The growth of American retail chain Whole Foods is still going well. Besides 7 locations in the United Kingdom and a location in Canada, the supermarket is represented in 42 states in the USA. The counter is now at 399 locations and the 400th is soon to follow in North Carolina. Izak Heiboer, from FreshPlaza's Dutch website AGF.nl, visited the location in Durham in the same state, a relatively small shop for Whole Foods, but one in which there is a lot to see as a European.
Enjoyment
The positioning in the supermarket quickly becomes clear: it's about food, but food for enjoyment. Whole Foods has the choice of filtering out certain substances at the base of its assortment - now a list of 78 ingredients (from aspartame to foie gras). Customers don't have to worry about this any more. And Whole Foods also aims for 'healthy indulgence'. Organics aren't strict or scary at Whole Foods, they are enjoyment and the customers know that, despite the higher price level, it is based on the value.
Little packaging
The local shop chief also indicated that the high prices are mainly in people's heads. The company uses little packaging, for instance in a wide nut assortment, so that the customers can take the exact amount they want. Besides 'organic' - the local shop have no fewer than 171 organic items in their fresh assortment - local products also played a large role. Locally in the American sense, as here this can be within a 150 mile radius.
Due to the start of the American top fruit season, the local apple varieties were widely represented. The pumpkins also had a prominent place with Halloween getting close. There was also the new harvest of the Covingtin sweet potatoes from the province. Customers who don't know those products and want to try them, are helped by the employees. You can continue through the store eating from breakfast to dinner at Whole Foods. The meals are presented in such a way that your plate is soon full. Insiders say that this is Whole Foods' hit. You can get the retailer to be a caterer.
As mentioned earlier, Whole Foods is still growing. The company holds on to its strategy of the same diversity in the assortment, in which it is not in the way of adjusting the assortment or finding the lowest prices. The chain is also active in places that are not the most obvious, such as in smaller or poorer towns like Detroit. Whether this will help Whole Foods take over the rest of the US is the question. Wal-mart is also extending its low price strategy to a wide assortment of organic products. And compared to Wal-mart ($156,6 billion food turnover in the US) Whole Foods ($12.9 billion) is only a small fish. But going by the busyness at Durham Whole Foods is taking care of a demand at least.