Whole Foods Porter's Five Forces Analysis

1.0 Introduction 3

2.0 Porter Five Forces 3

2.1 Threat of New Entrants 3

2.2 Threat of Substitutes 4

2.3 Power of Suppliers 4

2.4 Power of Buyers 4

2.5 Competitive Rivalry 5

3.0 Whole Foods’ firms Specific resources and capabilities. 5

3.1 Resources 6

3.2 Capabilities 6

4.0 Whole Foods’ Strategy 7

5.0 Customer Consciousness 9

6.0 Entrepreneur’s Perspective in an Emerging Economy 10

7.0 Conclusion 11

Mackey J and Sisodia R (2013) Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business, Harvard Business Review Press 12

1.0 Introduction

Eventhough the organic or whole foods market has existed for a considerable period of time, it has gained significant attention over the last couple of years due to the aggressive marketing promotions

The reason for this low entry barrier stems from the fact that there are not many legal barriers that hinders the new entrants form gaining access to the market and there cost of setting up in the food industry is relatively low (Mintel, 2015). Eventhough there is some certification to sell organic products, this process is not deterrent. It is true that major competitors in the food industry have establish some degree of brandawareness among their customers and enjoy economies of scale and economies of scope but most consumers are not brand conscious when they are buying foods (Bigliardi & Galati,

It has built and maintains a strong brand name that eventually enhances the company’s capabilities. With better shop designers at its disposal, Whole Foods has a well layout the shops and lively shopping environment (with music, art etc) to enhance customer-shopping experience. The company sells meal essentials and also prepared meal from fresh salads and cooked fish, coffee and fresh pastries (Giacco, et al, 2013). All of these are made from the shop for them to eat instantly. With high quality employee, Whole Foods is able to provide the needed customized service for customers by guiding them to make food choices according to their needs. Whole Foods core competencies lies in the fact that it has a dominant market share in the organic food market and has more stores than any other single competitor (Monteiro, et al, 2013). The company’s shops are strategically located in visible and prominentlocations. This increases its recognition and impacts on its brand value. Whole Foods has built the reputation, trust and friendship among the suppliers and customers. Moreover, this company is innovative. The first organic clothing department has been opened by the company in the US with the promise of increasing the product range in the coming years (Liu, 2013). The other competencies include strategic alliances, speed of delivery to customers, presence on social networks that makes them attractive to young people, leading