Whole Foods Legacy

Every retail location carries a variety of products that distinguishes it from other stores in the same chain. Not surprisingly, it is difficult to achieve economies of scale. Supply Chain Mackey describes his consumers as being “part of a cult”. Whole Foods believes that the company’s emphasis on perishables and locally-sourced produce differentiates their stores from run-of-the-mill supermarkets and attracts loyal and devoted customers. However, “fresh produce” is one of the most challenging product categories to operate due to limited product shelf life and high cost of spoilage. Whole Foods has tried to circumvent most of the problems inherent in supplying fresh produce to its stores by sourcing locally and having short and flexible supply chains. In the case of fruits and vegetables, Whole Foods has buying relationships with local farmers who supply the store with seasonal produce. Thus, if one farmer is unable to produce a sufficient amount of yellow corn or heirloom tomatoes, the shortfall can be made up by another farmer. Although challenging to perfect, these short supply chains are agile and difficult for other big retailers to duplicate.

In the article “Can Whole Food Serve Chicago Southside Soul”, Natalie E. Moore reveals the announcement of the executives of a nationwide organic grocery chain, Whole Foods, on its opening store in Englewood, Chicago South Side. Moore pulls out several tweets of individuals’ concerning the chance of success of Whole Foods, which are mostly negative. However, in my point of view as a consumer, there are many opportunities for Whole Foods in term of the location, the neighborhood’s background history and more jobs for local resident regardless the disadvantages resident’s low income status and the complication on neighborhood security.

One of the strongest arguments against capitalism is the quote “It was a monster devouring with a thousand mouths, trampling with a thousand hoofs; it was the Great Butcher – it was the spirit of Capitalism made flesh.”(334), the description of monster depicts capitalism as barbaric instead of those under the influence of capitalism being barbaric. This quote lends itself to the idea that people must fight for what they

In the article “Can Whole Foods Serve Chicago Southside Soul?” Natalie Y. Moore reveals the plan on an opening of a nationwide organic grocery chain, Whole Foods, in Englewood, on Chicago’s South Side. Moore pulls out several negative tweets of individuals concerning the chance of success of Whole Foods. In a place where “it is easier to buy guns and drugs than food” (1), it is understandable that people are concerned about the success of a new store. However, according to Mari Gallagher, a well-known food deserts expert, the new Whole Foods in Englewood has the “potential to attract other quality retailers to Englewood, and at the same time support local grassroots efforts, such as urban agriculture

John Mackey, founder and CEO, considerers that Whole Foods Market fast growing in the market has much to do with the preferential and distinctively mission with the selective products that they sell. Mackey’s vision was for Whole Foods to become a global

Since the time we are born we are fed the lies of capitalism. We are taught that capitalism hurts no one and that capitalism is the only way. Johnson and Robbins have some very influential ideas about capitalism. Johnson writes about the complexity of privilege. He also addresses why some privileged people do not feel privileged through the matrix of capitalist domination. Robbins gives us a background on how privilege became what it is today. He addresses the anatomy of the working class by drawing attention to how they were mobile, divided, powerless, and anxious for a revolution. Through Johnson and Robbins’ eyes we can begin to see how the world is not the one we were taught it was.

In Marion Nestle’s essay, The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate, she claims ” From their (supermarkets’) prospective, it is your problem if what you buy makes you eat more food than you need and more of the wrong kinds of foods in particular” (62). Nestle introduces several tactics that supermarkets use to increase their profits, for example, particular ways of they put the products, surveys or membership cards that they give to customers and even coordination’s with food companies. From my perspective, these tactics are all justifiable, since the supermarkets can operate better and gain profits by applying these strategies. Firms’ higher payoffs may lead to positive outcomes: higher salaries and better welfare programs for their workers, donations to charities or higher national GDP. Because society is a large context, even there might be some worse off situation for some people, but considering the whole, people still become better off.

Brown, E. 1979 5 R ichard R o ckefeller M edicine M en: M edicine and Capitalism in Am erica, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press.

Servant leadership in Whole Foods Market goes beyond serving the employees and the customers of the stores. Although, employee and customer based servant leadership does exist, Whole Foods Market believes it has a responsibility to apply servant leadership to their communities as well. Whole Foods Market teaches servant leadership through modeling from the top down. In 1985, Mackey devised Whole Foods Market “Declaration of Interdependence”. He wanted to develop a new stakeholder philosophy for the company by removing the mindset of simply working to increase profits. Makey stated, “They would at all times keep in mind the needs of employees, customers, suppliers, the environment and community as well” (Flock, 2010). This servant leadership conviction begins with John Makey. In 2006 he sent a letter to all the team members in the organization. In the letter he stated as of January 1, 2007, he would reduce

As seen throughout the semester, the debates surrounding capitalism and its role in society are extensive and transcends generations. By virtue of the nature of debates, two broad positions on capitalism evolved in North American Protestantism – one position defends capitalism while the other protests capitalism. The defense of capitalism developed in the 19th century. Being one of the many authors to do so, Charles Sellers attributes the development of capitalism to the Market and Industrial Revolution (Sellers, 21). Consequently, the Second Great Awakening increased religious awareness and significance in the daily lives of Americans (Sellers, 202). Sellers argues it was only through religion that Americans could cope with the stresses of

Whole foods strategy consists of high margins on premium and natural foods. They also offer a wide variety of prepared foods for affluent buyers. Managers are given freedom to stock their stores based on local tastes. Mackey also opposed the idea of unions because of their parasitic existence.

All we have is our humanity-our soul and our individualism. In Grapes of Wrath and “Modern Times”, John Steinbeck and Charlie Chaplin suggest that the stability of those parts of us-our humanity-are taken away by the big corporations of modern times. Humanity is the ability to choose your actions based on your own faculty and morals. When our faculty and morals are compromised, whether it be because family, food, or quality of life are on the line, we are no longer human. In their works, Charlie Chaplin and John Steinbeck reveal that capitalism dehumanizes man by forcing him to become a machine lose his life’s purpose.

Capitalism is an unnatural perversion of society in Marx and Engel’s The Communist Manifesto. It is constantly consumptive, unable to exist without further expansion. It warps society through its exploitation of labor and the class that provides it. The Communist Manifesto goes beyond just a sociopolitical critique of capitalism, and adds otherworldly, almost Gothic elements. Repeated supernatural, fantastical language reinforces the idea that capitalism is an illegitimate twist of the natural state of human affairs.

I located Whole Foods at the Philanthropic Responsibility level of the pyramid. John Mackey stated that “If one stakeholder is winning, someone else must be losing. It comes from sports, where there is one winner and lots of losers, and this idea of a fixed pie, where if someone is getting a bigger piece, someone else has to be getting a smaller piece, and what’s needed for social justice is to make sure people get equal pieces. But a conscious business recognizes that you can have an expanding pie, and potentially everyone can get a larger piece.” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013)

In his book “The Tipping Point: How little things can make a big difference,” Malcolm Gladwell (2001) indicates the power of intelligent action and the potential of little changes are responsible for starting epidemics. These epidemics occurred, according to the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The law of few affirms the influence on communication. That connector, maven, and salesman each has its ability to conjoin, collect, and cajole; they distribute information globally. The stickiness factor refers to a technique that allows information to stick in the minds of society. Moreover, he acknowledges how repetition and direct information bring success to Sesame Street. Last, the power of context stresses that not only human reactions are responsible for epidemics, but also the environment’s elastic. Gladwell, intelligently, collects the secret keys to successful business. To capture customer’s attention, to hire the perfect leaders, and to invest in the firm’s future, Whole Food Market enlarges its potential market even when large chain retailed competition increases.