As we enter the second week of Jana Partners and its allies acquiring a near 9% stake in the company, a few interesting developments have been revealed. However, a significant flaw in the hedge fund’s strategy remains.
* Amazon Not Buying Whole Foods Bloomberg reported that Amazon held internal discussions to acquire Whole Foods last fall, and the headlines flying around the Internet made it seem as if there was real interest. I believe there was no real interest.
Whatever internal dialogue they did have must have been perfunctory and a mere formality.
Nothing was reported about any formal discussions taking place between the two companies.
* The lowdown on Mark Bittman It was revealed (WSJ Paywall) that the notable food writer and cookbook author is being paid $90,000 to act as an advisor to Jana Partners and has purchased $25,000 in Whole Foods stock.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Mark Bittman showed up at the Whole Foods corporate office in Austin last year and made an unsolicited pitch to consult for the company. Though the company took the meeting, it turned down his offer.
Mark Bittman thinks that Whole Foods has strayed from being an innovator in food retailing, that it needs to strengthen its brand, and that it should sharpen its focus on prepared foods. I agree with all three of these statements.
While Mark Bittman may be able to help upgrade the prepared foods section and possibly improve some aspects of the company’s brand, Jana Partners needs an advocate who embodies the purity of the organic mission in order to lure that core Whole Foods organic consumer back to the store.
Comments that Mark Bittman has made recently demonstrate that he is not that person.
During his keynote address at last year’s Organic Produce Summit in California, I heard him say “organic produce or non-organic produce — it doesn’t really matter, as long as people are eating fruits and vegetables.” Others have reported a slight variation on this.
The fact that he could make such a statement at an Organic Produce Summit was beyond galling. I almost fell off my chair in disbelief when he said this.
What Whole Foods shoppers constantly complain about is how much non-organic produce the store carries. The truth is that organic matters very, very much to the core Whole Foods customer.
Mark Bittman also co-authored an article a few months ago where he called GMO-labeling “parochial”.
There may be no other issue in the organic food movement that is more politically sensitive than GMO-labeling. Mark Bittman is completely out of touch with the views of the organic consumer.
* What Jana Partners is Missing Where Jana Partners seems to have a gaping hole in its strategy is that it does not truly appreciate the importance of organic food politics.
If Whole Foods were to embrace different views and become more politically engaged, as it relates to organic, it could have an enormous impact in luring shoppers back to its stores. Furthermore, it would cost them very, very little to do so. The ROI would be astronomical and would be much more impactful than any technology upgrade that Jana Partners plans to pursue.
Based on everything that I have read, I don’t think Jana Partners understands this at all. I invite the hedge fund to contact Organic Insider to share its viewpoint when it is ready.
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Max Goldberg, Founder |
We suffered a major setback when Oregon's legislature decided against allowing local governments to create "GMO-free" zones. This sets the stage for even more GMO-contamination.
Organic certifier Oregon Tilth and Oregon State University’s Center for Small Farms & Community Food Systems have jointly released a report which highlights the challenges and deterrents that growers face when transitioning from conventional to organic fruits and vegetables.
Not surprisingly, there is significant disagreement over a checkoff program, which is intended to help promote the organic industry.
Dannon believes that it should be able to market its products as "all-natural", even if the animals producing the milk are consuming genetically-modified feed. Class action lawyers think otherwise.
I'm not an IP lawyer, but it looks like Juicero has a very, very strong case here. The company is suing Shanghai-based iTaste for patent, design, operation, and slogan infringement.
It appears that natural grocer Sprouts Farmers Market may be looking to open locations in the Northeast and Northwest, two regions where it currently does not have a presence.
Whether Nora Pouillon can find a buyer or not for her Washington, D.C. certified organic restaurant, the doors are closing on June 30th. The cost of the real estate, which comes with the restaurant, seems to be the major impediment.
