Whole Foods Inc. Case Study Essay

The Bonney Family founded a store where individuals would find fresh foods at affordable prices and that store is known as Sprouts Farmers Market. In 2002, only one Sprouts store was in existence and as of now, there are more than 200. This market is thriving and growing at a rapid pace. Apart from those 200 stores, more stores will be opened. Their success is outstanding and knowing many people are making healthy choices is a bit of a shock.

Additionally, my family does participate in the “organic food movement”: we tend to buy organic foods and shop at grocery stores that seem to be more environmentally friendly such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. This sort of consumer activism and consumer consciousness is fairly standard in my community, organic foods and eco-friendly groceries are very popular. The trend of eating locally is also popular within my community, which is often accomplished through shopping at the plethora farmer’s markets in the area. The high amount of financial privilege in my community allows the residents to make such choices as consumers, since locally grown produce tends to be more expensive. A 2011 study of the Philadelphia food system found that 53% of farmer’s markets in the general Philadelphia area are located in middle and upper income areas (Kremer and DeLiberty 2011).

“Conglomerate integration occurs when a company produces a number of different product lines in a variety of countries” (O 'Brien and Williams 2013). There are few multinational corporations that fit this description better than Proctor and Gamble. Proctor and Gamble, commonly referred to as P&G, is everywhere. It is a multinational corporation that has been catering to a wide variety of sectors since 1837- including cleaning products, health care, and beauty. As of 2014, $83.1 billion dollars in sales had been recorded.

But, honestly, the country has almost no relations with those on their own system. In fact, the top countries we trade with are “Canada at 54.75 billion, Mexico at 44.24 billion, and china at 42.09 billion” which are all countries who use the standard metric system (Economics-global GO metric). Although some may say that

Food labeling had gone through several stages of historical development. Labeling regulations started with the regulatory marks which served as the logistical aids to the enforcement of adulteration laws as well as the levying of duties and taxes on bread. The principle problem of misbranding was the misrepresentation of weight. With minor exceptions, most food was produced locally and consumed locally, so that there was no widespread usage of food labels, and hence no need for extensive regulation of such labels (Food Labeling Regulation, 2001). The industrialization of food production in the 19th century made consumers more reliant on food label which was a key source of information in making purchases.

“The way human beings consume food has changed more in the last fifty years, than in the previous 10,000,” Michael Pollan, the director of Food Inc. states in the opening line. However, the constructed marketing schemes used to sell this food still paint a picture of agricultural, farming America. (2009) But the reality couldn’t be any more different. In supermarkets, seasonal foods are now year round, boneless meat is an option. Eric Schlosser refers to this as the “deliberate veil,” (2009) a concealment of where our food products are coming from, a truth the industry doesn’t want consumers to be aware of.

This reputation has prompted Whole Foods Market to introduce separate stores that are designed specifically for millennials (Bolton, web). There is no evidence about how these new stores will affect Whole Foods Market, however there is evidence that the population of America, where most of Whole Foods Market stores are located, is getting older. While the number of birth is estimated to out pace the number of deaths in the United States, people are estimated to be living longer since the population is living longer because of this Whole Foods Market’s focus on the younger population may not be beneficial (U.S. Census Bureau, Demographic Internet Staff, web). Whole Foods Market used demographics to create a new type of store and that kind of demographic that it focuses on is going to have to be watched as time goes on to determine if changes to the new stores will need to change. The prediction is that the demographic of younger adults will continue to grow (U.S. Census

This would give a valid reason to the high prices that Whole Foods and to show the audience that price and quality go together. Target rebranding campaign should focus on these things that make Whole Foods unique. This would establish the connection to the consumers that in order to have quality and uniqueness, one must have the prices to support this. An example of is that, no one handles produce better than Whole Foods. Also according to Andrew Patterson in his article called Whole Foods ' Organic Capitalism he states that “there is no a current supermarket chain that has an effective decentralized system” This allows Whole Foods to be flexible enough to buy small lots of locally produced food.

Some fresh food sales are up 30% which means less people are buying GMO’s ( Koch, Taparia 15). Though some people say GMO’s are good because they increase food production. However we don’t need the extra food. And some people aren’t trusting large food companies because of the GMO’s they are selling ( Koch, Taparia 17). Since this is happening organic foods are taking over Grocery stores and going on the shelves big food brands with GMO’s used to be (Koch, Taparia 17).

Sometime in the distant past, not very far in the past, eating clean implied shopping the border of the supermarket. You wouldn’t set out cow your truck into the center paths, where all thepacked sustenances live. Nowadays, because of a large number of nourishment organizations increasing their wellbeing diversion, the stuff that arrives in a case isn’t all concoction filled trash. Yes, it’s critical to peruse marks precisely. In any case, fortunately, a large number of those names are beginning to wow healthexperts with their entire nourishment, supplement thick fixings—and one of the most beneficial and trendiest right now is beets.

Well the answer is their industry. The lumber industry had been doing great globally for 4 years but there is now a new negative trend in Canadian lumber. Why? This has to do with Canada and trade. One of Canada’s most abundant natural resources is lumber and the largest exporters of this lumber are the US, China and Japan; whom have reduced their purchases.

I believe that these types of stores reflect how in food culture, the typical shopper would rather overlook a regular grocery store, in favor of a more easily accessible and all-inclusive store that still has everything they need in a more compact form. I know that 30 years ago store like these existed but were far more popular, until grocery stores because more abundant. Unlike grocery stores, the organization is not what I expected. While the store has items that I would expect to find there, the store’s setup, like previously mentioned, had everything mixed together, and while you could find the items you were looking for eventually, it was a little more difficult than finding items in a regular grocery store. Because Jodie’s did not include fresh vegetables or fruits like previous food stores, the freshness and quality of the food was as good as prepackaged food could be.

That 's what makes the Paleo Diet unique. There is much to be said about the foods that our forefathers ate. In my grandmother 's day, they farmed their own animals and grew their own vegetables, which really could account for their long and mostly healthy lives. What researchers say is that way of life was better. We could be healthier or have less probability to suffer with diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease if we include plenty of protein and fiber in our daily meal plans.

Moreover, Bezos could re-train shoppers to buy produce and meats in person, while purchasing everything else on line. Furthermore, Amazon has a subscription service that is already selling this way, making it easy to see how gains in non-perishable sales could mirror the market gains that Amazon realized in the book trade (41% today according to LA Times). Yet another hypothesis, is that Bezos may simply be looking for consumer data. For example, grocers collect very sensitive data on their customers, in the same manner that Amazon does, combining this information would give the on-line retailer a powerful weapon with which to beat competitors. Privacy then becomes a major concern, with the possibility that data gleaned from consumers ' Amazon accounts would be shared with Whole Foods and visa versa.

However, not all communities today have this way of thinking, many communities suffer from food deserts, when supermarkets and alike leave an area. This lack of food correlates to deindustrialization and employment loss, which creates brownfields and food deserts. Gottlieb showed his readers how food connects people and increases economy and sustainability, showing that food is more than just the nutrients for the human body but also the nutrients for society. Before this semester, I did not know the true power of food. I really enjoyed Gottlieb’s article because it suited as a nice introduction for someone who did not have a deep understanding of food justice.