Daniela Perez/ Staff Writer
On June 16, Amazon.com Inc. released a bombshell. Amazon is to acquire Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFM) for $13.7 billion, as reported by Nick Turner at Bloomberg News. While we were checking our pockets for loose change to afford a cortadito, Amazon was coordinating a victorious acquisition in the world of e-commerce. The deal between Amazon and Whole Foods was, frankly, hidden in plain sight. As Amazon continued to expand toward the restaurant business, the revolutionary thought of acquiring a grocery chain was not alien.
Whole Foods has been called “Whole Paycheck” just for frivolous products. So, the fact that Amazon will work harder to to deliver better value to shoppers, both online and in-store, and provide delivery and cheaper Whole Foods products, makes customers optimistic.
FIU students will benefit from this greatly and should be optimistic about their future trips to Whole Foods. While nothing was confirmed, many experts have agreed that the prices will lower with this buyout due to the expanded competition.
Victoria Garcia, a rising sophomore and nursing student, labeled this deal as “awesome.” As a health conscious student, she said: “I always thought Whole Foods was overpriced, and now people who don’t normally have access to organic foods like that can have the chance to order it and get it to their homes.”
Lower Whole Foods prices would also help improve the health of many students who face the microwaveable ramen diet due to the complexity of their expenses. Sebastian Tellez, a full-time online business major residing in Boston, said that his health was declining due to his outrageous expenses.
Working in Boston, Tellez lives amongst a wealthy group of people that maintain a very “bourgeois lifestyle” as he puts it. Tellez describes his predicament of time and money, further explaining that this constant battle is leading to a decline in his quality of life.
“Ultimately, I’m struggling to eat and cook and have that sector of my life in order,” he said.
If Whole Foods does lower its prices, Tellez and many other U.S. students would be able to afford more filling and healthier meals instead of eating from a vending machine and drinking water to fill up.
Although there are cheaper grocery stores that provide healthy food options, Whole Foods is usually the closest to providing the most organic options. Therefore, instead of being a commodity, the company should lower its prices to be a convenient and healthy grocery store.
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Photo taken from Flickr.
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