I agree with Rob, Whole Foods is a great company, a great neighbor, and a great employer. Whole Foods offers a two tier buying program that enables local stores to work with local vendors. This allows small start up companies to compete with National Brands. These local companies employ locally, produce locally, and revenue generated by sale of their product goes back locally. Also Whole Foods allows local vendors access to their regional distribution system. This access allows a small vendor to get their product into more than one store in a region. The by-product of this is less fossil fuel being burned by small companies driving around to individual stores delivering one or two cases at a time. Take a look at all the great products featured in a Whole Foods and then imagine how many delivery trucks were eliminated by Whole Foods allowing one truck to deliver those products. And speaking from experience the retail price that you see at Whole Foods is a value. If a product is priced too high it will not sell and in the perishable food segment this benefits no one. Whole Foods has very strict criteria when you submit your product for consideration. When you purchase your products at Whole Foods you can be assured that they have looked at the method used to produce the product, the ingredients used and whether the vendor is giving back. The "giving back" is not marketing for Whole Foods it is the way they do business!

The fact that Whole Foods is one of the top 5 companies in the US to work for is important. Wal-Mart treats its employees like dirt; Whole Foods treats its employees with respect. A non-union workforce with strong relations to management is just as good for the workers as a unionized workforce constantly fighting with management.

They don't want to unionize because it hinders a "team" work environment. Many progrssive companies eschew uninonization.

It should also be noted that CEO John Mackey takes a salary of $1 per year.

Mother Jones - Comments for "Whole Foods Smells Weakness, Buys Wild Oats"