On June 16, online retail giant Amazon bought the organic, artisanal grocer Whole Foods for a whopping $13.7 billion.
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Annie's President: Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods is a 'golden opportunity' to kill America's food deserts
The Amazon-Whole Foods acquisition may mean that anyone will be able to buy organic food online, which could be a game-changer for those in food deserts.
Many analysts believe the bid will give Amazon a larger share over food retail and strengthen the company's existing delivery service.
These incentives may both be true, but Annie's Homegrown President John Foraker thinks the acquisition could also meaningfully address another issue that plagues communities across the US: food deserts.
Over 23 million Americans
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"The thought of Whole Food's mission combined with technology and the ability of a company like Amazon to help conquer some of the last-mile issues that have prevented access and distribution into really difficult places seems like a golden opportunity," Foraker told Business Insider. Products from Annie's — the General Mills-owned organic food brand best known for its macaroni and cheese — are already available on Amazon and in Whole Foods aisles.
Access to produce is not enough to end food deserts entirely. Education around healthy foods is also key. To make a meaningful impact, Foraker said Amazon and Whole Foods could team up with agricultural education nonprofits, like The Ron Finley Project and FoodCorps.
There's also a cost issue. Nearly half of Americans who live in food deserts are low-income, which means they likely can't afford Whole Foods' expensive prices.
Foraker is confident that Whole Foods and Amazon will figure out how to lower prices without paying farmers (or their employees) less. For example, in food desert areas where it makes more economic sense to have delivery available without physical stores, the company may have lower operational margins, helping to drive down food costs.
"The business model needs to be different," he said. "Amazon has a long history of figuring out how to drive efficiency out of a supply chain. Managing a perishable logistics network is so difficult. But if anyone in the world can figure it out, it's probably going to be them."
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