MGT 302 SWOT Analysis Worksheet on Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Student Name : Audrie Bielskis
Strengths: What does it do better than anyone
else in its industry? What sets it apart from its
competitors? Some examples of strength could
be a particular product, high customer
satisfaction, brand recognition, loyalty of
customers, being innovative, financial resources,
uniqueness of product or service, skills of
employees, etc. The strengths are what will help
the company survive.
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STRENGTHS  In general, employees are more knowledgeable
and willing to help than those in most grocery
stores1
 Have an extremely extensive selection of
items1
 Donates at least 5% of after tax profits to nonprofit organizations1
 Promoting positive company image and
creating contacts as well as relationships with
growers through Local Producer Loan
Program2
 2012 one year sales growth was about 15.74%3
 2012 one year employee growth was about
13.24%3
 2012 gross profit margin was about 35.5%3
 2012 Net Income After Taxes was about 465.5
million dollars3
 Has digested main competitor Wild Oats
Markets3
 World's #1 natural and organic foods chain3
 Focus on customer relations4
 Have super-motivated employees by tying
bonuses to productivity4
 Employees are referred to as "team members"
and "team leaders" to promote a feeling of
equal individual importance4
 Newly built stores are 25% larger than the
average supermarket4
 Has received a 2012 Green Power Leadership
Award for sustained excellence from the EPA5
Harbin, J. L., & Humphrey, P. (2010). Whole foods market, inc. Journal of Case Research in Business and Economics, 2, 1-19. Retrieved from
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Whole foods market pledges $25 million in funding for loans. (2014). Wireless News, Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1476527052?accountid=28644
Whole foods market, inc. (2014). (). Austin: Dun and Bradstreet, Inc. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/230662890?accountid=28644
Greco, J. (1997). Retailing's rule breakers. The Journal of Business Strategy, 18(2), 28-33. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/202719107?accountid=28644
Whole foods market; EPA doubles up green awards for whole foods market(R). (2012). Energy Weekly News, , 148. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1081932701?accountid=28644
MGT 302 SWOT Analysis Worksheet on Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Student Name : Audrie Bielskis
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Also has 3 previous Green Power Partner of
the Year awards from the EPA5
Has 2 Green Power Purchasing awards from
the EPA5
Has won a GreenChill award from EPA five
years in a row for reducing refrigerant
emmison5
Ranks 5th on the EPA's National Top 50 List
Is the nation's leading green food retailer5
By 2018, will require all foods in its stores
containing GMOs to carry labels disclosing
that fact6
WFM has its own private label brand called
365 Everyday Value
Whole Food Planet Foundation 2014 Supplier
Alliance for Microcredit Partners donate
$50,000 each to fund microloans in 58
countries, U.S. included. Promotes an ethical,
morally responsible business image.7
Was recognized as the 2013 Outstanding Food
Donor at Food Lifeline's 3rd annual Dress
Down Hunger event8
Has partnered with Food Lifeline since 1999
and has provided over 4.2 million meals,
shared financial and in-kind contributions, and
donated volunteer time in Food Lifeline's
warehouse8
Is 1 of 13 companies to be included in Fortune
magazine's annual list of the "100 Best
Companies to Work For" every year since the
list's inception in 19961
Executive pay is capped at 19 times the
average workers' annual wages1
CEO John Mackey is one of the most followed
CEO's in the American media1
Mission is to promote the vitality and wellbeing of all individuals by supplying the
GMO-free cheerios: What it all means. (2014, Jan 02). Wall Street Journal (Online). Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1473678901?accountid=28644
16 natural and organic brands invest $800,000 in a future without poverty in U.S. and in developing countries. (2014, Jan 07). Business Wire. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1474797391?accountid=28644
Whole foods market; food lifeline recognizes whole foods market(R) as 2013 outstanding food donor. (2013). Food Weekly News, , 65. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1468901788?accountid=28644
MGT 302 SWOT Analysis Worksheet on Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Student Name : Audrie Bielskis
highest quality, most wholesome foods
available1
 Prepared meals represent about 20% of total
sales1
 In Harris Interactive/The Wall Street Journal
ranking of the world's best and worst corporate
reputations, WFM placed 12th overall and
received the best score of any company for
social responsibility1
 Recently rated as #1 "green brand" with
Generation Y1
 Customers will come from at 20 mile radius to
shop at WFM compared to 2 miles for the
typical supermarket shopper1
 92% of employees are full-time1
 Those who work 30+ hours per week and have
worked a minimum of 800 service hours
qualify as full-time1
 Provides healthcare insurance at no cost to its
full-time team members1
 In late summer of 2008, began emphasizing
value, offering greater discounts and lower
priced goods1
Weaknesses: Every organization has them. As
WEAKNESSES with strengths, weaknesses are internal concerns.
 High Prices1
These are the factors that the company is not
 Rely mostly on word-of-mouth for
good at or at least not as good as most of its
advertising1
competitors. These are the issues that can and
 Many customers only shop at WFM for a few
often do hurt the company in some way.
select items they can't find at the big name
Examples of weaknesses are poor management, a
stores1
lack of proper planning, inadequate financial
 Some people view WFM as a store for the
resources, poor product line or services, low
wealthy only
customer satisfaction, high employee turnover,
 For 8 years, CEO John Mackey used an alias
etc.
to post messages on Yahoo Finance message
boards bashing his competitors and praising
his company. This came to light during the
Federal Trade Commission's investigation of
WFM's takeover of Wild Oats1
 Almost 50% of WFM stores are in just 6
states1
 Distribution isn't as effective as national
competitors1
Opportunities. What opportunities does the
OPPORTUNITIES organization have to grow? Where does it see
 Food companies have been increasing prices
itself in the coming years? Opportunities can
because of rising commodity prices and
MGT 302 SWOT Analysis Worksheet on Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Student Name : Audrie Bielskis
come from new products or services, expanding
its market share, getting into new markets,
diversification, de-diversification, correcting
current weakness, etc. Opportunities are derived
from conditions in the external environment,
such as demographic trends, consumer lifestyle
patterns, political, economic, and legal forces,
etc. The organization turns these patterns into
opportunities by planning on how it will respond
to these external conditions.
Threats. What are the potential threats that will
keep this organization from attaining its stated
opportunities? The most typical threats are
competition, the economy, technology or
consumer demand. As with opportunities, threats
are factors in the external environment.
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currency affects, price gap between regular
and organic food has decreased1
 58% of supermarket consumers say they are
"very concerned" about nutrition4
 63% of supermarket consumers say they've
purchased products labeled as "natural"4
 70% of supermarket consumers say highquality fruits and vegetables are "very
important" to them4
 Health food trends in U.S are growing with
formation of activist groups such as GMO
Inside6
 There is an increasing demand for convenience
food in the U.S9
 The Modern Grocery Retailing market in the
U.S. is expected to grow at a CAGR of .76%
over the period of 2012-20167
 Customers in the U.S. have been increasingly
adopting private label brands7
 According to the Food Marketing Institute,
about 28% of shoppers don't know what they
are having 2 hours before a meal, creating
opportunity in prepared meals1
 The global market for organic food and
beverages was worth $22.75 billion in 2007
and U.S. accounted for about 45% of that1
 A core group of organic consumers consists of
approximately 15% of overall American
population1
THREATS  Larger rivals such as Kroger and Wal-Mart,
are starting to offer natural and organic items1
 About 60% of natural and organic foods are
sold by regular grocery stores1
 Organic foods industry future is uncertain1
 U.S. economy is in crisis1
 Most consumers bargain shop4
 Huge chains have extremely large inventories
and elaborate distribution systems that allow
them to give customers low prices4
 General Mills Inc. has started to produce
Modern grocery retailing market in the US 2012-2016. (2013, Sep 19). M2 Presswire. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1433498529?accountid=28644
MGT 302 SWOT Analysis Worksheet on Whole Foods Market, Inc.
Student Name : Audrie Bielskis
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original Cheerios free of ingredients made
from GMOs6
Some big companies are planning changes
related to removing GMOs from their
products6
There is added pressure on brands other than
General Mills Inc. to remove GMOs from
products6
Higher gas prices, mortgage failures, job
losses, and stock market fears1