission driven company highly selective about what we sell, dedicated to our core values and stringent quality standards and committed to sustainable agriculture” as stated by the companies CEO John Mackey. Whole Foods states its purpose as a corporation is helping support the health, well-being, and healing of people, team members, and business organizations in general, and the planet. This is Made known by the company motto “Whole Foods, Whole People, and Whole Planet” (Whole Foods). (Fig.1) Whole Foods Market Motto (Fig.1) Whole Foods | Whole People | Whole Planet | * Highest quality * Least processed * Most flavorful * Natural foods NoArtificial: * Additives * Sweeteners * Colorings * Preservatives | People are their companyPassionate employeesMotivated employees | -Whole Planet Foundation-support food banks -Sponsor neighborhood events -Donate to local non-profit groups-Support of organic farming and sustainable agriculture | (Fig.2) Whole Foods Market’s Core Value | Selling the highest quality natural and organic products | Satisfying and delighting costumers | Team...

Words: 982 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Congruence Model

...Nadler-Tushman Congruence Model to conduct an analysis of Whole Food Market’s inputs and how they align with the current company strategy, as well as its outputs. In this case study we will use the strategy we previously discussed in Module 1 and using the Porter’s three generic competitive strategies to analyzed organizational categories input to the strategy using the congruence model. The model should be able to help us determine how aligned the inputs are with the strategy. The model will give us three categories for inputs: the environment, resources and historical inputs and three categories for outputs: organizational level, group level and individual level to help us determine the congruence of the outputs. While conducting the Congruence Model we will use the inputs and outputs categories to determine the organizational level congruence of the Whole Food Markets; using all these various aspects the model will give us a good vision of the current organizational structure and performance of the company. Lastly we will analyzed all three level of organizational inputs and outputs and determine how each of these categories interact with each other to determine their similarity to was the Whole Foods Market business strategy. 2- Whole Foods Markets Inc. Strategy The Whole Foods market’s business strategy is based on their reputation and differentiation from other firms in the Grocery industry. The company has establishes multiple quality strategies to ensure customers have an experience...

Words: 2622 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Whole Foods Market in 2008 Case Study

...COMPANY BACKGROUND Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin, Texas, when four local businesspeople decided the natural foods industry was ready for a supermarket format. Their founders were John Mackey and Renee Lawson Hardy, owners of Safer Way Natural Foods, and Craig Weller and Mark Skiles, owners of Clarksville Natural Grocery. The original Whole Foods Market opened in 1980 with a staff of only 19 people. It was an immediate success. At the time, there were less than half a dozen natural food supermarkets in the United States. It has grown in leaps and bounds since then. Today, they are the world’s leader in natural and organic foods, with more than 310 stores in the North America and the United Kingdom (About Whole Foods Market). During its 31-year history, Whole Foods Market has been a leader in the natural and organic food movement across the United States, helping the industry gain acceptance among growing numbers of consumer concerned about the food they eat (Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, 2010, p.C-2). The company seeks out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintains the strictest quality standards in the industry, and has an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Add that to the excitement and fun they bring to shopping for groceries, and you start to get a sense of what they are all about. John Mackey, the company’s cofounder and CEO, believes that Whole Foods’ rapid growth and market success has much to do with its having “remained...

Words: 6451 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Whole Foods Market 2008

...COMPANY BACKGROUND Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin, Texas, when four local businesspeople decided the natural foods industry was ready for a supermarket format. Their founders were John Mackey and Renee Lawson Hardy, owners of Safer Way Natural Foods, and Craig Weller and Mark Skiles, owners of Clarksville Natural Grocery. The original Whole Foods Market opened in 1980 with a staff of only 19 people. It was an immediate success. At the time, there were less than half a dozen natural food supermarkets in the United States. It has grown in leaps and bounds since then. Today, they are the world’s leader in natural and organic foods, with more than 310 stores in the North America and the United Kingdom (About Whole Foods Market). During its 31-year history, Whole Foods Market has been a leader in the natural and organic food movement across the United States, helping the industry gain acceptance among growing numbers of consumer concerned about the food they eat (Thompson, Strickland, & Gamble, 2010, p.C-2). The company seeks out the finest natural and organic foods available, maintains the strictest quality standards in the industry, and has an unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture. Add that to the excitement and fun they bring to shopping for groceries, and you start to get a sense of what they are all about. John Mackey, the company’s cofounder and CEO, believes that Whole Foods’ rapid growth and market success has much to do with its having “remained...

Words: 6451 - Pages: 26

Premium Essay

Marketplace Analysis of Whole Foods

...Marketplace Analysis of Whole Foods Charles Griffith University of St. Mary Marketing Management MGT-704   MARKETPLACE ANALYSIS OF WHOLE FOODS “With great courage, integrity, and love – we embrace our responsibility to co-create a world where each of us, our communities and our planet can flourish. All while celebrating the sheer love and joy of food” (Whole Foods, 2015). This is Whole Food’s “higher purpose statement”. This statement expresses and delivers what Whole Foods, as an organization, believes and what must be apparent to the consumer. As an organization founded with the drive to bring the freshest and most natural products to consumers, Whole Foods must maintain alignment with that core philosophy. Created in response to the lack of organic and natural options of the traditional grocery stores and chains Whole Foods has grown from its origins in a three story house in Austin to the multi-billion dollar enterprise it is today without sacrificing this core value (Harrison, 2014). This is very important: The continued development and growth of Whole Foods must maintain this core philosophy. The platform for value creation is rooted in market share growth and consistent and well defined organizational philosophy (Deshpande, R. & Webster, F. 1989). Keeping Whole Food’s core philosophy in mind, strategy for growth of the business and recapturing of market share are the primary goals of this analysis. The supermarket and “other grocery” markets within the United...

Words: 3557 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Whole Food

...WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008: VISION, CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY CASE STUDY [pic] PRESENTED BY: What are the chief elements of the strategy that Whole Foods Market is pursuing? Brief Background Whole Foods Market was founded in 1980 as a local supermarket and has now become world’s largest retail chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets. Whole Foods offers the highest quality, least processed, most flavorful and naturally preserved foods available. Whole foods market has its own private label brands of organics. Whole Foods Market aims to sell the highest quality natural and organic products, satisfy and delight its customers and team members, create wealth through profits and growth and care about communities and environment. Current Strategy and possible growth The core value of Whole Foods was “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Plant.” They cared about their foods, their staff, their customers as well as the environment, so they came up with many strategies, which are listed as follow: I. Expanded the company by opening new stores and acquiring attractive candidates. Because of the growth need of the company, acquisition was a good way to roll. The biggest acquisition for Whole Foods was the purchase of its biggest competitor, Wild Oats Market, in 2007. This gave Whole Foods an easy way to enter into new big cities and even new states, but meanwhile costs of capital were large too. According to the failure...

Words: 2346 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

Whole Foods Market - Market Entry Plan - Germany

...Europe's second most inhabited nation, it is the continent’s largest economy. The beverage and food industry in Germany can be described as committed to providing the very best, with a desire to embrace changing consumer needs and wants. In the last ten years, there has been a boom in the organic food segment with an explosion in sales. Germany stands prominently at the top of beverage and food market development as it works to embrace the international increased demand for healthier food. The demand exists in Europe and Germany is an established leader. Whole Foods Market has self-proclaimed themselves America’s healthiest grocery store. They attempt to find and provide customers the highest quality natural and organic foods by implementing a strict quality standards process. The very first Whole Foods Market originated in Austin, Texas in 1980 with the belief that the natural foods industry needed a supermarket foundation. Though it was a small location staffed by less than 20 people, the supermarket took off. Since then Whole Foods Market has become a leader retailer in natural and organic foods. It has hundreds of locations all over the world, with the majority in the United States. Its success has been depending on the multibillion dollar growing market for natural and organic foods that has rapidly grown since the company opened in 1980. The natural and organic foods market is incredibly attractive and is only continuously growing in attractiveness. There is no...

Words: 2666 - Pages: 11