WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008:

VISION ,CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008:

VISION, CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY
WHOLE FOOD INCEPTION
WHOLE FOOD VISION, MISSION & CORE VALUES, WHOLE
FOOD MOTTO
PRESENT SCENARIO OF WHOLE FOOD SINCE INCEPTION
WHOLE FOODS SWOT ANALYSIS
STRATEGIC COMPETENCE
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
ASSOCIATED DILEMMA
RECOMMENDATION

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008:

VISION ,CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

Began in 1980, in Austin, Texas

Evolved from a local supermarket
Leader in organic and naturally produced goods
John Mackey, CEO

WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008:

VISION ,CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

VISION
TO BECOME AN INTERNATIONAL BRAND
SYNONYMOUS NOT JUST WITH NATURAL AND
ORGANIZ FOODS BUT ALSO WITH BEING THE BEST
FOOD RETAILER IN EVERY COMMUNITY IN WHICH
WHOLE FOODS STORE WERE LOCATED

MISSION
HIGHLY SELECTIVE ABOUT WHAT WE SELL,
DEDICATED TO OUR CORE VALUES AND STRINGENT
QUALITY STANDARDS AND COMMITTED TO
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008:

VISION ,CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

MOTTO
WHOLE FOODS, WHOLE PEOPLE, WHOLE PLANET

CORE VALUES
SELLING THE HIGHEST QUALITY NATURAL
AND ORGANIC PRODUCTS
SATISFYING AND DELIGHTIING OUR
CUSTOMERS
TEAM MEMEBERS HAPPINESS AND
EXCELLENCE
CREATING WEALTH THROUGH PROFITS AND
GROWTH
CARING ABOUT OUR COMMUNITIES & OUR
ENVIRONMENT

WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008:

VISION ,CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

OBJECTIVE
TO HAVE 400 STORES AND SALES OF $ 12 BILLION
IN FISCAL YEAR 2010

WHOLE FOODS MARKET IN 2008:

VISION ,CORE VALUES AND STRATEGY
Leading Super
Store in USA for
organic foods and
produce

Sales of $ 6.6
Billion in fiscal
year 2007

Constant Growth
of 7 -9 % since
2000 yr

30,000 natural,
organic and
gourmet food
products and
nonfood items

10 company
acquisition till
2007

9,321,107 sqft
all together
stores in 2007

Total 276 stores in

2007

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

STRENGTH

Product varieties
Higher Capital
Companys brand image and cause of its existence
Higher number of stores
Higher quality goods, environment
Highly skilled and efficient employees
Lower employee dispute
Bigger and better stores
Stores allocations based on the need and demand analysis within USA
Superior quality suppliers and providers
Noble CSR activities
Positive word of mouth marketing
Excellent customer service with attractive compensation package for employees

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

Weakness

Price of the organic and natural goods (High Price)

Limited numbers of suppliers
Niche oriented target audience
Mackeys controversial blog comments regarding wild oats before acquisition
Lower sales volume in 2007
Declining sales and stagnant cost of production
Only 5% invest from revenue in advertisement.

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet
Opportunities

Venturing into new markets (Asia, Europe etc)

Separate price segments for more aware customers who are under lower paycheck
Increasing the number of suppliers for organic produce
Acquisition of Trader Joe's for minimizing competition
Increasing advertisement cost and increasing visibility of whole foods

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet
Threats

Lower number of suppliers

Lower cost organic goods provided by other stores
Only selective market niche orientation
New entrants threat
Suppliers have higher bargaining power than buyers

Component

Description

Demographics

Income across the population, and trends in the demography

Social forces

Attitudes,lifestyles

Political, legal,
and regulatory
factors

Political policies and processes, as well as the regulations and laws with which
companies comply.

Natural
environment

Ecological and environmental forces such as weather, climate, eco friendly

produce .

Technological
factors

The pace of technological change and technical developments that have the
potential for wide-ranging effects environment, such as clean energy, solar
power, organic production process, lower CFT etc.

The Five-Forces Model of Competition: A Key Analytical Tool

Threat of
substitute product

STRONG

Power of Supplier

STRONG

Power of Buyer

WEAK

Competitive Rivalry

STRONG

New Entrants

STRONG

STRATEGIC LEAPS OF WHOLE FOOD

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

STRATEGY 1
A WHOLE SOME VISION , MISSION, OBJECTIVE AND VALUE PROPOSITION
STRATEGY 2
USDA LAW BASED PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION AND OFFERING AFTER THE STORES
INCEPTION
STRATEGY 3
ACQUISITION OF MULTIPLE STORES SINCE 1990S AND EXPANSION
STRATEGY 4
FOCUSED DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY

STRATEGIC LEAPS OF WHOLE FOOD

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

STRATEGY 5
ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW DISTRIBUTION STORES FOR REDUCING OPERATING COST
STRATEGY 6
INNOVATIVE AND PROACTIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE
STRATEGY 7
EVA BASED PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY 8
HIGHER CSR INVESTMENT AND SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP

Financial Analysis
34.84%

4.51%

2.77%
5.81%

12.52%
$1.30

Financial Analysis
.85 times

.48

-116528

Financial Analysis
55%

40%

1.2 times
0.66 times
70.68 times

Financial Analysis
25 days

15 times

6 days

Comparison with others years:

Activity Ratio:

STRATEGIC DILEMMAS
High Price
Niche Market orientation
Less investment in advertising
Ambitious projections
No Product Segmentation
Increasing new entrant threats
Lower Supplier Number

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

FINANCIAL DILEMMAS
Lower GPM
Lower EPS than 2006
Lower NPM
Higher DOI

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

RECOMMENDATION- STRATEGIC DILEMMAS

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

1.Reduce cost of production and acquisition by establishing more distribution points

and removing third parties
2. Offering newly structured priced products for new customer segment who do not
have higher paycheck
3.To build more awareness one must invest in advertising to provoke new customers
to at least visit the store once.
4.In 2008, the ambitious store acquisition needs to be considered as the
operational cost needs to be maintained.
5. They can diversify by introducing a chain of herbal medicine.
6. Acquisition of trader Joes and fresh market food chain to eliminate potential
threat
7. Increasing supplier in numbers by investing on them and creating more scope of
buying products.

RECOMMENDATION- FINANCIAL DILEMMAS

Whole Foods, Whole people,

Whole Planet

1. Increasing Sales , through EVA program for employees and maintaining lower
operational cost.
2. Operating income is very low, so they need to reduce overhead costs.
3. EPS is low compared to 2006, $1.42 need to increase it thorough increasing
profits by accelerating sales.
4. Days of inventory is higher , which is very poor for perishable items found in
whole food superstore. In order to reduce this figure the products needs to be
increased efficiency of value chain.
5. Working capital is negative so they need to invest more in cash, reduce
inventory cost.