Whole Foods to Emphasize "Health"

In an interview with the WSJ, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey unveiled a new health emphasis at the company, saying the company is going back to its roots and away from its 15-year emphasis as a foodie Mecca. (Frank Talk From Whole Foods' John Mackey - WSJ.com.)

Mackey: The biggest thing that is going to happen is beginning in the fall. We're going to begin a Healthy Eating Education initiative. We've just added a seventh core value (to the company's mission), which is Healthy Eating. Basically, we used to think it was enough just to sell healthy food, but we know it is not enough. We sell all kinds of candy. We sell a bunch of junk. There will be someone in a kiosk to answer questions, they'll have cookbooks and health books, there will be some cooking classes. It will be about how to select food, because people don't know."

WSJ: Will you get rid of the unhealthy items? You have aisle after aisle of absolutely delicious looking candies and chocolates and fudge and cakes and then you'll have someone up front at a kiosk looking through cookbooks?

Mr. Mackey: "Customers, we hope, are going to vote them out. You're just seeing the most tentative efforts at this point because the details are not ready for public release. You need to be fair. I've got to plan the revolution."

The key statement -- "customers, we hope, are going to vote them out." It's clear in the current recession that people are holding back from the more expensive food items, but my question is whether they will actually shift towards the whole foods and bulk bins that Mackey notes were a key component in the company's early days. Now those foods represent just 1% of sales and he recognizes that people aren't cooking -- hence, the plethora of prepared foods that the company also sells. In a nearby store in Virginia, for example, the prepared foods section now takes up perhaps 20% of the store, far bigger than it had until a renovation in the past year. Will bulk foods now be given more store real estate and be easier to navigate? Will the company reduce the number of packaged goods?

To push this initiative, Whole Foods will also have to become more transparent on the contents of its prepared food  items (like providing calorie labeling in addition to an ingredient list at its salad bar and prepared foods counter). That seems like an easy fix, with more information steering people towards healthier choices.

As Mackey says, "Americans are sick of being sick and fat." That's true but whether this sentiment will prompt them to cook -- as Michael Pollan advocated in his Times piece this Sunday -- and thus lose weight is another issue altogether. I, for one, hope so, and will be curious to see how Whole Foods fares with this new strategy.

- Samuel Fromartz

Comments

[Jason]

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[Sam Fromartz]

Thanks Jason will check it out.

[Melissa]

Unfortunately, I believe people tend to focus on how easy life can be, so if they can just purchase something already pre-made, then they are happy. And the mindset of, "Well, I bought it at Whole Foods", seems to make them feel as if they are eating healthy.

I for one am constantly shocked to see what ends up in people's carts when they shop at WF. Until I started looking down the aisles (because I shop the perimeters of the store, bulk bins, and dairy), I never realized WF's stocked such horrible junk and packaged foods. Shame on them! I know it is all about the $numbers$, but they should remove the WHOLE from their name if this continues. There is nothing WHOLESOME about these things...

Sorry for the ranting, but I am just disgusted with how the American public eats and thinks when it comes to food.

However, I appreciate your blog and its WISE information.

[FeedMe]

Yes, but....

Agreed that we, as a society, and especially we Americans, need to eat better but I get nervous when we talk about limiting choices in the name of "it's ifor your own good."

Who will decide? If the answer is anything other than the customer, then you're on a horrifyingly slippery slope. Is red meat bad? Saturated fat, is it always evil? Candy? Sugar, salt? HFCS? It depends on who, when, and how.

If you eliminate availability according to someone's rules, then the people who most need this guidance will not be at Whole Foods at all and they are lost to any influence the company might have had.

Educate and influence people, by all means. But honor customer choice, even if it's not what food activists might choose.

[Sprouted Kitchen]

oh I really hope that Whole Foods can pull through with this great intention. He is right, people just don't know. They feel if they buy it at whole foods, it's better for you. I wish that giant company the best of luck, that's a lofty goal.

[Sara Davison]

I for one am for the Whole Foods realization of ethics and responsibility to their patrons. It's true that people do not COOK for themselves! How does one begin to even tackle that monster & show people how joyful, worthwhile & interesting cooking can be? Through education and instilling the foundations that cooking is not only important but it is THE MOST important and most overlooked step to ones health. Not only that, but we are missing out on a fundamental part of our human existence by not participating in an event that brings us closer to our food, to caring what it is, what's in it, who grew it and where it comes from! It's all connected. http://carving-tree.blogspot.com/

[Larry]

This is a great idea! Allowing consumers to vote and pick the choices that are available the store is great. The Specific Chiropractic Center loves to provide resources for our patients to eat well and live well. This opportunity with whole foods is great for them to get into the action of creating a custom super market.

[Ken]

It's interesting to read this. It seems like Whole Foods seem to fall into a similar trap as McDonald's in this department, in that recent research shows that people think they're eating healthier simply by buying food from places with healthier options. In McDonald's case, it's having salads on the menu takes away part of the guilt of a Big Mac... in Whole Foods, they're selling a lifestyle, and if you're buying part of that lifestyle, you must be subscribing to the health that goes along with it!

It's nice that they're offering the healthy eating initiative, but relying on consumers to make the effort to inform themselves with their services, and then make the better choice enough times to literally phase out the "bad" products is, at best, wishful thinking, and, at worst, a fairly deceiving marketing strategy.