The Whole Foods Rebellion | Tiny Acorns, Mighty Oaks | 2

Business Wars

Wondery

History, Business, David Brown, Management

4.6 • 13.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

CEO John Mackey is on a mission to take Whole Foods national. But he is about to run into major opposition. And to succeed in his quest, he must face down rebellious employees, ambitious rivals, animal rights activists and his own father.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Wonderly Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of business wars the Whole Foods Rebellion
0:05.0	early and ad-free right now. Join Wonderly Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:13.0	It's 1990 and Whole Food CEO John Mackey is in Berkeley, California.
0:26.7	He's on a visit to the company's newest store.
0:32.1	As Mackey passes the picket line and reaches the store entrance,
0:36.0	the protesters jeer at it. Once inside,
0:43.6	Mackie makes a B-line for the store's manager. Who the hell are all those people out there? Do they
0:48.3	even work for us? No, they don't. They used to work at the old co-op. The building that is now
0:53.8	a Whole Foods used to be a grocery store run by the Berkeley co-op. The co-op was a darling of the city's progressive movement. But two years ago, it went bankrupt. Mackie gives the store manager a puzzle look.
1:06.0	So why are they protesting against us?
1:09.0	Because our workers voted against unionization.
1:11.7	They see us as the evil corporation taking things over.
1:15.3	Mackie rolls his eyes.
1:17.0	Back when he lived in a hippie co-op, he thought like that too.
1:20.8	Whole Foods may have grown out of the hippie movement,
1:23.2	but Mackey remains profoundly opposed to unions.
1:26.9	Without their demands for ridiculous wages, they might all still have jobs.
1:30.6	Maybe, but it's a real problem for us, John.
1:33.5	Customers don't want to cross a picket line every time they want to buy an apple.
1:37.0	And the mayor's on their side, too.
1:39.4	Okay, I better go talk to the mayor.
1:42.2	Maybe I can make her cease sense.
	...

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