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English 11 CP
May 24, 2012
Fortune 500 Research Paper
Whole Foods Market
Introduction
When you want to prepare a nutritious, homemade meal, where do you go to
get the necessary ingredients? Your local grocery store, right! It may surprise the
average consumer that there are 36,569 supermarkets in the United States, and of
these, there are over twenty varieties, one of which is the “Fresh Format”
(“Supermarket Facts”). Whole Foods Market (WFM) is one of the leading Fresh
Supermarkets in the country and is currently number 264 on the Fortune 500 list
(“Fortune 500”). Impressively, WFM is listed as number 32 on “The Best Companies
to Work For” (“Best Companies to Work for in the 500”).
Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin, Texas after a small group of
businessmen noticed a lack of natural, organic options for contentious consumers.
The first market opened in 1980 and was an instant success, but has grown through
mergers and acquisitions, with more than 310 stores in the U.S. and United Kingdom
to become one of the leading Fresh Markets in the country (“Company History” &
“About Whole Foods Market”).
The mission of Whole Foods is “to seek out the finest natural and organic
foods available, maintain the strictest quality standards in the industry, and have an
unshakeable commitment to sustainable agriculture” (“About Whole Foods
Market”). Along with this, they believe there must be a balance among Whole Foods,
Whole People and Whole Planet (“About Whole Foods Market”).
S.W.O.T. Analysis
Strengths
Whole Foods remains one of the leaders in organics, especially after it bought
Wild Oats. Additionally revenue has climbed 15% and earnings have nearly doubled
to $.38 a share. Selling premium organic groceries allows a higher markup, which
has drummed up net margins of 2.6% over the last four quarters (“Whole Foods
Market: Strenghs”). According to an article in Bloomberg Businessweek, the unique
culture has helped to keep the supermarket more profitable than its peers, with
gross margins of 35%, well above those of major competitors (“Eating Too Fast At
Whole Foods”).
Weaknessess
Opportunities
Threats
Benefits
Conclusion
Purple = Paraphrase
Yellow = Sunny Summarize
Red = Direct Quote
Green = Good Quoting Practice
Black text = My words (NOTE: not a lot of this)
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Works Cited
“Best Companies to Work For in the 500.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network.
2012. Web. 12 May 2012.
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2012/fortune/1205/gallery.500-best-companiesto-work-for.fortune/6.html
"DATAMONITOR: Whole Foods Market, Inc." Whole Foods Market, Inc. SWOT
Analysis (2012): 1-9. Business Source Premier. Web. 13 May 2012.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=872af685-88f4-43bbb3c6-afbdd3147ee3%40sessionmgr14&vid=5&hid=105
“Fortune 500.” CNNMoney. Cable News Network. 2012. Web. 14 May 2012.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2012/full_list/
“Whole Foods Market: Company History.” Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods Market
IP, L.P. 2012. Web. 12 May 2012.
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company/history.php
“Supermarket Facts.” FMI: The Voice of Food Retail. Food Marketing Institute. 2012.
Web. 14 May 2012.
http://www.fmi.org/research-resources/supermarket-facts
“Whole Foods Market: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.” Market
Stocker. Market Stocker, 2012. 17 May 2012.
“Eating Too Fast At Whole Foods.” Bloomsberg Businessweek. Bloomberg, L.P., Oct.
25, 2005. Web. 17 May 2012.