Organic grocers’ merger undesirable
Supporters of a Whole Foods-Wild Oats merger say it wouldn’t create a behemoth setting prices at will and crushing competition because large giants like Safeway sell organic food.
Recently, I stopped by a Safeway and observed.
Whole Foods and Wild Oats have large produce sections where a majority of the items sold are organic. The Safeway I saw had a large produce section, but only a small percentage of the produce available of a limited variety was organic.
Whole Foods and Wild Oats sell meat and poultry that is exclusively naturally raised. Only a small percentage of Safeway’s meat and poultry is naturally raised. Safeway has the occasional organic peanut butter, cereal, or tomato paste. Whole Foods and Wild Oats have shelves and shelves of a huge variety of canned, packaged and refrigerated organic foods.
Organic food at Safeway is a sideline for impulse buyers. Organic food at Whole Foods and Wild Oats is their reason for existence.
If Whole Foods merges with Wilds Oats, then they will dominate the market in Colorado for grocery stores committed to organic and naturally raised foods.
We didn’t want Rockefeller to dominate oil. I don’t want a tycoon to dominate organic foods.
Peter Gross, Denver
I will shed a tear for you peter as this is such a hot debate in the world of gorp.
wow one store taking over another and who knows it could mean better buying power and lower prices.
How much of this so called organicly grown food is from America where there are standards for their growing, and how much comes form latin America? A place where they still use DDT and other pesticides banned for over 20 years in the States. Then shipping it with the claim it is organicly grown.
I have seen many Safeway displays that say the food is organicly grown then in smaller print it says it comes from Mexico.
Posted by on August 28, 2007 07:08 AMMr. Gross,
I'm so glad you did your homework before writing this letter. You went to ONE WHOLE SAFEWAY, and then compared it to Wild Oats and Whole Foods. One store, vs. an entire chain. Here is what will happen:
Whole Foods will dominate the "natural food store" channel. But as the other "big 4" players move towards organic, including Wal*Mart (#1), Kroger (#2), Safeway (#3), and Albertsons (#4).
From MSNBC:
(Wal*Mart) has opened "a new Supercenter this week in the Dallas suburb of Plano features over 400 organic foods as part of an experiment to see what kinds of products and interior decor can grab the interest of upscale shoppers."
From the Food Business Review:
"Kroger’s expanded organics line is being sold under its exclusive Private Selection® brand and includes more than 60 products such as pasta, waffles, tea, peanut butter, snacks and milk. Most products will be available in Kroger’s family of stores by the end of September. Private Selection Organic ™ items can be found throughout the stores including refrigerated cases, produce, cereal, canned vegetables, baking and juice aisles." - This is in addition to other organic labels already being offered at Kroger retail outlets.
The merger will really have no impact on this at all. If anything, it will drive cost down, as bigger players such as Wal*Mart, Kroger, Safeway, and Albertsons expand their organic offerings, to draw customers from Whole Foods at a better price.
I would also recommend visiting your local butcher shop, the farmers market, or maybe even investing in growing some of your own organic food. But, this merger is actually going to hurt Whole Foods in the end, as they now scramble to lower prices and keep up with the Giants. You shouldn't really fear a company that is the 21st biggest food chain, behind giants such as SuperValu, Wegmans, Giant Eagle, and Aldi.
Posted by Dan2 on August 28, 2007 10:01 AMI remember when I first went into the then-new Whole Foods in Cherry Creek.
The store had not even been open a week, and ALREADY it was selling expired food.
(It must have gotten that food from other Whole Foods stores.)
I went into that store just a few times after that, and each time I was so disappointed
(for whatever reasons) that I swore I would never come back.
And now it turns out that Whole Foods plans to shut many Wild Oats stores once they are bought.
The only bright spot with the planned merger: Once it goes through, stores like Vitamin Cottage will probably see an increase in sales after the Wild Oats stores become Whole Foods or are shut down.
Posted by Leroy on August 28, 2007 10:42 AMI thought about going on the "Whole Foods Diet". It's a simple diet, you just buy all your food at Whole foods and you soon realize, you cannot afford to actually eat it. It must be stored in a bank vault.
Posted by Dravur on August 28, 2007 03:37 PMI thought about going on the "Whole Foods Diet". It's a simple diet, you just buy all your food at Whole foods and you soon realize, you cannot afford to actually eat it. It must be stored in a bank vault.
Posted by on August 28, 2007 03:43 PMWe have an echo in here...
Posted by on August 28, 2007 04:46 PMOrganic food is the biggest scam since - well since Human caused Global Warming - this type of food harvesting is causing lower crop yields and unhealthy animals. Plus it costs twice as much as food treated with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. When you come down to it everything is "organic" as it all comes from the earth we live on - right? We didn't import our pesticide ingredients from Mars did we? (tongue in cheek)
Organic food IS a scam, but not for the reason that ""(posted August 28, 2007 10:08 PM) probably thinks.
My brother worked on an "organic" farm in Northeastern Colorado back when he was in college. This farm produced food for Whole Foods.
Well, one day he happened to be on the farm when, according to him, they were spraying pesticides on the crops.
He asked his boss about this, and the boss said that every so-called organic farm was spraying their crops.
My brother, on the other hand, also worked for another organic farm where the rules were followed.
Guess which farm was more successful -- the one selling its "organic" produce to Whole Foods, of course.