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what makes whole foods market a great place to work

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If you're a loyal shopper, you lot already know why people dear Whole Foods Market. But if y'all aren't a regular, you may have wondered why is Whole Foods so popular?

Here's what I know from having worked for them for over two decades:

Whole Foods is the leader in natural & organic foods, merely, like Starbucks, it creates stores that become destinations for friends to gather. The acquisition by Amazon has lowered prices and Prime number members get even better deals. Despite a few Amazon speedbumps, the visitor continues to be a great place to work and store.

Merely that'due south just a brief snapshot of Whole Foods, why people love it despite the reputation of higher prices and the sometimes polarizing viewpoints of founder and CEO John Mackey.

Then let'southward go along going!

We'll talk well-nigh all of that, and discuss a little bit of the history of Whole Foods.

Just go on reading!

When did Whole Foods become pop?

Whole Foods Market is the largest American chain of supermarkets specializing in natural and organic foods.

Information technology'due south based out of the town I grew upwards in, Austin, TX, and operates stores all over the United States, Canada, and the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. Whole Foods was bought past Amazon in 2017.

But it wasn't always a giant multi-national corporation. Whole Foods started with 1 tiny store (the one I originally worked at) in Austin, TX in 1980. That store was around x,000 square feet which is not much bigger than a 7-11.

Now information technology did grow beyond 1 store fairly quickly. Just fifty-fifty when I started with the company in 1998 it was a pocket-sized chain of but 5 stores.

No Amazon, not publically traded. Just a agglomeration of hippies selling soy milk, raw milk, and patchouli incense (natural language slightly in cheek there).

Growth by buying other chains of natural food stores

Whole Foods' early on growth came mostly from buying upwardly smaller chains of stores and a few stand-alone stores. Some of the biggest names they acquired were:

  • Mrs. Gooch'southward Natural Food Markets (Los Angeles)
  • Bread & Circus (Massachusets)
  • Wellspring Grocery (North Carolina)
  • Fresh Fields (East Coast)

There are endless others, but those were the biggies that Whole Foods bought up early on which sped upwardly their growth considerably.

Making natural and organic foods mainstream

Whole Foods started to proceeds traction in the early on 90s when consumers were really starting to focus on high-quality, natural food. And they were willing to pay more than for it.

As organically grown became more in demand, more and more mainstream grocery shoppers wanted it.

Simply mainstream shoppers didn't always want to step into the tiny, sometimes dirty, and poorly-run health food stores than often dominated cities like Austin, Bedrock, Santa Atomic number 26, and other places. Whole Foods filled this gap.

Whole Foods supermarkets were smaller than Kroger or Safeway.

And they were a lot more than aesthetically pleasing and fun to store in. Whole Foods was not a conventional supermarket. It combined wellness-nutrient stores with supermarkets.

Shoppers loved natural, whole foods. They loved not having to bank check the ingredient labels on products and just purchase knowing they would be free of artificial ingredients, preservatives, colors, and flavors.

Yous as well accept to understand that in the '90s, there were no Trader Joe's, no Sprouts, or other big competitors other than Wild Oats. And mainstream grocery stores had little to no natural or organic offerings like they practise today.

In 2013, they became the first grocery store concatenation to label all food made with GMOs. Simply they had banned them from their individual label products years earlier that.

Whole Foods wanted to change the way people ate and make them healthier. All while promoting sustainable, adequately harvested foods and ethically sourced meat.

Read more about Whole Foods' history on their site.

Is Whole Foods better and what's special well-nigh it?

Whole Foods is known for selling organic and all-natural products. But beyond that, they ban all artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. They also have strict creature welfare standards in addition to greater attention to store decor, ambiance, and client service.

Just, lots of stores sell "organic" and "natural" products, so what makes Whole Foods then special?

Well, they actually intendance well-nigh their customers.

In fact, they care and so much that they take gone above and across the standards ready past the FDA. As in that location is no definition of "natural" food, Whole Foods has compiled its ain listing of unacceptable ingredients.

These unacceptable ingredients include, but are non limited to:

  • Hydrogenated fats
  • High-fructose corn syrup
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Preservatives
  • Artificial colors and flavors

If a food contains any of these unacceptable ingredients, yous won't meet it on its shelves.

I recall that in itself makes Whole Foods pretty special. Y'all can come across all their quality standards on their site.

However, considering they are so picky about ingredients, their prices are college.

Top-notch products bring top-notch prices. You tin can read more than about why the prices are so much higher in this recent article. What really surprised me was how little an impact Amazon buying them had on their prices.

Simply click that link to read it on my site.

Whole Foods' humane fauna standards

Whole Foods as well published standards for the humane care and slaughter of animals.

They work with farmers and ranchers to develop a stringent fix of standards regarding the treatment of animals. They even have standards regarding the slaughtering of animals.

Some of these standards include no antibiotics, no added growth hormones, and the requirement that cattle, sheep, and goats spend at to the lowest degree two-thirds of their lives on pasture.

All of the meat sold in the meat section, except kosher turkey, is certified to meet animal welfare standards set by the Global Animal Partnership.

These standards not just impact the life of the animal, but they also impact the final product.

Steak. I'm talking about steak. To read more than almost what grocery stores have the all-time steak, and why, head over to this contempo article, where I talk nigh which grocery stores have the best steak.

Just click that link to read it on my site.

Just, over again, if the care of livestock doesn't meet their standards, Whole Foods won't sell the meat in their stores.

Whole Foods' environmental touch on

Whole Foods cares nigh the environment, also.

They stopped using plastic bags in 2008, before beingness eco-friendly was trendy.

The cleaning products they sell are eco-friendly. In fact, they prohibited their stores from selling whatsoever products that were tested on animals decades agone.

They fifty-fifty developed an "Eco-Scale" for cleaning products.

This scale evaluates products based on environmental impact, condom, source, and beast testing. Products are given a rating of green, yellow, orange, or red. Whole Foods does non sell any products that fall in the red on the calibration.

Does Jeff Bezos ain Whole Foods?

Aye. Jeff Bezos owns Amazon & Amazon purchased Whole Foods Market in 2017 for 13.seven billion dollars. At the time, Whole Foods was publically traded with a number of shareholders owning a percent of the company. The visitor has since been returned to beingness a private corporation, no longer traded on the stock market.

In fact, a lot of people thought this was a large error.

But, at the time, Whole Foods' sales had been failing drastically. Lots of long-time key company leaders similar Walter Robb, Ken Meyer, and David Lannon were leaving (some of their own accords, others not).

And a consulting firm had been hired to standardize stores.

The reason for the decline was that companies similar Trader Joe's and Aldi were also selling organic foods and natural nutrient products at lower prices than Whole Foods. Plus, almost all large so-called conventional grocery stores like Safeway, Kroger, and Publix all had big sections for natural and organic items too.

Information technology was the writing on the wall John Mackey should have seen years earlier.

Selling groceries can be very tricky and the profit margins can exist slim. Amazon has tried the grocery business before with AmazonFresh, but it has yet to become a household proper name like Amazon Prime. That'southward not to say they are failing at it. They are not. But that doesn't make it piece of cake, either.

Bezos has had his sights set on online grocery sales for a long time.

Bezos saw the acquisition of Whole Foods every bit a good stepping rock. They have a not bad reputation for selling quality products. They also have hundreds of stores turned distribution centers.

But, because groceries are perishable, there are too a lot of risks.

But if it'south one thing Bezos knows it'southward ordering and delivery efficiency. And for long-time Whole Foods fans, luckily, John Mackey is nonetheless CEO of Whole Foods. Love him or hate him, he is the homo who almost unmarried-handedly made natural and organic groceries a household concept.

Also, Amazon has besides given added sales and discounts to Prime members and cut prices beyond the board for everyone. We'll go more into that in the side by side section.

But, if y'all want some insight every bit to how items become selected to keep sale, check out this recent article on my blog. What really surprised me was how cut prices can actually boost a shop'due south profits.

Just click that link to read information technology on my site.

What changes has Amazon made to Whole Foods?

The top changes that take been made at Whole Foods market place since being caused by Amazon include:

  • Changes in defining part-time and total-time employees
  • Reduced benefits for role-time employees
  • Overall employee hours were cut to offset wage increases enacted for Amazon employees
  • Prices were reduced by an boilerplate of 20% across the board
  • Amazon Prime members were given boosted discounts
  • Complaints nearly the quality going down for fresh fruits and vegetables

Things have been a little uncertain since Amazon acquired Whole Foods in June of 2017. (source)

Before the conquering, Whole Foods was well known for the manner they treated their employees, their above-average pay, and benefits packages.

Let'due south examine some of what I mentioned above in greater item.

Cutbacks for employees

Since so, they've cutting health intendance for part-fourth dimension workers. Now employees accept to piece of work a minimum of 30 hours per week to get medical benefits.

They've besides eliminated stock options for lower-level workers and restructured and streamlined the purchasing process.

This has prompted a few employees to attempt to unionize. Which Amazon has whole-heartedly fought confronting. But then Whole Foods has long been anti-spousal relationship, then that'southward not new behavior. It's also not the beginning fourth dimension that'due south happened in Whole Foods history and it won't be the concluding.

Still, it'southward pretty unlikely you will always see Whole Foods as a company switch to being wedlock.

The reason is that the vast majority of the 91,000 employees of Whole Foods are pretty happy, and adequately well paid. I can attest that when I was with the company, my pay was always pretty decent (and I started at $4.25/hr so I didn't come in at some high level).

And my health insurance was never meliorate or cheaper than it was when I was with them (I left in 2013).

The quality of fresh fruits and vegetables

Some shoppers accept stopped shopping at Whole Foods, citing that the quality of the produce is non up to the standards they take come to look.

Shoppers have complained that the produce is "hobbling, discolored, tasteless, and rotten…" (source).

Many consumers simply don't equate Amazon with quality. Rather, they acquaintance Amazon with beingness just another big box store.

Whole Foods insists that zippo has changed. And in all honesty, as I do still shop in that location sometimes, I don't see any major differences.

However, Amazon is huge. They have a ton of inventory and tin can afford to sell items at lower prices. This may attract a different kind of client, but they can certainly afford the smaller profit margins.

To learn more about grocery store profits, and how different types of stores make more money than others, read this recent commodity on my blog.

Just click that link to read it on my site.

Lower prices and Prime member discounts

It's not all doom and gloom though and any transition this large is going to hit a few speedbumps.

On the plus side, Amazon Prime members (all 105 million of them – source), get big perks at Whole Foods Market.

They get:

  • An extra x% off yellow sale items
  • Prime member deals exclusively for Amazon Prime members (upwardly to 50% off)
  • Free ii-hour delivery
  • 5% back at Whole Foods Market & Amazon.com if they use the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card

Not a Prime number fellow member?

No worries. Amazon buying Whole Foods has also meant lower prices across the board. On average, Whole Foods prices take gone down as much as xx% in some cases (source).

And if you combine those price cuts with a Prime membership, the savings can be pretty dramatic.

CLICK HERE TO TRY AMAZON PRIME FREE FOR xxx DAYS!

Fifty-fifty beyond cheaper prices, a Prime membership also gets you:

  • Free ii-day shipping
  • Amazon Prime streaming video and music services
  • Delivery services like Prime Now in certain cities.
  • Unlimited photo storage on a Kindle or Fire device

Who founded Whole Foods?

In 1978, John Mackey and Renee Lawson Hardy opened Safer Way Natural Foods in Austin, Texas.

By 1980, SaferWay Natural Foods merged with Clarksville Natural Grocery. Clarksville Natural Grocery was owned by my old pal Craig Weller and Marking Skiles.

This merger resulted in what is now known equally Whole Foods Market. This get-go store was but 10,500 square feet and had 19 employees.

Mark didn't hang around very long. But Craig stayed with the company for a long time, leaving the visitor in the late '90s.

The original store was destroyed past the worst flood in 70 years in 1981. The shop was drowned in water and sewage. Inventory was ruined and looters came and trashed the shop.

With the aid of the community, vendors, creditors, and investors, the store was able to reopen after just 28 days. Customers pitched in to help with make clean upwards and employees worked for free to get the store back open.

I didn't beginning working there for another seven years. But,I still think putting sandbags effectually the entrances every time it rained. Luckily, that store never saw that bad of a flood e'er again.

Throughout its life, Whole Foods has grown from a small natural foods store to the international giant it is today.

In 1984, John Mackey assumed leadership of Whole Foods.

Merely even earlier then, Whole Foods began moving into Houston and and then into Dallas. In 1989, Whole Foods expanded westward to Northern California. In 2002, they expanded into Canada, and soon thereafter, into the Britain.

They acquired most of their stores past purchasing existing local food chains and rebranding them. Equally I mentioned to a higher place, some of these stores include Wellspring Grocery, Mrs. Gooch's, and Fresh Fields, among others.

Starting and running a grocery store is no easy feat.

If you are because being like John Mackey and starting your own grocery stores, read this recent article where I talk nigh what information technology takes to run a grocery store. Grocery store managers don't have to exist an expert at cutting meat or be a certified cheesemonger.

But they do have to know a trivial scrap about a whole lot of things. They also have to exist quick-thinking and be able to prioritize needs quickly.

Just click that link to read information technology on my site.

When did Whole Foods go public?

Whole Foods went public for $2.125 per share in January of 1992.

Today Whole Foods has more than 400 stores in the U.s.a., Canada, and the United Kingdom. They likewise have more than 91,000 employees. It is currently the biggest natural food chain in the United States.

Whole Foods was traded on the NASDAQ with a market capitalization of over 10 billion dollars and has been included in Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For.

Did you take hold of the word was traded? That'south because it's not anymore.

When Amazon acquired Whole Foods, information technology became a privately-held enterprise. Whole Foods is totally owned by Amazon, which is itself, a publicly traded company. Thus, it was delisted from NASDAQ.

Their peak stock price before being removed from the NASDAQ reached over $60 per share in 2013.

However, they started getting browbeaten by the competition as eating organic, natural foods became more mainstream. People were able to buy organic, natural foods at Walmart and Kroger at much lower prices.

Trader Joe'southward provided direct competition, and calm kits similar Blue Apron and Hi Chef as well changed the mode people shopped and ate healthily.

What are Whole Foods' success factors?

With Whole Foods, "organic," "natural," and "salubrious" aren't simply fizz words or marketing. They actually correspond something.

1. Organic standards

In fact, back when Whole Foods Market started, there was no legal definition or standard for what "organic" meant.

I still recall walking the produce department on my shifts and seeing signs that said "transitional" "IPM" (integrated pest management) or "pesticide-free" all of which were terms commonly used back and then for farms that were moving towards beingness organically grown.

The national organically-grown standards came into play in 1990 with Congress passing the Organic Foods Product Act (OFPA). Those rules were updated in 2002. (source)

Whole Foods Market played a very large office in the drafting of those original standards, being the first national food retailer invited to join the USDA advisory lath. Whole Foods is as well a key fellow member of the Organic Trade Clan.

My friend Margaret Wittenberg, a long-time Whole Foods employee, has been spearheading that mission for decades.

Whole Foods had a mission to bring healthier, natural food into supermarkets. That mission is credible in everything they practise. From its loftier product standards to the requirement of farmers and ranchers to treat livestock humanely.

Now lots of people love the idea of organically grown food.

But many don't want to pay the higher prices for that. But how much more does it really cost?

If you've e'er wondered that, check out a recent article where I break down the verbal price differences of all your favorite things. I as well review the items you should definitely buy organic if you can't afford to shop that way for everything.

Just click that link to come across information technology on my site.

ii. Strong brand identity

Whole Foods' competitive advantage comes from its strong make identity and loftier-quality customer feel.

Think about being in a Whole Foods store.

Yous'll hear songs you know over the speaker system. Soft lighting, cute stained physical, reclaimed woods decor, and lots of friendly employees.

Now compare that to Target or Safeway.

The difference in "feel" is pretty hitting and desperate. No one goes to Safeway just to hang out and meet up with friends. But at Whole Foods that is a daily occurrence.

3. Leading, non following

Whole Foods has long established itself every bit the leader in organic and natural food.

Merely as nosotros've discussed in a higher place, they have as well led the fashion in things similar:

  • Animal welfare standards
  • Ingredient quality standards
  • Employee pay and benefits
  • Giving back to the community

Part of their success also comes from their work environment.

Whole Foods actively promotes growth and happiness amidst its employees. They offering a mentoring program to aid in training, generous employee discounts (20%), and wellness programs for employees also.

4. Location, location, location

Geographical allotment is another success factor.

Strategic placement of stores increases accessibility and convenience when shopping. A typical store has about 200,000 people living within a xx-infinitesimal drive. They have a large number of college-educated residents and easy admission to roadways. (source)

At present that's not to say they haven't picked a few dud locations over the years.

But by and large speaking, they spend a lot of time, effort, and money picking their locations. And information technology's paid off.

5. People

When I walk into a Walmart, I don't have any expectations of finding an employee outside of the cash register area and the greeter at the forepart.

I besides don't have any expectations of walking downward the vino aisle at virtually grocery stores and finding a sommelier (knowledgeable, and often certified wine steward) to aid me select a dandy bottle of vino.

Lastly, if I approach the meat section at Trader Joe's, I don't accept any expectation that I can detect a butcher to cut me a steak to order.

But at Whole Foods Marketplace, those things happen every day.

In fact, back when I was a leader for Whole Foods, I was sometimes criticized for making my top cadre value promoting squad member (employees) happiness and excellence. At the fourth dimension, when people ranked Whole Foods' cadre values, it was common to put satisfy and delight the customers at the top of the listing.

Just I felt strongly (and however do) that you tin can't satisfy and delight customers with unhappy employees.

So putting their needs first was always well-nigh of import to me. And everything else fell into place in one case that happened.

Did I reply everything you wanted to know about Whole Foods?

In this article, I talked about the things that brand Whole Foods stand out from other grocery stores.

I went over some of the histories, much of which I lived, discussed the acquisition by Amazon, and talked virtually what makes Whole Foods so successful.

I likewise talked about the standards set for the products Whole Foods sells. From the humane handling of animals to the environmental affect of cleaning supplies.

Whole Foods really does attempt to be equally socially and environmentally friendly every bit possible.

I began my career with Whole Foods Market in 1988 and left the company in 2013.

While certainly not without some faults or deserved criticisms, overall, I however beloved the company I called home for more than than 2 decades.

What practise you call up about Whole Foods Market?

Photo credits which require attribution:

Whole Foods Market in Eugene, Oregon by Rick Obst is licensed under CC2.0

gillumgodis1985.blogspot.com

Source: https://thegrocerystoreguy.com/why-is-whole-foods-so-popular/

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