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Mt460 Management Policy and Strategy

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Unit 5: 28 Case Study Analyses
Kaplan University
School of Business and Management
MT460 Management Policy and Strategy
Author: Linda Alvarez
Professor: Dr. Marian Leerburger
Date: April, 2, 2012
Introduction
Whole Foods was established in 1980 with one store in Austin, Texas. Today, Whole Foods is the world’s largest leader in natural and organic foods. There are over 310 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Whole Foods is committed to the finest natural and organic foods available, sustainable agriculture and have one of the strictest of quality standards. Whole Foods offers customers a wide variety of products. “Natural” refers to food that is free of growth hormones or antibiotics, where “certificated organic” food conforms to the standards, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in October 2002. (Pearce, J. A., and Robinson, R. B., 2011). Whole Foods continues to grow steadily in employees and stores.

Synopsis of the Situation Will there be enough organic supply of food to satisfy the growing demand to its customers? Whole Foods has realized that due to the large demand in organics and the steady growth of customers buying organic foods, they have encountered a problem. The competition has increased and many supermarkets and grocery stores now supply organic foods and have an organic section of the store. Key Issues The Whole Food stores are targeted around well educated customers who have high salaries which enable them to afford the company’s higher prices. The organic crops have a lower quantity because it is rarer and only accounts for 3% of US farmland usage. There are strict government requirements that must be passed. It is also very time consuming and more costly. The company has an emphasis on ethics. The company will only do business with companies that treat their animals

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