Whole Foods CEO on Getting Employees to Support Your Vision

Fortune

Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel discusses his business relationship with Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy, shares his thoughts on Whole Foods founder and former CEO John Mackey’s remarks on Gen Z, and addresses whether AI will replace workers at Whole Foods.

Transcript

00:00:00Post-pandemic, the prices of food have skyrocketed.

00:00:03A number of retailers have come forward in recent months

00:00:06saying that they are going to bring prices down.

00:00:08Whole Foods is known for being the cheapest grocer.

00:00:11How are you addressing that pinch on consumers' wallets?

00:00:14We've actually already been bringing, you know,

00:00:16costs down in areas that we can renegotiate

00:00:19our cost of goods.

00:00:20Do you see a world in which you can replace

00:00:23all of your store associates with AI, with robots,

00:00:28just to make it fully digitized

00:00:30and remove that human experience?

00:00:31Absolutely not. Why not?

00:00:32So many of our customers are coming to our stores

00:00:35every single week because they want to interact

00:00:38with our team members.

00:00:39It's our team members' expertise.

00:00:41It's the service that they're providing.

00:00:43I don't see this becoming digitized.

00:00:45But I would assume, yet again,

00:00:47that I'm not going to find a Whole Foods

00:00:49in a poverty-stricken area.

00:00:51So, like, when you think about things like food deserts,

00:00:53how are you addressing some of those challenges

00:00:55and how are you deciding where to open

00:00:57a new Whole Foods location?

00:00:59Hello, I'm Ruth Umo, Next Lead Editor

00:01:02and host of Fortune Executive Exchange.

00:01:04Today, I'm joined by Jason Feigl, CEO of Whole Foods,

00:01:08to discuss the grocer's expansion plans,

00:01:10how he works alongside Amazon

00:01:12after its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods,

00:01:16and what it takes to reach the corner office.

00:01:18Jason, CEO of Whole Foods,

00:01:21delighted to have you on Fortune Executive Exchange.

00:01:23Thank you for joining us this afternoon.

00:01:24So happy to be here today.

00:01:26Yeah, from Austin, Texas, I was telling you earlier,

00:01:28you got to experience the heat wave.

00:01:29How's that been for you?

00:01:30Not too far off from what you experienced in Austin, Texas.

00:01:32Pretty, yeah, pretty similar, actually.

00:01:35Yeah, both in the temperature and the humidity.

00:01:38Absolutely.

00:01:39Well, thanks for joining us.

00:01:40Let's jump right into the conversation at hand.

00:01:42We have a lot to get through.

00:01:43You grew up on a farm in Austin, Texas.

00:01:46A lot to get through.

00:01:47You grew up on a dairy farm.

00:01:50Your dad was a cheesemaker.

00:01:52Walk me through how you went from rural Wisconsin

00:01:55to the corner office of Whole Foods.

00:01:57Yeah, so actually both of my grandparents

00:02:00operated a dairy farm.

00:02:02So both my parents grew up on them.

00:02:03So while I didn't directly,

00:02:05I spent a lot of time on their dairy farms,

00:02:08especially my grandparents on my mother's side.

00:02:12And so, you know, for me at a very young age,

00:02:14it was getting exposure to all of the different work

00:02:17that goes into farming

00:02:19and being able to support our food systems.

00:02:23And one of the other things was, you know,

00:02:24we were a family that did a lot of gardening.

00:02:27So, you know, for us, the ability to, you know,

00:02:31have a better understanding and connection

00:02:32to what is it like to grow your own produce

00:02:35and, you know, eating it for meals and canning it

00:02:38and, you know, having it as sort of a way of life

00:02:41was, I think, really important as a young kid.

00:02:45And my father was a cheesemaker,

00:02:47so very stereotypical Wisconsin.

00:02:50But again, you know, through, you know, his work,

00:02:53I think having an appreciation

00:02:54of everything that goes into products, you know,

00:02:57whether it's, you know, a small, you know, cheese operator,

00:03:01he worked for a family cheese factory and business

00:03:05to, you know, something that scales larger,

00:03:07just understanding the interconnectedness

00:03:09of how the community ties into that.

00:03:13And so, you know, for me, that's something that I just,

00:03:16I look at as just valuable life lessons

00:03:18that I really appreciate.

00:03:20How did you, and I'm sure it's a long and winding story,

00:03:23and we'll certainly get into it with more granularity.

00:03:24At the time, growing up, you know,

00:03:26your dad's a cheesemaker, you're living in Wisconsin.

00:03:29Did you think to yourself, was it on your vision board,

00:03:31I am one day going to be the CEO?

00:03:33Absolutely not.

00:03:34No, it was not.

00:03:35No.

00:03:37You know, I had a bunch of different interests,

00:03:40I think, growing up.

00:03:42Technology was something I always gravitated towards

00:03:45as a kid, and, you know, school,

00:03:48I can think even back to elementary school,

00:03:50but definitely during middle school, junior high school,

00:03:54something that I thought this might be, you know,

00:03:56of interest to me.

00:03:57And so I don't think I ever thought necessarily

00:03:59the path to CEO, although my fifth grade teacher

00:04:03would constantly say I will be a president

00:04:05of a company sometime.

00:04:05She definitely made that call out,

00:04:07but it's not necessarily a path that I was expecting myself.

00:04:12You were appointed CEO when you took on the role,

00:04:14I should say, in 2022.

00:04:18Why do you think, in hindsight,

00:04:19you were selected as CEO?

00:04:21Why you?

00:04:22Well, I think a big part of it was the work

00:04:25that I had done across Whole Foods Market

00:04:28in so many different parts of our business.

00:04:30While I joined the company leading technology

00:04:34and our digital businesses, you know,

00:04:36one of the things I was able to pull

00:04:37from a lot of my experience prior to joining Whole Foods

00:04:41was, you know, how things like within our store operations,

00:04:44how we could, you know, improve those,

00:04:46not only make them more efficient,

00:04:47but better serve our customers,

00:04:49work within our supply chain.

00:04:50And so I continued to pick up more responsibilities.

00:04:54And I think a big part of it is, you know,

00:04:56I'm a curious person and I had a passion

00:04:59for how do we make our business better

00:05:01and how do we serve our customers better?

00:05:03And so one of the things that I just really appreciate,

00:05:07which I think is unique of Whole Foods is, you know,

00:05:10John Mackey and Walter Robb, when I joined the company,

00:05:14they were co-CEOs and the rest of the E-team,

00:05:16they weren't looking for folks to just play in your lane.

00:05:19Like, you know, you're only in tech, just support tech.

00:05:22They wanted us, you know,

00:05:23especially once I joined the executive team,

00:05:25to help it look at all different facets of our business.

00:05:29And so we made sure things weren't territorial.

00:05:31It's about, how do we think about Whole Foods market

00:05:33and serving all of our stakeholders in a better way?

00:05:36And so I had opportunities to learn

00:05:39in all different parts of the business

00:05:40and be able to have influence and impact in it,

00:05:43which, you know, I know isn't always the case

00:05:45for some leaders.

00:05:46And so overall, it was just different experiences.

00:05:49You know, it led me to having more responsibilities,

00:05:52like stepping into the COO role,

00:05:55obviously, you know, becoming part of Amazon

00:05:58and helping lead some of the integration work on there

00:06:01and getting to work with other parts of Amazon,

00:06:03I think helped round me out to, you know,

00:06:06step in when John had decided it was time to retire.

00:06:09So I think it's a lot of it was the experiences

00:06:12that I was able to, you know, do over my, you know,

00:06:16nine to 10 years at Whole Foods market.

00:06:19Yeah, let's touch on that.

00:06:20Your background is quite unique.

00:06:21You know, I've served as Fortune's leadership editor

00:06:23for roughly two and a half years now.

00:06:26It's not that common, especially within the, you know,

00:06:30at a supermarket chain or within grocery

00:06:32to see someone go from CIO to CEO.

00:06:36How has that tech background helped in your role as CEO,

00:06:39especially as you look to digitize Whole Foods?

00:06:42Yeah, well, I think there's a couple of things.

00:06:44One, you know, there's no facet of our business

00:06:47that, you know, isn't impacted by technology at this point.

00:06:51And when we look at, you know, how we as Whole Foods

00:06:54can be more competitive with what's happening

00:06:56in the industry in the best possible ways

00:06:59to serve our customers, interact with our suppliers,

00:07:02help develop our team members, you know,

00:07:04technology is gonna continue to be that linchpin.

00:07:08And having, you know, Amazon as our parent company

00:07:11leveraging one of the best technology companies

00:07:13in the world, I think how we figure out how that connects

00:07:16to all the things that are important

00:07:18about Whole Foods market as well are quality standards,

00:07:22the customer experience that we bring,

00:07:25the unique and curated assortment that we offer

00:07:28for our customers, helping be someone who can be sort of

00:07:31at the intersection of supporting those two things,

00:07:34I think becomes really important.

00:07:35So, you know, for me, I look at that as it's something

00:07:38that I can leverage in all of the conversations

00:07:40I'm having on a regular basis with our leaders

00:07:44and with different stakeholders in the company.

00:07:46Is your goal for Whole Foods to be a tech company

00:07:50that sells groceries or a grocer that just happens

00:07:54to be techie and digitized?

00:07:55Well, I, you know, I think-

00:07:56There's a difference.

00:07:57There is absolutely a difference.

00:07:58One of the things that I always like to say is

00:08:00we're not a grocer.

00:08:01We are a force for change in the world.

00:08:05Our higher purpose is to nourish people in the planet.

00:08:08And our goal is to change the way that, you know,

00:08:13we're able to eat, ensuring that, you know,

00:08:15the highest quality natural and organic products

00:08:18are accessible to everyone.

00:08:20And, you know, ultimately nourishing, you know,

00:08:24people on the planet isn't something

00:08:26that everybody will take on as a company.

00:08:28And for us, you know, changing the way that customers eat,

00:08:34ensuring that we will have food systems

00:08:37that will last for generations is so important for us.

00:08:42And so I look at it, first and foremost,

00:08:44we are a higher purpose company that is selling groceries.

00:08:47And by selling groceries, we're helping change the way

00:08:50that the world eats and lives.

00:08:53And we happen to use technology as a key enabler

00:08:57to do those things.

00:09:00You mentioned that you went from CIO to COO

00:09:03and then ostensibly to CEO.

00:09:05Do you think you would have been able to make the jump

00:09:08to CEO without stopping at the COO level,

00:09:12without making that pit stop

00:09:13and getting that hands-on operations experience?

00:09:18I, you know, I probably could have,

00:09:20but I don't think I would have been near as equipped

00:09:22to do my job in the capacity that I need to

00:09:25without that stop.

00:09:28And I think a big part of it is, you know,

00:09:30we as Whole Foods Market,

00:09:32the store is where the magic happens.

00:09:34And it's where we're able to create delightful experiences

00:09:39for our customers.

00:09:40And ultimately it's our team members who are, you know,

00:09:44I always say the secret sauce of Whole Foods Market.

00:09:47It's where their expertise, their customer service,

00:09:51the amazing merchandising that they do comes to life.

00:09:55And so being able to step into that role as COO,

00:09:58I was able to help be the connection point

00:10:01of how do we tie operations to all the different initiatives

00:10:04that we're doing across the company.

00:10:07And it allowed me to be more store centric as a leader.

00:10:12And I felt like that was something I really learned

00:10:14in that role.

00:10:15And it's something we've spread across the entire company.

00:10:18You know, our focus of store centricity

00:10:20is one of the key elements of our 10 year vision,

00:10:23growing with purpose.

00:10:24Why is that?

00:10:25Why this focus on stores?

00:10:26I mean, especially given the link to Amazon,

00:10:28which is e-commerce, very much techie and digital,

00:10:31why they need to have a physical footprint?

00:10:33Yeah, well, I think, you know, for us,

00:10:34it's still the primary way that we serve our customers

00:10:37and even our digital experiences are extension

00:10:40of the physical store.

00:10:42And so, so many of our customer interactions,

00:10:45our team member experiences interactions,

00:10:47they're happening in the store.

00:10:49And so for us as leaders,

00:10:51when we can spend time in our stores,

00:10:53better understanding what's working, what's not,

00:10:56where are our biggest opportunities,

00:10:58it's gonna allow us to serve our customers better,

00:11:01have better interactions with our suppliers,

00:11:03serve our community better.

00:11:05And, you know, ultimately it's working with our partners

00:11:07at Amazon to help bring in solutions as well,

00:11:11especially on the technology side

00:11:12in ways that we can support it.

00:11:15You know, if you're ordering groceries today,

00:11:17you know, here in New York,

00:11:19it's one of our stores that's helping fulfill that.

00:11:20And so even though it might be

00:11:22a completely digital experience,

00:11:23it's tying back to the store.

00:11:25It's also finding ways by which you can take

00:11:27the store experience and make them digital.

00:11:30So a customer who may not have time

00:11:32to physically come to the store,

00:11:34how do we help bring to life an amazing experience

00:11:37that's gonna allow you to help select products,

00:11:40help get some of the knowledge

00:11:41that you might be getting from one of our team members,

00:11:43help inspire a meal that you're gonna make.

00:11:45And so we can take some of the magic

00:11:47that's in our physical stores

00:11:49and help bring it into some of our digital experiences.

00:11:52You know, one of the things that we find

00:11:53is so many of our customers,

00:11:55especially our best customers,

00:11:56are shopping across both channels.

00:11:58So one day they might be physically coming in the store,

00:12:01the next they might be getting a delivery,

00:12:03the following week they might get pickup.

00:12:06So for us to understand how can we make sure

00:12:09our stores are operating in the best possible way,

00:12:12I think is gonna continue to be a differentiation

00:12:15for Whole Foods Market.

00:12:16We'll circle back to that.

00:12:18You're obviously filling the shoes of a colorful,

00:12:23larger than life co-founder

00:12:25who held that role for some 42 years or so.

00:12:28How do you make a name for yourself internally

00:12:31when you're following such a visionary?

00:12:35Yeah, well, people always ask,

00:12:37how hard is it to step in those shoes?

00:12:39And what I always share is it's impossible

00:12:41to step into John's shoes.

00:12:44John is a legend, not only at Whole Foods Market,

00:12:47but our industry.

00:12:48He was one of the pioneers

00:12:49that helped create organic here in the U.S.

00:12:52and ultimately it's flourished across the world.

00:12:54And so for me, it's not about trying

00:12:56to sort of recreate John.

00:13:00For me, it's being my own self

00:13:02and authentically connecting with our team members.

00:13:05And so that looks like what in practice?

00:13:07Yeah, so one of the things that I did

00:13:10after it was announced that I was stepping

00:13:11into the CEO role is I went on

00:13:15an immediate kind of visit to,

00:13:17at the time we called them regions,

00:13:18all the different parts of the company.

00:13:20And I did something called team member connection meetings.

00:13:23And a big part of it was understanding

00:13:25what were our team members looking for?

00:13:27What were they looking for from me as a leader?

00:13:29What were they looking for from the company?

00:13:31And one of the things that I really quickly spotted

00:13:35was we needed, I think, a clearer vision

00:13:38of where we were going.

00:13:39Because one of the challenges in being a subsidiary

00:13:42is unlike a public company

00:13:43where you're talking very publicly

00:13:45on all the different initiatives

00:13:47and the things that are going on

00:13:48and what's gonna happen in the next quarter,

00:13:50we've been very quiet in that space and very purposeful.

00:13:53And so it was figuring out how can we blend

00:13:56and bring some more transparency

00:13:58to the vision and strategy of the company

00:14:00to a broader team member base.

00:14:02And I also thought there was an opportunity

00:14:04to have our team members be more directly involved with that.

00:14:07And so coming out of some of those learnings,

00:14:09we created something called the whole conversations tour.

00:14:12And this is where I visited every single one

00:14:15of our geographic areas within Whole Foods Market.

00:14:18And we spent multiple days visiting stores,

00:14:22connecting with suppliers,

00:14:23connecting with community partners,

00:14:25connecting with customers,

00:14:27and then had a dedicated day

00:14:29where we brought together representatives,

00:14:31two representatives from every single store,

00:14:34usually the store team leader

00:14:35and someone we call a culture champion ambassador,

00:14:39which is a team member at large within the store.

00:14:42And we spent that entire day

00:14:43for each one of these operational areas

00:14:46to deep dive into the biggest opportunities

00:14:48and challenges that we have as Whole Foods Market.

00:14:51It was a brainstorming exercise.

00:14:54And we also looked at ways,

00:14:55what are things that we can do tomorrow

00:14:56coming out of the meeting that we can go pilot?

00:14:58So we were green lighting,

00:15:00things to help create better experiences.

00:15:03And then we took a lot of the long-term feedback

00:15:05and I brought this together

00:15:06and across our executive leadership team,

00:15:09we took so many different points of that feedback

00:15:12and wove it into our 10-year vision,

00:15:14which we call growing with purpose.

00:15:16So what was some of that feedback?

00:15:17What came out of this brainstorm session?

00:15:19Yeah, I think our team members had some,

00:15:21as it relates to our team member experience, as an example,

00:15:24there were some things

00:15:25that we stopped doing during the pandemic,

00:15:28whether it was around different growth

00:15:29and development initiatives,

00:15:31whether it was work that we did

00:15:32in connecting with our communities.

00:15:34I think a lot of the things went away unconsciously.

00:15:38Everybody was so focused on like,

00:15:40how do we just handle the business

00:15:41that's coming into the stores every day?

00:15:43How are we dealing with social distancing?

00:15:45How are we dealing with supply chain challenges?

00:15:47Some of the things that were really valuable

00:15:49within our team member experience went away.

00:15:52Even our suppliers,

00:15:53we would talk about different things

00:15:55that we did for collaboration

00:15:56when we sort of went into pandemic mode,

00:15:59some things sort of fell apart.

00:16:01And so some of this was actually just revitalizing programs

00:16:05and initiatives that really engaged

00:16:07a number of our stakeholders,

00:16:09like our team members and suppliers,

00:16:10or even our community members.

00:16:12And so a big part was helping relaunch these things

00:16:15and then also identifying new opportunities

00:16:17that we have as well.

00:16:19And that's something where I've been really proud of

00:16:21as we launched our vision,

00:16:24Growing with Purpose last January,

00:16:26was sharing the specifics of where our team members

00:16:29were actually part of that process.

00:16:31And to be honest,

00:16:32I got an opportunity to use both

00:16:35that whole conversations tour.

00:16:38And then last year we did a roadshow

00:16:40where every single one of our stores

00:16:42was visited by a member of our executive team.

00:16:45And I was in over 90 stores with that process.

00:16:49And so it was a way to connect firsthand

00:16:52with our team members.

00:16:54As part of that, we spent time sharing the vision.

00:16:56We took questions on it.

00:16:58We did a walk of the store.

00:17:01And ultimately this allows us as leaders

00:17:04to have a better understanding of what's happening

00:17:07inside of our operations every single day

00:17:09and where we have greater opportunities as a company.

00:17:13And so for me, that was one of the ways

00:17:16I was able to connect and for team members

00:17:19to have a better understanding of how I lead

00:17:21and ultimately helping paint the vision

00:17:24of where we are going as a company.

00:17:28I've also put into place a very regular set of check-ins

00:17:31with all of our team members.

00:17:33We do what we call quarterly all-hands huddles.

00:17:36And so these are sort of live events

00:17:39that our team members can watch.

00:17:41We break it down to small bite-sized clips

00:17:44so any team member can decide to get updates

00:17:47on different parts of what we cover in these.

00:17:49I do a monthly newsletter.

00:17:52And for me, a big part of that is sharing my connection,

00:17:56personal connection to the work that we're doing

00:17:58and sharing stories that I experience

00:18:00as I'm going around and visiting with our team members,

00:18:03with our suppliers, talking to our customers.

00:18:07And I think what our team members ultimately realize

00:18:10is one of my goals is to make sure

00:18:13we can all thrive and be successful.

00:18:15And I'm oftentimes asked, what does my legacy look like?

00:18:21And for me, it's ensuring that Whole Foods Market

00:18:24can continue to serve customers for future generations

00:18:28without compromising our quality standards,

00:18:32maintaining our culture,

00:18:34and ultimately serving the highest quality natural

00:18:37and organic foods in the industry

00:18:39for decades and decades to come.

00:18:41And so I think it's also important for our team members,

00:18:43especially our longer team members,

00:18:45to have an understanding of why I'm in this role

00:18:49and what do I care about.

00:18:52What's your leadership style?

00:18:53So I'm somebody who really likes to be collaborative,

00:18:59interacting with people.

00:19:01I'm someone who would probably be called a servant leader.

00:19:04My goal is to understand the different inputs

00:19:08of stakeholders as I make decisions.

00:19:12And my belief is having a broader perspective

00:19:16in looking at a stakeholder model

00:19:18helps make sure as leaders,

00:19:20we don't make unintended consequences

00:19:23that come out of some of the decisions that we make.

00:19:26And in some cases, well, as an example,

00:19:29if you're only looking and making a decision

00:19:31through one vantage point, or as an example,

00:19:35if the only focus is around

00:19:37how do we improve profitability,

00:19:39and we're not thinking about what the impacts might mean

00:19:43to customers and taking away service

00:19:45or team members or suppliers,

00:19:49that might be a great short-term decision,

00:19:51but how is that helping sustain

00:19:52and support the business over the long-term?

00:19:55And so it's a balancing effort.

00:19:56And so there's many things that we have to do

00:19:58in improving profitability.

00:20:00And so my goal is to figure out

00:20:01how do we find win-win solutions?

00:20:04And oftentimes, it's in those conversations

00:20:07with stakeholders and getting the different vantage points

00:20:10that allows you as a leader to say,

00:20:12ah, this seems like this might be the place

00:20:14for us to take this direction or make this decision.

00:20:18And so I work really closely with,

00:20:21all members of our executive team.

00:20:24We have a senior leadership team that I bring together.

00:20:26And our goal is I want everybody to be connected

00:20:29of where we're going as a company.

00:20:32It doesn't mean, at certain points,

00:20:34you have to make decisive, direct decisions.

00:20:38During the pandemic was a good example

00:20:39where we didn't have time, in all cases, to do so.

00:20:43And so I think as a leader,

00:20:45you have to trust when you know

00:20:46you have to move faster sometimes

00:20:49and when the rest of the organization is ready to go

00:20:50or where it's important to make a quick decision.

00:20:53And for me, I think building the trust with our team

00:20:57that I'm gonna be looking at it

00:20:59from a broad sort of vantage points,

00:21:01I think is really helpful when you're having to make change

00:21:04within the organization,

00:21:07especially when it may not always seem to be great news

00:21:09for every stakeholder group.

00:21:11How do you get, let's think about maybe your team

00:21:14or even those who report into your direct reports.

00:21:17How do you get them excited about your vision?

00:21:19Because presumably you have the CEO and co-founder

00:21:22who's been there for years, a lot of loyalists,

00:21:24you're the new guy, you're fairly young for a CEO.

00:21:28And so they might also think,

00:21:30okay, this is the Amazon guy, the tech plant,

00:21:32you come from that tech background.

00:21:34How do you get them to really buy into your vision

00:21:37for the company and come along?

00:21:38Yeah, well, the best part is it wasn't

00:21:40just buying into my vision.

00:21:41This is something we co-created together

00:21:44as an executive team and co-created

00:21:46with the rest of our organization.

00:21:47And that's why doing the whole conversations tour

00:21:50was so important.

00:21:51But the other part-

00:21:52So everyone went on the tour

00:21:53and it wasn't just you, it was the entire executive team.

00:21:55Yeah, so the tour, we had several of our folks

00:21:58from our executive team and our senior leadership team join.

00:22:02They weren't in every single one of our stops on that one.

00:22:05But the roadshow that we did last year,

00:22:07every single one of our executive team members

00:22:09was part of that process.

00:22:11And so not only did they help create this vision,

00:22:15but they have the responsibility

00:22:16in helping bring it to our stores.

00:22:18So it doesn't matter if you're leading operations

00:22:23or real estate, store design and construction,

00:22:26or legal, or merchandising and marketing,

00:22:29or team member services, which we call HR.

00:22:33Your responsibility as a leader in the company

00:22:35is helping support sharing our vision

00:22:37and our strategy with our team members.

00:22:40And so I think most of my team would say,

00:22:44this is part of our responsibility.

00:22:46We helped co-create it.

00:22:47This isn't Jason's.

00:22:50And yes, there's certain parts in different things

00:22:52where I had to make the final decision

00:22:54on what this element may look like,

00:22:56or this priority needs to get pushed to next year.

00:22:59This one might need to get brought up for this year.

00:23:02But I think a big part of it

00:23:03is we have mutual respect and trust built in with our team.

00:23:09We all know that we're here at Whole Foods

00:23:12because we wanna be able to support our purpose

00:23:16of nourishing people on the planet.

00:23:17We wanna do the right thing for our companies

00:23:20and our stakeholders.

00:23:21And I think it's why we all happen to continue

00:23:25to be engaged and we're proud of the work

00:23:27that we're doing as a company.

00:23:28You started in consulting, correct?

00:23:30You were at Accenture early in your career.

00:23:32That's correct.

00:23:33Do you think consultants make for good CEOs?

00:23:35Could you have gotten to be a CEO

00:23:37without working within Whole Foods, for instance,

00:23:41or an actual company and getting that hands-on experience?

00:23:44Yeah, I look at it as one of the best things

00:23:47that anyone can do coming out of college.

00:23:50If you plan to have any career in business,

00:23:53regardless of industry, the ability to learn so much

00:23:57from work you're doing with different companies,

00:24:02working with coworkers that have expertise

00:24:05across a wide variety of areas,

00:24:08I just think it's unbeatable.

00:24:10I coach so many folks.

00:24:12I think doing a consulting gig is even better

00:24:15than going and getting an MBA

00:24:16because every single day,

00:24:19you're living a real-life case study, likely.

00:24:21And I just had such a great fortune

00:24:24in having such wonderful mentors and leaders

00:24:27while I worked in consulting, wonderful clients,

00:24:30some of which I still keep in great contact with today.

00:24:33And I learned so much about the retail industry,

00:24:36including grocery, while I was doing that work.

00:24:40For me, it, I think, really helped

00:24:43when I stepped into Whole Foods

00:24:45and was leading the technology team

00:24:47and the work that we did on digital businesses.

00:24:51And ultimately, I still use some of those same skills.

00:24:56For instance?

00:24:58One of the things I love is I'm a problem solver.

00:25:01I mean, that was, I think when you're a consultant,

00:25:03that's something that you have to be good at

00:25:06or you're probably not gonna be very successful.

00:25:08And so, when you're a leader,

00:25:11and whether it was being a CIO

00:25:13and leading technology to operations,

00:25:15where you got problems that are coming every single day

00:25:17and you're having to make quick decisions,

00:25:19to being a CEO and having to sometimes arbitrate

00:25:22between different stakeholders,

00:25:25the ability to sort of bring folks together

00:25:28and do so sometimes adding diplomacy into the process

00:25:32and finding these win-wins.

00:25:35And sometimes, when I think to my past,

00:25:38I was really good at problem solving,

00:25:40I wasn't always good at looking at the lens

00:25:44and perspective of all the different stakeholders.

00:25:46And so, a bunch of things that I've learned

00:25:48since being at Whole Foods is extending sort of my peripheral

00:25:52into how I can take all different points of feedback

00:25:56and input and making that I think has helped well around me.

00:25:59But going back to your question is,

00:26:01I think it's absolutely made me be able to be more successful

00:26:04in my current role.

00:26:05And like I said, I encourage so many folks

00:26:07coming out of college.

00:26:08It's a great way to get a understanding

00:26:11of different industries, different companies,

00:26:14and different leadership styles.

00:26:15My opportunity to work with C-level executives

00:26:19at a number of different retailers.

00:26:21And there's things that you learn that you wanna emulate,

00:26:23and there's things that you see that don't go well,

00:26:26and you wanna make sure you don't fall down

00:26:28those same pitfalls.

00:26:29And so, there's a lot of opportunities to learn

00:26:34from what's worked well and what hasn't worked well

00:26:36from some of those experiences.

00:26:38Amazon famously bought Whole Foods in 2017

00:26:42for nearly $14 billion.

00:26:44Talk to me about that partnership.

00:26:46Are you in close communication with Andy Jassy?

00:26:49How do you lean on the larger tech vehement?

00:26:52Yeah, so we're actually part of something called

00:26:55Worldwide Grocery within Amazon,

00:26:58which is something that's been in place

00:27:00for about two years.

00:27:02And it's actually been great because we are partnered up

00:27:05and working really closely with all the different facets

00:27:09that support grocery around the world for Amazon.

00:27:12And so, for us, it's making sure

00:27:13that we are leveraging capabilities

00:27:16to make sure that we can serve customers

00:27:18in every different facet for how they're buying groceries,

00:27:21regardless of where they live.

00:27:22Specifically tech capabilities.

00:27:24Well, it could be tech, and it can be the other capabilities

00:27:26that we build as well.

00:27:27But heavily on tech is one of the areas

00:27:29that we've done a lot of investment in.

00:27:33One of the things we want to do

00:27:33is make sure that we're not recreating the wheel.

00:27:34And so there's things that we're learning

00:27:36from each other in this space.

00:27:38So there's expertise that Whole Foods

00:27:40is helping provide into the broader team.

00:27:43And at the same time, there's expertise.

00:27:45I mean, we've brought in some leading retailers

00:27:48from around the world that are part of this team.

00:27:51Tony Hoggett, who is the leader I report into Whole Foods,

00:27:54is a longstanding Tesco team member.

00:27:58And so I feel like it's been so great for us

00:28:01because we're now working really closely

00:28:03with other folks who really understand our business

00:28:06and have led other businesses around the world

00:28:10within grocery.

00:28:11And so it's not just on the technology side,

00:28:13it's other things that we can learn

00:28:15for how we can be better grocers

00:28:17and ultimately serve our customers better.

00:28:20Answering your question on Andy,

00:28:22we as Whole Foods and Worldwide Grocery

00:28:25meet with him on a pretty regular basis.

00:28:27It ends up being quarterly every once in a while

00:28:30with a few extra meetings sprinkled in there.

00:28:34I did have a chance to have lunch with Andy

00:28:36a month and a half ago for some one-on-one time.

00:28:38But it's one of the things

00:28:40I'm just really continually amazed by

00:28:42is just the leadership at Amazon

00:28:46and just the brilliance of how do we connect together

00:28:50all of these different offerings that we have

00:28:53to serve our customers better.

00:28:54And so that's something that's gonna help make us better

00:28:57as a company.

00:28:58And ultimately our goal is to serve our customers

00:29:03in the best way possible.

00:29:05And Amazon has just done wonderful things for us

00:29:08since the acquisition in 2017.

00:29:10We've been able to lower our prices.

00:29:13We've been able to take prime

00:29:14and have that be our loyalty program.

00:29:17We stood up an amazing delivery business

00:29:20that was so crucial during the pandemic for our customers.

00:29:24We're implementing world-class leading technology now.

00:29:27We just introduced a new subscription service

00:29:30a month and a half ago for 9.99 a month.

00:29:33Our customers can get unlimited free deliveries

00:29:36from Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh

00:29:38for orders over $35.

00:29:40And these are all ways by which we're bringing

00:29:43more convenience, value,

00:29:45and great assortment to our customers.

00:29:48And for Whole Foods Market,

00:29:49a way for us to continue to thrive

00:29:51and share the products that we love and sell today

00:29:54that meet our quality standards,

00:29:57which we're so proud of.

00:29:59I want to follow up on that because as we know,

00:30:01and I'm sure you know,

00:30:02Amazon is doggedly obsessed with the customer experience.

00:30:06Have you found that Whole Foods embodies that ethos

00:30:11far more now than it did pre its acquisition?

00:30:15Yeah, I think this is one of the areas

00:30:16we actually had a lot of overlap.

00:30:19I'd say we were both customer obsessed.

00:30:22I think the ways that we solved for it were different.

00:30:25And the methods we used were maybe a little bit different.

00:30:28And so I think we're in a hybrid space right now,

00:30:31which is even better place of where we were pre-acquisition.

00:30:37Throughout the history of our company,

00:30:38we were a very decentralized organization,

00:30:42which allowed us to meet our customer needs

00:30:44down to a store level on stuff.

00:30:46The challenge with that is it's tough to scale.

00:30:49And so we had all of this within our DNA.

00:30:51And so now we're working through ways

00:30:53by which we can sort of understand

00:30:56what does a customer want and need,

00:30:59and how do we work backwards

00:31:00in helping bring that to fruition?

00:31:03And so there's been so many, we call them mechanisms,

00:31:06new mechanisms that Amazon has helped to introduce

00:31:08and ways of working that are helping us

00:31:11build scalable solutions

00:31:13and ways to actually serve our customers

00:31:15and have that same customer obsession.

00:31:18How? Give me an example.

00:31:20I mean, I think a great example of that is,

00:31:24some of it's on how we look at every new initiative

00:31:28that we're doing as a company.

00:31:31Sometimes you might actually call it

00:31:32a working backwards document,

00:31:34or folks might've read online,

00:31:35there's something called a PRFAQ process

00:31:38where you write a press release

00:31:40and you answer some of the key questions

00:31:41of what would be going on for this initiative or project

00:31:45that you're looking to go after.

00:31:46And so I think what it's had us do

00:31:49is be more methodical in looking in some of those areas

00:31:52and pulling things from a deeper data perspective

00:31:55and using customer insights.

00:31:58And I think matching that

00:31:59with some of the scrappiness we have in the business

00:32:02to move fast in testing stuff and failing fast,

00:32:06combining those two things together,

00:32:08I think has brought some great experiences to our customers.

00:32:13One great example is our new format,

00:32:16Whole Foods Market Daily Shop,

00:32:18which will be opening this fall,

00:32:20the first store this fall in the Upper East Side.

00:32:23We found out we had an unmet customer need.

00:32:26So many of our customers who love going to Whole Foods,

00:32:29especially here in Manhattan,

00:32:30we didn't have a store in close proximity to their house,

00:32:33or they felt going into the store

00:32:36took a little extra time than they had

00:32:38and they wanted something that could help support

00:32:40a fill-in shop or a quick grab-and-go item.

00:32:44And that allowed us to sort of look at different ways

00:32:47in solving this.

00:32:48We've been able to test things within our existing business

00:32:51for concepts that we'll be bringing into this new store.

00:32:55A great example of that is something called Juice & Java.

00:32:58So it's a program where we're reinventing

00:33:00our coffee and juice bars into a new set of offerings.

00:33:04And this will be in all of our stores

00:33:07across Whole Foods Market Daily Shop.

00:33:09And so it's something that we could start testing now,

00:33:11and it's built into the long-term plan

00:33:14of a new concept that we're doing.

00:33:16And there's countless items within our assortment.

00:33:18I was actually just visiting a supplier

00:33:20about three weeks ago who's making some custom products

00:33:24that we're gonna be putting into this store

00:33:26that we've actually brought into some of our existing stores

00:33:28to start testing to see how well these things resonate

00:33:31with our customers.

00:33:32And so the idea is figuring out how to be agile

00:33:35and at the same time staying really close

00:33:37to what our customers are saying

00:33:39and having a deep understanding

00:33:42of how we can best take their feedback

00:33:45and the data that we have

00:33:46in making better decisions for the company.

00:33:50We'll soon talk about your vision for Amazon

00:33:54as we move forward, especially your 10-year vision.

00:33:56I wanna go back maybe five, 10, 15 years ago

00:33:59when Whole Foods pre-Amazon really became popular.

00:34:02Its key differentiator was organic foods.

00:34:05It was great for people like myself who are health nuts.

00:34:08I was vegan for seven years.

00:34:10I remember I was vegan at the time,

00:34:11always shopping at Whole Foods.

00:34:13It was pricey, but it felt exclusive.

00:34:16These days I'm seeing a lot of lower priced retailers,

00:34:21Walmart, Aldi, Trader Joe's that are also offering

00:34:24organic produce, organic foods, healthy foods.

00:34:28If you want something a bit more upscale,

00:34:30there's Air One in LA, there's Eataly here in New York City.

00:34:34What is Whole Foods differentiator today?

00:34:37Yeah, well I'd say our differentiator then and today

00:34:41is still the same, and it's our quality standards.

00:34:43It's the fact that we have 550 banned ingredients

00:34:47that you're not gonna find in the store.

00:34:49It's our elevated animal welfare standards.

00:34:52It's our sustainable seafood sourcing standards.

00:34:54It's our cage-free and cage-free plus egg standards.

00:34:58And so one of the things that I look at it is

00:35:00we do the homework for our customers so they don't have to.

00:35:04And that's something that I think is invaluable,

00:35:07not only from a customer time perspective,

00:35:08but it's helping build the trust

00:35:11that they know if they're gonna buy this product

00:35:12at Whole Foods Market, it's past our very rigid

00:35:17quality standards.

00:35:18And at the same time, we've taken the opportunity

00:35:20to invest in price.

00:35:22You know, we recognize that customers have a lot of choices

00:35:24today in where they might buy organic product.

00:35:27Well, you're gonna continue to find the largest assortment,

00:35:30the deepest breadth and depth,

00:35:31the most differentiated assortment.

00:35:33You're gonna find, in my opinion, and I'm biased,

00:35:35the best private label brand in grocery in 365,

00:35:41as well as our Whole Foods Market branded products.

00:35:42And this is something where we can serve all customers

00:35:46across a wide spectrum and making sure we have

00:35:49the highest quality products at great value for customers.

00:35:54Food prices.

00:35:55I mean, post pandemic, the prices of food have skyrocketed.

00:36:00A number of retailers have come forward in recent months

00:36:03saying that they are going to bring prices down.

00:36:05Whole Foods is it known for being the cheapest grocer.

00:36:08How are you addressing that pinch on consumers' wallets?

00:36:11We've actually already been bringing costs down

00:36:13in areas that we can renegotiate our cost of goods,

00:36:17ultimately also looking in areas by which we know

00:36:20these are decision points that customers are making.

00:36:23Am I shopping with Whole Foods or another retailer?

00:36:26One of the things that we've done since the beginning

00:36:28of this year is across 25% of our items

00:36:31in the average store, we've reduced prices.

00:36:34Many of those, about 880 of those have been

00:36:37in opening price point items.

00:36:39Specifically, you'll see a lot of those as 365 items.

00:36:43And a big part of that is ultimately connecting

00:36:46with customers where items that are most important to them

00:36:50and where there's the greatest price sensitivity

00:36:54in decisions of where they're gonna shop

00:36:56and what products they look to pick up.

00:36:59The other thing that we've done is we've significantly

00:37:01increased our number of promotions across the store.

00:37:04And we've gone deeper into those promotions.

00:37:06And so that's allowed us to actually see

00:37:08a double-digit jump in promotional sales at Whole Foods,

00:37:12as well as a double-digit increase

00:37:14in the number of promotional units

00:37:16that we're moving week in, week out with our customers.

00:37:19And we're finding that this has really resonated well.

00:37:22Our customers have a better understanding

00:37:24of the products that we're selling,

00:37:26the investments that we've made into price,

00:37:28and the great promotions that we have.

00:37:30The other thing that's been really helpful

00:37:31is being part of Prime.

00:37:33And so all of our customers who are Prime

00:37:36get 10% off of all of our sale items.

00:37:39We also have amazing Prime member deals every single week.

00:37:42So every Tuesday, we've got just over a half dozen item,

00:37:46as well as every Friday.

00:37:49On Tuesday, as an example, our customers can get $2 off

00:37:52a rotisserie chicken.

00:37:53On Friday, you can get a $12 pizza with one topping.

00:37:57And so these are ways that there's value

00:37:59that customers can find every single day

00:38:01coming into Whole Foods.

00:38:02As we continue to see prices come down

00:38:06across the food system,

00:38:07this is an area that we will lean in

00:38:09and help them bring that value to our customers.

00:38:11And one of the things that I also see

00:38:13as an opportunity for us is,

00:38:15right now when you look at both in-home

00:38:17versus out-of-home food consumption,

00:38:19prices have gone up more significantly

00:38:22in restaurants, in quick serve, in fast food.

00:38:25And so we're trying to make sure we have offerings

00:38:27for our customers to be able to say,

00:38:30okay, maybe I'm just gonna have this at home.

00:38:32And whether they're making a decision around,

00:38:34you know, going to a steak restaurant

00:38:37or getting an amazing ribeye at Whole Foods

00:38:39and grilling it at home,

00:38:40to going to our prepared foods counter

00:38:43and, you know, getting some great items of sandwich,

00:38:46salads, and individual meals that, you know,

00:38:49are gonna be at a great price, great quality,

00:38:52and ultimately helps serve families on budgets.

00:38:56I'd assume that your customers are fairly affluent.

00:39:00Have they been resistant to price increases for groceries?

00:39:05Well, I think, you know, the reality is,

00:39:07is we have a broad set of customers.

00:39:09And so I think sometimes people assume

00:39:12that all of our customers, you know, are very affluent.

00:39:14We have a broad spectrum of customers

00:39:16and our goal is to continue to expand that.

00:39:19And so that's one thing that we've been really proud of

00:39:21as we've invested in price,

00:39:22we're bringing more and more customers come in.

00:39:25And sometimes customers who would only come in

00:39:27for a special occasion, like a holiday or a celebration,

00:39:30we're seeing them more frequently.

00:39:32One of the things that, you know, I'm excited about is,

00:39:34you know, we've seen record customer traffic

00:39:37coming into our stores.

00:39:38We continue to break records.

00:39:39This year alone, we broke two weekly records

00:39:42for bringing customers into our stores.

00:39:45And so what it's showing is that

00:39:47it's not just our customers who've always shopped Whole Foods

00:39:50we're bringing in new folks

00:39:51and many of them are coming in

00:39:53because of the promotions, the value,

00:39:55and the quality that we have.

00:39:57You say that you have a range of customers

00:40:00and I think that's certainly valid.

00:40:02That said, Whole Foods is still a business.

00:40:05You can speak more to this,

00:40:06but I would assume yet again

00:40:08that I'm not gonna find a Whole Foods

00:40:09in a poverty stricken area.

00:40:11So like when you think about things like food deserts,

00:40:14how are you addressing some of those challenges

00:40:16and how are you deciding where to open

00:40:18a new Whole Foods location?

00:40:19Yeah, so, you know, our goal is

00:40:21we have so much opportunity for growth as Whole Foods market.

00:40:26You know, we have just hundreds and hundreds of stores

00:40:29that we can even add here in the US given the demand.

00:40:32And so we ultimately look at

00:40:34where can we be successful and sustainable as a business?

00:40:37And at the same time, you know,

00:40:39through work within our higher purpose

00:40:42as well as our foundations,

00:40:44we've actually tried to help support areas

00:40:47like food deserts.

00:40:48And I'd say we've been one of the most bold retailers

00:40:51and even taking steps in there.

00:40:53We've opened several of what we would call

00:40:54whole city stores

00:40:56where we've made an investment into those communities

00:40:59and not just offering the highest quality

00:41:02natural and organic products at a great price in stores,

00:41:05but helping serve in supporting education and awareness

00:41:09around the importance of eating healthy.

00:41:11It's also a big initiative within our whole kids program

00:41:15within our foundation is making sure that kids

00:41:19at a very young age have an understanding

00:41:21and the importance of eating healthy

00:41:22and even have a chance to try, you know,

00:41:25fresh produce and fruits and vegetables

00:41:28and can be, you know, part of programs that we do in schools

00:41:32with, you know, garden programs

00:41:34and bringing salad bars into schools

00:41:36to help expand the awareness

00:41:38and even being able to taste these types of products.

00:41:41And so for us, it's making sure we wanna be able

00:41:44to help democratize

00:41:46and bring more accessibility across the board.

00:41:50So that's something that has continued

00:41:51to be important for us.

00:41:53You said at the top of the conversation

00:41:54that you're at Whole Foods,

00:41:56you're still very store centric.

00:41:58Do you see a world in which you can replace

00:42:01all of your store associates with AI, with robots,

00:42:05just make it fully digitized

00:42:07and remove that human experience?

00:42:09Absolutely not.

00:42:10Why not?

00:42:11For a variety of reasons, you know,

00:42:13I think one of the things that's really unique

00:42:15about Whole Foods and it's why being store centric

00:42:18is so important is, you know,

00:42:20so many of our customers are coming into our physical store

00:42:23as a way to escape.

00:42:26They're looking for inspiration.

00:42:27You know, I take our Manhattan West store,

00:42:30which I was at yesterday.

00:42:31It's like an oasis in Manhattan.

00:42:33You step into the store, the sights, the smells,

00:42:37the team member experiences that you have.

00:42:39This is something that I think is really unique

00:42:41to Whole Foods market.

00:42:43And so many of our customers are coming to our stores

00:42:46every single week

00:42:48because they wanna interact with our team members.

00:42:51It's our team members' expertise.

00:42:52It's the service that they're providing.

00:42:54I don't see this becoming digitized.

00:42:56You don't think you can mirror that online?

00:42:59I don't. Create a unique oasis?

00:43:01I actually don't know that customers

00:43:03are actually looking for that.

00:43:04I think, I'll get there in a second

00:43:06around how I think technology can support it.

00:43:08But, you know, when you're looking to make a cheese board,

00:43:12you know, interacting with a certified cheese professional

00:43:15who is able to give you a taste of a product,

00:43:18talk about a pairing,

00:43:19helping show how you could bring a set of items together.

00:43:23This isn't gonna be an experience

00:43:24that you're gonna be having with chat GPT

00:43:27or, you know, just having some digital interaction with.

00:43:31This is where it's human connection.

00:43:33It's a conversation.

00:43:34It's having a deeper understanding.

00:43:36It's sharing recommendations

00:43:38of someone who's been able to try this.

00:43:40You know, AI, at this point,

00:43:42I don't think is gonna get into actually tasting products.

00:43:45You know, it'll be influenced by opinions of others.

00:43:48But this is something where I think

00:43:50the human connection is really important.

00:43:52Where I think technology can support some of these things

00:43:55is for our customers looking to have a digital experience,

00:43:57understanding pairings.

00:43:59Also for our own team members,

00:44:01if we're able to use AI and different technology

00:44:05to take away some of the administrative, mundane tasks,

00:44:09the things that are not adding value

00:44:10for our team members or our customers,

00:44:12to reserve the time to have these amazing interactions

00:44:16around, you know, preparing a cheese board

00:44:19or, you know, interacting with our butcher

00:44:22and helping choose what are the exact cuts

00:44:24and right meats that you'll be wanting to get

00:44:26for a meal and a celebration

00:44:28that you're helping prepare for.

00:44:30That's the way I think

00:44:31that we can have a complimentary aspect

00:44:33of these two things coming together.

00:44:34How are you using AI now

00:44:35in a really meaningful bottom line impacting way?

00:44:38Yeah, I mean, there's a number of things

00:44:39that we've already got underway.

00:44:41Some of it is just helping simplify

00:44:44the way that our suppliers can interact

00:44:46with Whole Foods Market,

00:44:47helping support basic things like the item setup process

00:44:50or things that have to be validated

00:44:52by a lot of human intervention today.

00:44:55We're also doing a lot of work

00:44:57in ways by which we're gonna improve our supply chain

00:45:00and improving our forecasting

00:45:02and looking at ways on different variables

00:45:05for how our business may need to adjust

00:45:08based upon weather conditions

00:45:10or special events that come up

00:45:12or different disruptions that take place

00:45:14within the supply chain.

00:45:16I also think this is gonna have a major impact

00:45:18in how we serve customers going forward.

00:45:21You know, one of the things I want us to be able to do

00:45:23is, you know, today we localize assortment

00:45:27based upon geography,

00:45:28but the reality here, even in New York,

00:45:31you know, our closest store, One Wall,

00:45:33has got sort of different customer needs

00:45:35than the next closest store, Tribeca

00:45:37or our Bowery store or our Chelsea store.

00:45:40And so how do we refine that assortment

00:45:43to be more curated to more of the neighborhood feel?

00:45:46And so we're doing a lot of work in this space right now

00:45:48and AI is gonna play a role in that.

00:45:50I think in the digital space,

00:45:52especially for our customers who are shopping online,

00:45:55ways by which they can help build baskets easier

00:45:58and more dynamic,

00:46:00better understanding of how they can take

00:46:02what they've purchased and creating great inspirations

00:46:05for what they might decide to make for a meal.

00:46:08So I think there's so many ways that technology

00:46:10is gonna play a role for our customers,

00:46:12for our team members, for our suppliers

00:46:15that are gonna allow us to continue to lead in grocery.

00:46:18I discuss leadership yet again.

00:46:20How has the culture at Whole Foods

00:46:21changed under your leadership?

00:46:23What culture have you instilled there?

00:46:24Yeah, I wouldn't say it's necessarily changing the culture.

00:46:28I think it's really helping reinvigorate it.

00:46:30One of the things that I learned

00:46:32through the whole conversations tour

00:46:33that we talked about a little bit earlier

00:46:35is finding ways by which we can serve our customers

00:46:41and our team members in the right way.

00:46:43And one of the things that we learned in that was

00:46:45there's a couple of things that we probably adjusted

00:46:48in our culture programs that disappeared.

00:46:50And so our job is to help sort of revitalize that.

00:46:53And one of the ways that I'm doing this right now

00:46:54is through what we call our culture champions.

00:46:57And so every store has a number of culture champions.

00:47:01Right now, we're about 25,000

00:47:05across our store team member base.

00:47:08And these are folks who go through a special training,

00:47:10have an understanding of our culture,

00:47:12the unique differences of Whole Foods Market,

00:47:16and ultimately they have a deeper connection

00:47:18to our higher purpose and our core values.

00:47:20And so what I can do is help work with these team members

00:47:24ensuring that we've got the culture

00:47:27that we wanna have across the company.

00:47:28And so there's a number of events and things that we do.

00:47:31Every single store has their own culture champion ambassador

00:47:35and we use these team members as sounding boards,

00:47:37both at the store level,

00:47:39they work with our store leadership

00:47:40and looking at opportunities that we have

00:47:42and improving our team member experiences

00:47:44and culture in every store.

00:47:46And then we look across the board and say,

00:47:48how do we take this feedback up more broadly

00:47:50in making decisions?

00:47:51And we took a number of actions over the last two years

00:47:55in helping address ways by which our team members

00:47:59wanted to not only change and improve our culture,

00:48:02but even changing aspects of our team member experience.

00:48:05We've made significant investments

00:48:07in growth and development initiatives.

00:48:09We've got career development programs

00:48:11for every single step of leadership

00:48:14at the store level in the company.

00:48:15We continue to add apprenticeship programs.

00:48:17So I mentioned earlier about,

00:48:19our certified cheese professional and butcher.

00:48:21We also have a bakery decorator apprentice.

00:48:24I'm actually meeting with one of our graduates tomorrow

00:48:27in our Brooklyn 3rd and 3rd Street,

00:48:29who's gonna teach me how to decorate cakes.

00:48:31We'll see how well that goes.

00:48:32Exactly, I don't think this is gonna go so well.

00:48:35We're rolling out a new program in produce and pizza.

00:48:37And this has come from input from our team members

00:48:40who wanna make sure that they've got the skills

00:48:42to be successful.

00:48:44And we've also made enhancements into areas like pay

00:48:48and benefits through feedback.

00:48:50We've enhanced our 401k match.

00:48:53We've changed the way that we've looked at

00:48:54some of our medical and healthcare benefits

00:48:57and bringing more options for our team members.

00:48:59And so, for me, one of the goals is,

00:49:02helping make sure that we've got a collaborative culture

00:49:05that's in service of supporting

00:49:07the best customer experience that we can create.

00:49:09It's that customer obsession that we talked about

00:49:11a little bit earlier.

00:49:13And at the same time, realizing that our team members know

00:49:15that we will have a transparent environment

00:49:18where they know our vision, where we're going

00:49:21and how their role plugs into that work.

00:49:23And at the same time, we're not just growth for growth sake.

00:49:27We're here to support our higher purpose

00:49:29of nourishing people on the planet.

00:49:31So I look at a big part of my job is,

00:49:33when John retired, making sure that I'm sort of

00:49:36carrying the torch forward.

00:49:37And in many cases, I'm helping sort of unleash

00:49:40some of the things that have really helped create

00:49:42for success for us in the past and guiding us forward

00:49:45as far as how we can continue to grow and evolve

00:49:48as a company and preparing for more growth.

00:49:51We're going to be starting with some unprecedented growth.

00:49:55Since the acquisition, we've not opened a great deal of stores.

00:49:59We've had a lot of relocations.

00:50:01We've opened new stores.

00:50:02But it's been not necessarily that incremental increase.

00:50:06We currently have 75 stores in development right now.

00:50:11Our goal is to get to a point of opening about 30 stores a year,

00:50:14which have been sort of our peak,

00:50:16even at sort of our highest point.

00:50:17And we'll be ready for that in just a few years.

00:50:20And that'll be across both Whole Foods Market,

00:50:22as well as our Whole Foods Market daily shop concepts.

00:50:26And making sure that our team members

00:50:29are ready to support that growth is a big, important part

00:50:32of my role in making sure that we've

00:50:34got the culture to continue to support

00:50:36growth in a scalable way.

00:50:38You say that you're really leaning in on the employees

00:50:42as a primary stakeholder, one of the primary stakeholders,

00:50:46listening to their feedback and so on.

00:50:48Whole Foods has long been anti-unionization efforts.

00:50:52So how do you reconcile that, the stated goal

00:50:55that you're really focused on the employee, with the fact

00:50:58that your co-founder and the company as a whole,

00:51:00much like Amazon, has been anti-union?

00:51:02Well, the way that I look at this is we have an open door

00:51:05policy within Whole Foods Market.

00:51:07And it's one of the things that I'm so proud of.

00:51:11Any team member has an ability to go to a leader above them

00:51:15to share feedback and have a dialogue.

00:51:18I mentioned team member connection meetings

00:51:20that we do several times in this conversation.

00:51:22I'm involved in hundreds of them a year.

00:51:26And so many of our leaders are as well.

00:51:27The roadshows that I was just mentioning,

00:51:29we do one of these team member connections in every single

00:51:32store that we go to.

00:51:34Last year, I was part of, I think,

00:51:36six or seven of them alone.

00:51:37And so this open dialogue directly with our team members

00:51:41to be able to make sure that we're working together

00:51:43to create that team member experience,

00:51:45I think that's the winning combination.

00:51:47It's not bringing in other folks

00:51:49to try to arbitrate something.

00:51:50It's how do we work together in ultimately creating

00:51:54a great team member experience in service for our customer.

00:51:57And so I don't look at it as it's one stakeholder

00:52:01versus the other.

00:52:01It's figuring out how do we create win-wins

00:52:04collectively together.

00:52:06Going back to your co-founder,

00:52:09and I mean, he also worked with you for a loved one.

00:52:12So you worked with him for quite some time, John Mackey.

00:52:15Is Whole Foods still pro-conscious capitalism?

00:52:18I mean, he's been very vocal in recent months,

00:52:21talking about socialism has taken over,

00:52:24the younger generation doesn't want to work,

00:52:26you have to earn meaningful work.

00:52:27Are those sentiments that you agree with?

00:52:29And again, how do you reconcile statements and sentiments

00:52:32from the founder and where Whole Foods is now?

00:52:34Well, one of the things I respect about John

00:52:36is John will have opinions on many different things

00:52:39and he has the right to have those opinions.

00:52:43As it relates to conscious capitalism, absolutely yes.

00:52:47When you look at how conscious capitalism grew,

00:52:51it was companies like Whole Foods Market

00:52:53that started taking a stakeholder view

00:52:56and not just looking at how are we serving

00:52:59a short-term investor mindset quarter to quarter,

00:53:04but what is the best way to support a sustainable business

00:53:07where all stakeholders can win?

00:53:10And that's something I'm still really proud of today.

00:53:12Many of the examples that we talked about

00:53:14is I try to stay connected.

00:53:16Part of the reason I'm here in New York

00:53:18is there's a major conference and convention going on

00:53:21and it's a great opportunity for me to connect with suppliers

00:53:25as an example.

00:53:26And so I think one of the things we have an opportunity

00:53:29to do across business is find more of these win, win, win

00:53:33outcomes that we can collectively build

00:53:35so we can sustain business over time

00:53:37and we're not playing sort of a month to month,

00:53:40quarter to quarter game,

00:53:41which oftentimes is gonna have a zero sum effect.

00:53:44There might be some short-term wins,

00:53:47but ultimately it's gonna probably come

00:53:49with a degraded customer experience,

00:53:52a poor team member experience,

00:53:54friction in the supply chain with suppliers.

00:53:56And so for me, absolutely,

00:53:58we continue to support many of the elements

00:54:00of conscious capitalism.

00:54:02I actually have been a supporter of many of the efforts

00:54:06of the organization as well, even in this role.

00:54:09And so I look at it as our opportunity to help show

00:54:13how can we lead as a company

00:54:15and ultimately drive great outcomes.

00:54:17And being purpose-based is a big part of that as well,

00:54:20making sure you have a higher purpose

00:54:22and your team members and all of your stakeholders

00:54:25have an understanding of where you're trying to go.

00:54:27And for us, nourishing people on the planet,

00:54:29ensuring that we're helping protect our food systems

00:54:32for future generations is so important

00:54:35to what we do as a company.

00:54:37And that's one of the things I'm so proud of.

00:54:39Just a few more questions before we go on to rapid fire,

00:54:42because I know we are running up on time.

00:54:44What do you look for in your C-suite hires?

00:54:46One of the things I mentioned earlier,

00:54:48I'm a problem solver.

00:54:49I like other folks who are problem solvers.

00:54:52I like folks who like to debate

00:54:55and help make sure that we're raising the bar

00:54:58as we're making decisions.

00:55:00Folks who will look at different parts of our business

00:55:04and wanna look at it in a panoramic view,

00:55:06and not just sort of stay in their lane

00:55:08and focus only in their space.

00:55:10And that's one of the things I appreciate

00:55:12about the discussions with my team.

00:55:15I'm so fortunate because our team,

00:55:18not everyone grew up throughout Whole Foods Market,

00:55:20but we've all been here for many years working together.

00:55:24Two of my direct reports actually started out

00:55:26as part-time team members at Whole Foods Market,

00:55:30both in companies that we ended up acquiring,

00:55:32Fresh Fields and Mrs. Gooch's.

00:55:37The dynamics that we have where we brought together

00:55:40longstanding Whole Foods Market team members

00:55:42combined with industry leaders from other companies

00:55:45has just made us a great team.

00:55:47You said recently, or you said previously

00:55:50that in your first year, you overextended yourself

00:55:52and have since had to be conscious

00:55:54about unplugging and sustaining yourself

00:55:56because the CEO job is a marathon, not a sprint.

00:56:00How have you changed?

00:56:01Because when I see a CEO, I'm like,

00:56:03okay, you're a high achiever, you guys say that,

00:56:05but have you really pulled back

00:56:06and how do you find the balance?

00:56:07Yeah, I mean, one of the things,

00:56:09I mentioned the roadshow that we did last year.

00:56:11So that added a lot of extra travel and such.

00:56:15We reformulated for this year.

00:56:16So I felt it was important to keep that connection

00:56:18with every store.

00:56:19So we extended this to all of our senior leadership.

00:56:23And so it's put far less burden on us as individuals.

00:56:27And so for me, it's trying to be just more conscious

00:56:29about where and how I'm spending my time.

00:56:32And then also making sure that I'm putting

00:56:34in those block times for taking time off.

00:56:38And in stressful weeks, I still have time to go do a run

00:56:42and I'm somebody who likes cryotherapy

00:56:45and just different ways I can take care of my body.

00:56:47And so that's something where I think as an individual,

00:56:50you have to make sure that you're prioritizing that.

00:56:53I will say on my scorecard or report card for this year,

00:56:57I'm not an A, but I'm probably a good solid B

00:57:00and I will get to a B plus,

00:57:02especially over the summer months

00:57:03and taking some more time off.

00:57:06I've got a vacation coming up in Wisconsin

00:57:08in just a few weeks, which would be great to unplug.

00:57:10But it's one of the areas where I've gotten

00:57:12so much advice on and continue to make sure

00:57:15that I am thinking about this.

00:57:17And so it's one thing that I also think is important

00:57:19for me to lead by example.

00:57:21So when I'm taking vacation on PTO, I'm unplugging.

00:57:25I'm entrusting our leadership team,

00:57:28whoever's on duty for different things

00:57:30to really take on those responsibilities

00:57:34and it allows me to actually unplug

00:57:37and make sure that when I jump back into work,

00:57:40I'm replenished and I'm ready to get back in.

00:57:44And it allows, I think, for that team member

00:57:46to have that added responsibilities while I'm gone

00:57:48and not feeling like I'm still trying to meddle in

00:57:51on emails or calls or what have you.

00:57:53And so I think it can set a positive example

00:57:56and can have a great outcome at the same time.

00:57:58And it's one of the things that I oftentimes ask,

00:58:00we were just at a store earlier today,

00:58:03even amongst the store leadership,

00:58:04I'm asking like, what have they got for summer plans?

00:58:07When are they taking time off?

00:58:08Like making sure that we're reminding

00:58:10across the entire organization.

00:58:13It's really important that there's a reason why we have PTO

00:58:16and there's a reason why we wanna make sure

00:58:18we're taking care of ourselves for the marathon

00:58:20because we've got a lot of great things

00:58:22that we'll be doing as a company.

00:58:23Two years in as CEO, as you reflect,

00:58:26what do you know now that you wish you knew

00:58:30at the start of your corner office tenure?

00:58:33Oh, that's a great question.

00:58:35I think for me, one of the biggest lessons learned I had

00:58:39is even though in COO, a vast majority

00:58:44of the different functions the company reported to me,

00:58:46I had all of our stores and our supply chain and technology

00:58:50and team member services and real estate and such,

00:58:54but just the change of moving into the CEO role,

00:58:58the how folks react to whatever you say or do

00:59:02is amplified to a large degree.

00:59:05And I look at even the differences of visiting a store

00:59:08in my COO role versus the CEO role is different.

00:59:12And so I'm somebody who's curious.

00:59:14I was mentioning that a little bit earlier.

00:59:15And so sometimes I'll be asking like,

00:59:18oh, why is this product merchandise this way?

00:59:20Or do we think about X, Y, or Z?

00:59:22And sometimes people will immediately jump into,

00:59:24Jason doesn't like this, or we need to change this,

00:59:27or now we need to go try this.

00:59:28Or he mentioned this, so now permanently

00:59:31it needs to look like this.

00:59:32And so I've wanted to make sure that I'm really careful

00:59:36for how I use my words,

00:59:37and as well as I wanna inspire and ask questions

00:59:41and I'm curious and I wanna make sure

00:59:43we can maybe learn through something,

00:59:44but I'm being really clear about that.

00:59:46And that's something that, it was interesting I learned

00:59:49because in some cases I'm interacting with the same folks,

00:59:52but once you sort of move into the CEO role,

00:59:56the way that folks sort of react to your words

00:59:59and even emails that you might send

01:00:01are a little bit different.

01:00:02That's really interesting.

01:00:03So let's use that same example.

01:00:05How would you rephrase it now?

01:00:08Yeah, so I'd actually say, I'm curious about this.

01:00:11What have you thought about this?

01:00:12And then sort of like have them share a little bit

01:00:15and say, maybe if you wanna try this,

01:00:18but then let me know how it goes.

01:00:20Or I'll be really clear, I'm not asking you to change it,

01:00:23but I'm asking you to go look into X, Y, and Z.

01:00:26And I think it's helping set the expectations

01:00:28where I'm giving a little bit more clarity.

01:00:31And also I think a big part is also sharing

01:00:33with some other leaders around,

01:00:36making sure that people don't misinterpret

01:00:38some of the things that I share.

01:00:39And so just being, I think really mindful

01:00:42on what I'm saying and how I'm saying it,

01:00:46and even sending certain things like emails.

01:00:48Like, again, I'd send a lot of emails before

01:00:51and just asking about different things.

01:00:53Now it's all of a sudden where it's like,

01:00:55oh, Jason sent it.

01:00:56We need to have an answer within six hours.

01:00:59And it's like, I don't want people staying up all night

01:01:01trying to figure this out.

01:01:02They can get to it tomorrow morning.

01:01:04So in some cases, it's making sure I'm careful

01:01:07when I'm sending it, or I'm just clear like,

01:01:09hey, I want someone to look at this 24 hours

01:01:12or 48 hours is fine.

01:01:14Interesting, and then very quickly,

01:01:15because you mentioned a little bit earlier

01:01:17that one trait you look for in C-suite hires in particular,

01:01:20someone who likes to debate.

01:01:22How do you find the balance between someone

01:01:23who likes to debate and someone who just likes to argue,

01:01:26have something to say?

01:01:27Well, and I think those things

01:01:28are two really different things.

01:01:30Okay, and you suss it out by looking for what?

01:01:33Someone who's debating is helping bring facts

01:01:36to why they might be arguing a different point of view.

01:01:39And I think what can happen through a good debate

01:01:41is getting to a better outcome.

01:01:43So you may have two completely different points of view,

01:01:46but maybe what you end up doing is someone moves,

01:01:4910% or 5% or one idea within someone else's point of view

01:01:54might actually come together to build something.

01:01:57And so when you're arguing,

01:01:58you're usually just arguing against something

01:02:01versus I think in a debate,

01:02:03you're sharing why are you passionate about X, Y, and Z.

01:02:06And so I think there's a huge difference.

01:02:08And I'm someone who likes to sort of hone in

01:02:10on when somebody is just trying to argue against something

01:02:13or digging their heels in

01:02:15versus somebody who is really passionate about something.

01:02:19We've had, I can think of a couple of examples

01:02:21just in the past few weeks where,

01:02:24even amongst some of my own direct reports,

01:02:27we're on different pages

01:02:28and they might not fully change my mind on something,

01:02:31but they may actually evolve my point of view slightly

01:02:35where we get to a better outcome.

01:02:37Great, all right, we're not up on time.

01:02:39Rapid fire questions, just a couple of words here.

01:02:41One sentence, do you shop in-store

01:02:43or get groceries delivered?

01:02:45I shop in-store 98 to 99% of the time.

01:02:50And most of my delivery is only when I'm in

01:02:53an absolute rush.

01:02:54I do build a lot of baskets online

01:02:57that I don't actually check out on

01:02:58because I wanna see what our customer experience is.

01:03:01But I love going to our stores.

01:03:02It's one of my favorite things to do.

01:03:04Even when I'm on vacation, that's something that's fun

01:03:06and it's great for me to be able to get amazing food.

01:03:09I love to cook.

01:03:10I love to share food.

01:03:11So yeah, I'm an in-store person.

01:03:13I'm the exact same way.

01:03:14What's in your Whole Foods cart?

01:03:16What are the staples?

01:03:17Yeah, so always whatever's in season within produce.

01:03:21I'm always buying bananas, blueberries,

01:03:24anything that you can use for like a smoothie.

01:03:27I'm also someone who buys a lot of prepared foods

01:03:29when I'm on the go traveling a lot.

01:03:31That's what I just did for lunch today.

01:03:33When I think of some of our staples in the store,

01:03:35you will always, I buy a lot of peanut butter.

01:03:37It's one of my key staples.

01:03:39Always going in smoothies.

01:03:40I eat it all the time.

01:03:41So I've got like kind of favorites

01:03:43across every single department of our store.

01:03:45Do you actually buy groceries

01:03:46or are you hitting the hot bar?

01:03:48I do both.

01:03:49And so it kind of depends upon what I'm eating.

01:03:52I lean more towards salad bar.

01:03:53So typically salad bar is for lunch a lot of days.

01:03:57So I don't pre-make a lot of my own lunches

01:03:59but I'm always making my own breakfast myself

01:04:02which is usually a smoothie or oatmeal,

01:04:04something in that space.

01:04:05And then dinner is where I usually will make something

01:04:09myself if I'm not going out.

01:04:12What's your favorite kind of cheese?

01:04:13Oh, this is tough

01:04:14because it all depends upon the time of year.

01:04:18And so there's a lot of people don't realize

01:04:19there are certain cheeses that only come out.

01:04:21I didn't know that.

01:04:22Yeah, different times of year.

01:04:23So you take like a Rush Creek Reserve

01:04:25which is one of my favorite holiday cheeses

01:04:29from Upland Cheese in Wisconsin, Rogue River Blue,

01:04:32also a cheese you can only usually get in the holidays

01:04:35which is a blue cheese, both of them award-winning.

01:04:38Over the summer, Jasper Hill has a Harbison

01:04:42and sometimes they've got different ones

01:04:44that have different washes on.

01:04:45Some are like beer washes and such.

01:04:48So it sort of depends upon the time of the year

01:04:51but I'd say Parmigiano-Reggiano is a cheese

01:04:54you can get year round.

01:04:55It has so much functionality and at Whole Foods

01:04:59we have the very best Parmigiano-Reggiano.

01:05:01Great, gotta check it out.

01:05:02Last two questions.

01:05:04Best leadership advice you've received.

01:05:07Yeah, I think it really comes down to making sure

01:05:11in any major decision that you're making

01:05:14that you're bringing a broad perspective to it.

01:05:18And many times it's having a dialogue

01:05:21with someone around it.

01:05:23And it's been advice that has been given to me

01:05:25so many times and even when you're in a stressful situation

01:05:30in a crisis, you gotta make a decision quick,

01:05:32just having an ability to kind of stop, take a moment,

01:05:36think about it and have a conversation.

01:05:38I think it's so important so you don't have

01:05:40an unintended consequence that comes into place.

01:05:43As a CEO, you have decisions you're making all the time

01:05:46in a grocery business where things are moving so fast

01:05:48and you've got perishable supply chain

01:05:50and you have to make decisions that impact

01:05:53100,000 plus team members.

01:05:56Just really being conscious on those moments

01:05:59and thinking it through.

01:06:01Final question here for you.

01:06:02What does it really take to become CEO?

01:06:05When you look back, what are the skills and traits

01:06:07you think got you to the corner office?

01:06:10Yeah, I think in my case, it was the ability

01:06:14to not just think about one sort of function,

01:06:19but think about the inner workings,

01:06:21the broader system of how things come together

01:06:24and a passion for wanting to raise the bar,

01:06:27especially in serving customers the very best way possible.

01:06:31And so I'm a systems thinker by nature.

01:06:35I'm a problem solver and I'm somebody who ultimately,

01:06:39I love working with people and I love bringing people

01:06:42together to deliver amazing outcomes.

01:06:44So I've got the best job in the world, in my opinion,

01:06:48and I know I'm biased, but working for a company

01:06:51where I know that we're helping change the world,

01:06:54we're helping protect our food systems

01:06:56for future generations, and each and every week

01:06:59we're surprising and delighting millions of customers

01:07:02is rewarding.

01:07:03And so having experiences in how to help deliver

01:07:06those pieces together, I think is what landed me

01:07:09in this chair.

01:07:10Did you have a retirement plan to go back to farming?

01:07:14I'm sure whatever I do, I'll be-

01:07:16Farmer Jason.

01:07:16I'll be heavily connected to food in some aspects.

01:07:21I had a garden since I, well, I didn't grow up on a farm.

01:07:26I did gardening since I was seven.

01:07:28And so- And you still do.

01:07:30Well, in current situation, not as much as I would

01:07:34actually like, a lot of failed attempts.

01:07:37I live in a condominium, so it's a little difficult

01:07:40to do some of that, but I'm still part of being able

01:07:44to enjoy food from my parents' garden when I'm back

01:07:47in Wisconsin and such.

01:07:48But I think no matter what I do,

01:07:51it'll still have connections with food.

01:07:54Fantastic.

01:07:54And at some point, having time to spend time

01:07:57in my own garden as well.

01:07:58Yes, yes, absolutely.

01:08:00Well, thank you so much for such a robust conversation.

01:08:02This was great. Thanks so much

01:08:03for having me.

01:08:04Of course. I really appreciate it.

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