Capitalism with a Conscience: Whole Foods Market and the Complications of Caring

Whole Foods Market (commonly known as Whole Foods) began from the 1980 merger of two natural food stores in Austin, Texas. It has since grown to become one of the largest organic and natural grocers in the United States. Whole Foods is considered to be on the leading edge of the “capitalism with a conscience” trend in business which has a somewhat nebulous definition; it considers stakeholders in the business to not just include investors but also employees, the locality, the environment, and customers as part of a holistic community that the business operates in. This has become a new buzzword in business strategy in the past few years, yet the notion, at least with the history of Whole Foods and the rise of organic ...