Jason Buechel, the CEO of Whole Foods, was appointed by Amazon on Monday to lead its extensive grocery division.
In a message to staff members posted on Amazon, Doug Herrington, the company’s global retail leader, stated that Buechel will continue to run Whole Foods while taking on a more expansive role as head of Worldwide Grocery Stores. In 2017, Amazon paid $13.7 billion to acquire the high-end grocery store.
According to Herrington, Jason has enabled WFM to reach a record sales growth and reach over 535 locations by making premium natural and organic groceries more accessible and affordable for consumers throughout his tenure as CEO.
After co-founder John Mackey departed from Whole Foods in 2022, Buechel took over as CEO. Buechel will replace Tony Hoggett, who left Amazon in October to join Wondery, a food delivery startup run by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore, in his expanded role as head of Amazon’s grocery operations.
In addition to Whole Foods, Buechel will be in charge of Amazon’s broader food division, which includes its Fresh supermarket chain, Go cashierless stores, and online grocery delivery.
Amazon has long been committed to establishing itself as a shopping destination for groceries. Since purchasing Whole Foods, it has established its own network of Fresh stores and made efforts to appeal to a wider range of customers while integrating its online and physical grocery businesses.
Herrington claimed that the growth of Amazon’s supermarket sector had greatly inspired him.
Herrington stated in the memo, “We have made notable progress in our vision to make grocery shopping simpler, faster, and more affordable for customers since creating a single WW Grocery Stores organization in 2022.” In order to give customers—especially Prime members—a more seamless shopping experience, we have taken steps to integrate our extensive grocery choices throughout our larger logistical network. Jason will continue to spearhead this effort.
As part of Jassy’s larger cost-cutting initiatives, the business shuttered some Fresh and Go outlets in recent years, substantially altering its grocery segment. Amazon announced in April of last year that it would start to remove its costly and complex cashierless checkout technology from Fresh locations in the United States. Rather, it has concentrated on selling the technology—known as Just Walk Out—to independent merchants.
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Since the acquisition in 2017, Amazon has also strengthened its relationship with Whole Foods and Fresh. Last October, the company started testing a novel idea at one of its Whole Foods stores outside of Philadelphia. There, it connected an automated warehouse to the store, enabling Amazon customers to buy products from companies that aren’t usually carried by the organic supermarket.