Ultimately business ethics is changing in this country. Businesses like Whole Foods is just the start. There is a shift in consciousness occurring altering business ethics from the conventional wisdom of (1) "be profitable first in order to be ethical..." to (2) "be ethical first and profit will come as a result" and I support this shift.
Granted there are plenty of valid criticisms of business like Whole Foods as to whether or not they are actually prioritizing ethics or it is just a smoke screen for profit seeking, but the beginning of the aforementioned shift is clear as day.
I know little about Whole Foods, nearest store to me probably about 150 miles away, so kind of don't care to even pay much attention.
I do know that things have gotten to the point that many businesses need to go "big" or don't go at all because you will have a hard time even making a profit trying to run a small operation.
You need to be able to buy products, supplies, ingredients, etc. in large volume to get a decent purchase price. That often does you no good if you don't have the volume of sales, production or whatever to use those things up in a timely manner, and worse yet if they will spoil or otherwise deteriorate or depreciate if you store them for too long.
Happens to all types of businesses. Small farmers nearly extinct around here. No more dairy farmers with only a few dozen cows to milk, needs to be at least 1000 or more or not worth even trying, unless you have some other specialty niche that won't be cheap, like offering organic product.
Swine facilities same way. Only ones you find that are operating with a hundred head or less are doing it organic and/or for local sales to be processed at a local meat butcher/locker. The big buyers like Smithfield, Tyson, etc. aren't even interested in small quantity purchases and won't pay enough to break even anyway.
Corn, soybeans - not many farming just a few hundred acres, won't ever make a profit doing that. You need 2-3000 acres, but along with that means you need the newer larger machines to be able to get it harvested before the winter hits, which means if you get the bigger combine it does you no good if you don't also get the larger wagons to be able to keep up when hauling it away, and larger conveyors so you can unload them faster as well as more storage facility to store the crop in.
I mentioned those cause they are somewhat direct impact to me because I mostly work for those people that run those businesses or a few others that are here because those people do have other goods and services needs but wouldn't be here without those farmers. That said my electrical supply houses sort of fit similar descriptions. When I started out we had a couple places that were small suppliers, spread out over a few locations in a region that is not very populated, with maybe a headquarters in a larger city in the region. Now they all have been bought out by larger corporations. Might have left many the same locations open, might like to boast "we have that in stock", but then they tell you it is in another store that is 500 miles away. Does me no good when I need it today. And has turned into a lot of things not being in stock in my local store but rather being stocked in one the larger branches in a city 150 miles away. "We can have that tomorrow" becomes a pretty common phrase on items you might expect to always be available.
