Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages • Hacker News Board

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#201

Post by Johnny555 » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:40 AM UTC

tinfins wrote: post #7

I'm a Whole Foods employee, having one of those rare (for me) moments where I can reasonably be considered very well-informed on the subject of a news article, and it's a little bit disturbing just how misinformed and one-sided the article is. The author seems to have talked with 10-20 disgruntled employees at a few stores nationwide, and a few customers on top of that. Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Food…

Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Foods corporate and asked for comments?

Then they'd talk to a PR person who is only interested in guiding the narrative to whatever makes the company look better.

So yeah, employees aren't fully informed, and while Corporate may be fully informed, they are rarely going to tell the full story -- the truth probably lies somewhere between what employees are saying and what Corporate says (if they say anything at all, and in this case, it seems they did not respond to requests for comment)

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#202

Post by ekianjo » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:40 AM UTC

majormajor wrote: post #149

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've gone for months and years long periods of avoiding the news , including sites like this, and live has always been qualitatively better during those periods. I'm not convinced I understand what purpose being informed of global politics or local dramas serves, other than maybe having something to talk about with friends and colleagues.

Serious question: What do you picture the long-term extrapolation of ignoring events around you looks like? Are you so independent of other people's actions that you can't imagine any events that would impact you in a way that you'd want to try to have a voice in, or at least be informed about? Isn't that how people end up in dead end jobs where 15 years later the industry has moved on and they no longer have skills…

> What do you picture the long-term extrapolation of ignoring events around you looks like?

You are basically asking what it would be like to live like most of Humanity before the advent of mass media. Did not seem they had far worse problems than we do or that they were incapable to adapt. I'd return the question to you, how was mass media improved your life in any meaningful way and can you prove it was not just noise?

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#203

Post by IncRnd » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:43 AM UTC

foobarbazetc wrote: post #90

tinfins wrote: post #7

I'm a Whole Foods employee, having one of those rare (for me) moments where I can reasonably be considered very well-informed on the subject of a news article, and it's a little bit disturbing just how misinformed and one-sided the article is. The author seems to have talked with 10-20 disgruntled employees at a few stores nationwide, and a few customers on top of that. Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Food…

Do you work in a store or at HQ? Because the article is right. At least in some stores around SF the stock situation is dire. Some days I can’t even buy whole milk.

Since tinfins wrote, "Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Foods corporate and asked for comments," the answer is likely HQ. People don't say, "ask Whole Foods _corporate_" in the normal course of events.

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#204

Post by ekianjo » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:44 AM UTC

throwwwwaway9 wrote: post #95

tinfins wrote: post #7

I'm a Whole Foods employee, having one of those rare (for me) moments where I can reasonably be considered very well-informed on the subject of a news article, and it's a little bit disturbing just how misinformed and one-sided the article is. The author seems to have talked with 10-20 disgruntled employees at a few stores nationwide, and a few customers on top of that. Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Food…

So shelves are stocked as they were, say last year, and the media in trying to give the company a bad name? >>Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Foods corporate and asked for comments? When ever you want the truth, just call their PR department.

> When ever you want the truth, just call their PR department.

PR has their own bias but if they tell lies they can be sued for hiding/misrepresenting the truth, because they represent the company's official stance. Unless the company is doing something wrong that they need to cover up, I can't think why a PR answer could not be close to a honest answer.

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#205

Post by dylan604 » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:46 AM UTC

tinfins wrote: post #7

I'm a Whole Foods employee, having one of those rare (for me) moments where I can reasonably be considered very well-informed on the subject of a news article, and it's a little bit disturbing just how misinformed and one-sided the article is. The author seems to have talked with 10-20 disgruntled employees at a few stores nationwide, and a few customers on top of that. Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Food…

I find it funny/odd that the eye of sauron has focused its attention at Whole Foods. Depending on the day of the week, especially late Sunday afternoon/evening but also random weekdays when I run in after work, my local Kroger looks very barren in the produce department. So much so that I have sent picture texts commenting about it.

This is quite normal behavior when weather events in the area are expected, but lately it has been occurring regardless of weather. From my outside observer position, it could be a simple miscalculation of how much to order, someone getting burned by ordering too much and stock went bad, or any other reason of which I have no inside knowledge.

Is this attention to "Whole Paycheck" unfair or are people just super attentive due to the new ownership and judgements being rushed to be "ahead of the curve"?

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#206

Post by onli » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:49 AM UTC

tinfins wrote: post #182

onli wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's exactly the problem the article describes: That the moment something goes wrong the stores don't have any reserves anymore, because the system is too strictly set on reducing costs and spoilage, seemingly with a total disregard to consumer satisfaction and overall profit. Add to that crazy-sounding control schemes - which maybe is kinda normal in a country like the US without real employee protection laws,…

So you think stores should just keep a huge backstock of fresh produce just in case an extreme weather event or some other rare issue hits? That's going to lead to less fresh produce for the 350 days a year when everything goes smoothly. The OTS system in the article also allows for exceptions - if there were bananas available the store could have stocked up on them. It's just so wrong on many levels - I could spend…

> So you think stores should just keep a huge backstock of fresh produce just in case an extreme weather event or some other rare issue hits?

Strawman. I said nothing of the sort. I'm taking the article at face value. The article reports that regularly, stores of your chain are understocked that much that you are losing money and customer loyalty. It is not saying those are special rare issues.

Now, there are two options: The article is wrong, or it is right. If it is wrong, then you need to change nothing internally. Customers will see in their nearest store that the stock is alright, some might even come out in support, a small welcome challenge for PR. But looking at this thread, at the comments not being a discussion about journalistic objectivity below your top-comment, there is some support for the thesis of the article. If the article is right, the system needs to be changed if you want to compete with the other stores that actually succeed in stocking the items customers came to the shop for. In that case, the impression I would get from the attitude you are reflecting here (and which according to the article is the one of management) is that parts of WF are burying the head in the sand, which would likely be disastrous for your company.

It is easy to optimize for the wrong metrics, especially big corporations. Short term shareholder value, cost reductions - cost reductions were echoed by management in the article as motivation for the OTS system. Combine that with a good portion of institutional inertia and wrongly placed respect for authority, and this is how companies die. Which, again, might not be at all what is happening here (and Amazon and stuff, I know). It just looks like an example of it, which I think is interesting.

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#207

Post by macintux » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:50 AM UTC

tinfins wrote: post #191

jwn wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you offer any more insights? What's the reality behind OTS?

OTS is really just a collection of pretty common-sense guidelines like don't have more than a certain percentage of inventory in backstock, don't have backstock of stuff that doesn't sell well, keep your backstock organized, etc. There are a few details about it that can be irritating, but the comments from employees in the article are extremely misleading. If they're having a hard time passing their inspections it's…

> no one is failing an inspection for having 1 box facing the wrong way like it says in the article

Usually when I see (or say) something like that it's an exaggeration with a significant amount of truth behind it.

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#208

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:51 AM UTC

gamblor956 wrote: post #187

tinfins wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took another look at the pictures. Notice all those stores where whole sections are out are in the Northeast. Probably they missed a delivery or two because of the weather. Plus during extreme weather grocery stores get shopped hard. There was one picture of an empty banana set with a pineapple in the wrong spot - that's what I was referring to before. The sole picture in San Francisco was the reset I mentioned.

The header image where the veggie section is basically empty is actually from Houston, so I'm going to assume that you're being willfully blind about the issues raised in the article. It's not a regional issue, it's systemic.

[deleted]

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#209

Post by macintux » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:54 AM UTC

gist wrote: post #132

notatoad wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i've always wondered who actually answers "no" to that question. If i've made it to the checkout, i've made the decision that i've found everything i'm going to purchase today. even if it wasn't everything i originally came for. If i needed help finding something, i would have asked for help before i got to the checkout. I'm not going to stand in line at the checkout only to not actually check out, and hold up the li…

I would never tell the cashier because they don't appear to be asking in a way to actually use the reply. I have complained at customer service and generally get something like "I will tell the bakery" or "I will tell the seafood manager". However they don't write anything down at all. I have had complaints about certain items being out or even things like tops for the oatmeal which they just started to offer or plas…

Providing feedback that gets lost in the hierarchy is very demoralizing.

Last weekend I got a disinterested shrug from a hotel employee when I pointed out that the shower design in my room was idiotic; I have no confidence that'll get resolved, but at least they emailed me this week with a survey and I was able to unleash a healthy rant.

Re: Whole Foods employees reveal why stores are facing a crisis of food shortages

#210

Post by IncRnd » Sat, Jan 20, 2018, 1:55 AM UTC

tinfins wrote: post #7

I'm a Whole Foods employee, having one of those rare (for me) moments where I can reasonably be considered very well-informed on the subject of a news article, and it's a little bit disturbing just how misinformed and one-sided the article is. The author seems to have talked with 10-20 disgruntled employees at a few stores nationwide, and a few customers on top of that. Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Food…

> Maybe she should have reached out to Whole Foods corporate and asked for comments?

From the article, "Whole Foods did not respond to several requests for comment on this story."