24 Oct 2021 Whole Foods Market and its outsized influence on food culture

A Hartman Group podcast discusses how co-founder John Mackey’s retirement from Whole Foods Market is a good reminder to recount the chain’s outsized influence on trends ranging from clean product standards to organics, GMOs and animal and employee welfare.

From its involvement in establishing organic standards to sustainability efforts at retail like banning plastic bags, Hartman Group analysts discuss how, since the 1980s, Whole Foods has been ahead of the curve in terms of the retail marketplace and its alignment with trends in consumer food culture. 

“In American culture, food is not simply fuel used to fortify our bodies for survival, but has become laden with signification that links directly with social class. Americans reveal and project their lifestyles with the food choices they make on a daily basis.”From Let Them Eat Cake, Caviar, Organic, and Whole Foods: American Elitism, White Trash Dinner Parties, and Diet

Click on the graphic below to listen to this podcast from a leading US food industry and retailing research consultancy…