So why is Mackey the object of anger? Even though Mackey himself is a vegan, his stores sell meat. Many vegans are angry about this choice. Others are angry about Whole Food’s acquisition/merger with their competitor, Wild Oats.
We must admit we cringed when we heard about the loss of Wild Oats. While we shop regularly at Whole Foods, on a visit to Kansas City one of our staff visited a Wild Oats store. At first she was disgruntled by the lack of signage in the produce department. No signs indicated whether or not the produce was organic. The thrilling discovery was that all of the produce was organic. One could only hope that someday the same will be true in a Whole Foods store, or at the very least, that there will be separate sections for organic produce so shoppers who buy only organic do not have to wade through conventional produce and products to find their purchases.
On the other hand, it’s easy to understand why Mackey is admired. For the 11th year in a row, Whole Foods is ranked as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” by
John Mackey is proof that it is possible to be an honest and reputable businessman, a fair and respected employer, a philanthropist, an environmentalist, and a capitalist with an ever growing business that never cuts corners at the expense of its employees or its customers.
What originally gave you the idea of starting Whole Foods Market?
Back in 1978 my girlfriend at the time, Renee Lawson, and I thought it would be fun to open a business that aligned with our ideals and lifestyle. We opened Safer Way in an old Victorian house in Austin, Texas. We had a small vegetarian shop on the first floor,
Did you have big dreams and aspirations, or did you figure you’d just open a few stores and that would be it?
After being in business for a couple of years, Safer Way went from one little store to merging with another small natural foods store to form Whole Foods Market and relocated to a 10,000-square-foot store in Central Austin. We were pretty satisfied with that one store until 1988, when Austin experienced its worst flood in over 100 years and our store was completely wiped out. After rebuilding the store, we decided to expand to a second store in North Austin to avoid the risk of being put out of business with another flood. After we opened our second store, it seemed to make sense to open a third store, and we simply grew from there. We certainly never imagined in our early days that we would ever have 275 stores!
You said in your blog that you spent a lot of time trying to figure out the meaning of life. Did you come to a conclusion?
I came to a conclusion for myself. The meaning of life for me is love.
There are idealists and there are entrepreneurs. You seem to be both, and that is not a common combination. How do you balance? Do you have to compromise? Have you ever found it difficult to make a moral choice over a profitable one?
If you read my Conscious Capitalism posting on our website, I think you will get
a bit more insight on this topic. I do think there is a way to create win-win-win strategies so that all the major stakeholders win and benefit together. I don’t really think compromise or tradeoffs are necessary.
You are very outspoken and not just about your business. We find this unusual in a CEO. What compels you to be so open and honest and forthright?
Why is this unusual? In my opinion, honesty and forthrightness should be fundamental traits of those who run businesses. However, I believe there is too little honesty and openness in the world today.
You were a Democrat in the past but changed your views and are now a Libertarian. What changed your mind?
Well the last time I voted for a Democrat for President was in 1976. I have almost always voted strictly libertarian since the 1976 election. Why? Because I believe in promoting “Free Markets and Free Minds” and the Libertarian Party comes closest to those values. The Democrats usually support free minds, but not free markets, while the 
You recently had some trouble with the FTC. We at OLM are not real happy with the FTC or the FDA for many reasons, mainly because they protect big business at the cost of people’s health. Would you care to comment on this?
Trouble is putting it lightly. Their continued, bizarre bullying for over a year after we completed the merger was a waste of time and money and it was a violation of our due process rights. Is Whole Foods a monopoly? The answer is obvious to everyone with common sense: “Of course not!” We are less than one percent of the retail food market in the USA and less than 10 percent of the organic foods market. No one is compelled to shop at any of our stores, and our competition is everywhere. Why would the government allow for such money and time-wasting when there are serious economic issues to deal with?
I understand that you adhere to a vegan diet with the exception of free range eggs. When did you decide to stop eating meat and why?
I believe a vegan diet is the healthiest, mostDid you ever consider not selling meat at Whole Foods?
The fact is, the vast, vast majority of our shoppers eat meat. I cannot force my personal food preferences on our business or on our shoppers. So, we are looking for the MOST humane ways possible to raise farm animals out there to really make a difference in the industry as a whole. I’m very excited about this and we will soon be launching a pilot program in a few of our meat departments on this front with the expectation to expand our program to all of our stores. We will begin having a 3rd-party certify the animal welfare treatment for all the meat we sell in our stores.
We commend you for getting the MSG out of your stores. What other ingredients does Whole Foods Market not allow to be sold in the stores?
Any chance Whole Foods Market could ban high fructose corn syrup?
Some of our readers have told us that they love shopping at your store, but they can’t always afford to buy organic. Can you recommend ideas to these shoppers? When or what foods may someone be better off spending the extra money to buy organic, and when or what foods may someone be able to save money and buy conventional?
Have they checked out “The Whole Deal” value guide in our store now? I shop our store all the time and I am amazed at some of the deals
Any big plans or news you care to share with our readers?
I’m really excited about the success of the Whole Planet Foundation, which we launched in 2005. The Foundation is dedicated to creating seeds of individual economic prosperity and fighting poverty by providing entrepreneurial opportunities for the poor in developing countries where we source products. We do this by assisting entrepreneurship and self-employment through income-generating microenterprises via access to capital through microloans. To date, we have made thousands of loans, to help make a difference by empowering individuals in the global community through entrepreneurship.
Also, I’d like to spread the word about our Local Producers Loan Program. This is a low-interest loan program we started last year to help farmers and artisan food producers here in the U.S. grow their businesses. We’ve helped 30 small producers to date by providing low-interest loans amounting to more than $1 million.
And lastly, I’m excited about launching our 5-Step program for animal welfare. We will be launching this in early 2009 on a pilot basis to further strengthen our standards on this front.
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