Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/competition-fosters-success-of-organic-food-industry Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Whole Foods, which opened in 1978 as a single organic grocery store, has expanded to 200 stores and over $9 billion in yearly sales. NewsHour economics correspondent Paul Solman reports on the company's success, the growing competition and the organic food industry. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JOHN MACKEY, CEO, Whole Foods: We seduce the customer with produce… PAUL SOLMAN, NewsHour Economics Correspondent: Fifty-three-year-old college dropout John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market. JOHN MACKEY: Well, people buy food first with their eyes. I mean, we're visual, tactile people. PAUL SOLMAN: What began as a single, organic grocery in Austin, Texas, in 1978 is now a national chain, with nearly 200 stores, $9 billion a year in sales. Vegetable seduction is how the Whole Foods experience begins. JOHN MACKEY: Beauty is a very important part of pleasure and how we interpret a food experience will be. So, yes, beauty is very important. Here we've got California artichokes, Mexican red peppers… PAUL SOLMAN: Handsome, fresh, natural, often organic food has made the chain highly profitable, helped spawn a $15 billion industry. Yet Whole Foods is so socially responsible, it won't sell live lobsters unless they're treated humanely. This one's from a competitor. JOHN MACKEY: Based on our research, lobsters have pain receptors and they're capable of pain. PAUL SOLMAN: In short, Whole Foods sees itself as an alternative model. Its stock, publicly traded; its loyalty to its stakeholders, customers, community and employees, instead of just the shareholders who invest.First, the customers. Why shop here? WHOLE FOODS SHOPPER: Because it has a lot of organic products. And, obviously, I'm pregnant. PAUL SOLMAN: So you are. WHOLE FOODS SHOPPER: Yes. WHOLE FOODS SHOPPER: It has a large selection of organic foods and, like, meat and dairy that are not treated with antibiotics or hormones. And I want to try to get pure food for my baby. PAUL SOLMAN: Then there's the community outside these walls, to which Whole Foods donates fully 5 percent of its profits. As for the employees, around here, they're team members. WHOLE FOODS EMPLOYEE: So staffing is good for this evening… PAUL SOLMAN: Average pay of more than $15 an hour, full health benefits, and a say in running things. New flavors at the gelato stand, for example. JOHN MACKEY: Pineapple and basil? WHOLE FOODS EMPLOYEE: Yes. JOHN MACKEY: How do you come up with these unique kind of recipes? PAUL SOLMAN: It seems to work. Though Whole Foods is America's second-largest non-union retailer, it ranks fifth among Fortune magazine's best 100 firms to work for. JOHN MACKEY: Every one of our produce items is organized by type of growing method. PAUL SOLMAN: Whole Foods executives have their salaries capped at 19 times the worker average. The CEO's pay? JOHN MACKEY: I just cut my pay to one dollar a year. PAUL SOLMAN: And why exactly? JOHN MACKEY: That's kind of hard to explain in a way that is able to — it's the appropriate thing for me to do at this time in my life. I have enough money. I have enough money.