OPERATIONS
Whole Foods purchases most of its products from regional and national suppliers. This allows the company to leverage its size in order to receive deep discounts and favorable terms with its vendors. The company still per¬mits stores to purchase from local producers to keep the stores aligned with local food trends and is seen as supporting the community. The company owns two procurement centers and handles the majority of pro-curement and distribution itself. Whole Foods also owns several regional bake houses, which distribute products to its stores. The largest independent vendor is United Natural Foods, which accounted for 20 percent of Whole Foods total purchases for fiscal year 2004.52 Product cat¬egories at Whole Foods include but are not limited to:
• Produce
• Seafood
• Grocery
• Meat and Poultry
• Bakery
• Prepared Foods and Catering
• Specialty (Beer, Wine, and Cheese)
• Whole body (nutritional supplements, vitamins, body care, and educational products such as books)
• Floral
• Pet Products
• Household Products.53
While Whole Foods carries all the items that one would expect to find in a grocery store (and plenty that one would not), its “heavy emphasis on perishable foods is designed to appeal to both natural foods and gourmet shoppers.”54 Perishable foods accounted for 67 percent of its retail sales in 2004 and are the core of Whole Foods’ success.55 This is demonstrated by the company’s own statement: “We believe it is our strength of execution in perishables that has attracted many of our most loyal shoppers.”56
Whole Foods also provides fully cooked frozen* meal options through its private label Whole Kitchen, to satisfy the demands of working families. For exam* pie, the Whole Foods Market located in Woodland Hill*, California, has redesigned its prepared foods section more than three times in response to a 40 percent growth in