Originally Posted By TomSawyer Whole Foods recently committed to relying on wind energy to power their locations. They are buying wind energy credits from a company in Boulder and will use those credits to power those stores in areas not served by wind energy. They will be the nation's largest consumer of renewable energy. Sounds great, right? But why are they doing this? 'The decision follows the publicly traded company's mission of environmental stewardship without losing sight of the bottom line, Whole Foods regional president Michael Besancon said. "It's a sales driver rather than a cost," he said. "All of those things we do related to our core values: help drive sales, help convince a customer to drive past three or four other supermarkets on the way to Whole Foods."' So, gas up those cars and come on down to Whole Foods! We're still getting our power from the same place that your local Safeway does, but we just pay for it differently! <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060110/ap_on_bi_ge/whole_foods_energy_1" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200 60110/ap_on_bi_ge/whole_foods_energy_1</a>
Originally Posted By wonderingalice I'm kind of in shock at the bluntness of Besancon's statement. As a consumer, I read that as... "We'll do anything to get those organic food geeks to come spend their big $$ with us... even if it's deceptive."
Originally Posted By wonderingalice To add: The PR person in me (yep, that's my line - though it's not really advertising-specific) would have worded it more like this: "Whole Foods is an environmentally conscience company with a strong desire to protect Mother Earth." Or some such "sell 'em, baby" BS... *LOL*
Originally Posted By gadzuux But hold on there - isn't the end result that a private corporation is helping to finance alternative energy sources? Granted, it's a convoluted way of getting there, but when all is said and done, much of the company's energy expenses are being funneled to renewable sources of energy. So what's the problem?
Originally Posted By TomSawyer The problem is that they are doing it to encourage people to use up more oil and to spew more vehicle emissions to go to stores that are farther away from their homes. And the store a block away and the Whole Foods five miles away still buy their power from the local utility, so it isn't actually reducing the amount of pollution. It's actually creating more because they are encouraging people to drive further.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 Not to mention Whole Foods is expensive to begin with! I can't afford to shop there...plus there isn't one close by.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I wonder how many of their stores will actually be wind powered? Especially percentage...
Originally Posted By TiggerRulz Yes but everyone knows that Whole Foods shoppers all drive Priuses and other hybrid cars plus they have all formed shopping co-ops for the neighborhood so it's ok to drive a little further. That said, I drive past 4 grocery stores to get to Whole Foods. I took my mom there once and she made the comment that she wouldn't drive that far to a grocery store. When we walked in she said now I see why.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA It reminds me of Paul Pressler stating, 'We're building Disney's California Adventure and Downtown Disney so guests will spend another day at The Disneyland Resort.' That might be great when you're addressing stockholders, but to the average person, it makes them feel like a mindless drone.
Originally Posted By patrickegan Look with the prices their charging they should come pick you up in a Prius and give you a personalized Air America mug!
Originally Posted By wonderingalice ^^Yeah, because everyone knows that Republicans aren't interested in eating healthy. (Insert eyeroll here). Thanks JimInMerced... I thought maybe I was the only one who felt that way after reading the quote. *L*
Originally Posted By SuperDry Years ago, a friend took me to a Whole Foods to do some shopping. There were a lot of flying bugs in the produce section, right near the "pesticide free" sign. I commented that I preferred pest-free food.
