John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods Market, is one of the most consequential American entrepreneurs of our time.
Whole Foods began in 1980 as a small hippie health food store in Austin, Texas. Under Mackey’s leadership, it grew into the largest organic foods supermarket chain in the United States, selling to Amazon in 2017 for nearly $14 billion. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the company revolutionized the food industry, mainstreaming health-consciousness for a mass market.
Despite the company’s crunchy progressive brand, Mackey is a staunch capitalist and a steadfast defender of free markets. He popularized the term “conscious capitalism,” which marries capitalism and social responsibility, and and emphasizesinges the role of businesses in creating a sustainable and ethical impact on society at large.
Today, a conversation about what it takes to build a company like Whole Foods, what it is like to have enormous wealth, the role of unions in the American economy, and why he kicked his own father off the board of the company.
And to read Mackey’s full story, check out his new book, The Whole Story.
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An important question that was completely missed and essential to the discussion when talking about food deserts, fresh food and eating habits: food prices/costs. A topic that needed to be addressed. I would have loved to hear his take on food choices given low income family budgets.
I’m sorry what? Whole Foods didn’t revolutionize anything. They copied the concept of an expensive boutique grocery store and took it nationwide. We’ve had expensive local food co-ops in the pacific northwest, like whole foods, my entire life.
Honestly!