Amazon Moves Closer to Whole Grocery Operations: Report
Not long after Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy and Amazon’s head of grocery and Whole Foods Market CEO Jason Buechel both expressed optimism about Amazon’s grocery future, reports have emerged that the company is knitting together the Whole Foods Market and Amazon grocery businesses even more tightly. This week, Business Insider shared parts of a purported internal memo mapping out organizational updates.
According to the Business Insider story, corporate employees at Whole Foods Market will be folded into Amazon’s HR systems and some longtime Whole Foods leaders will move into new roles within the larger organization. The report cited comments from Buechel, who noted in the memo that the current operating structure includes “duplicative efforts” and a new kind of “one grocery” structure will optimize employee potential within a focused operation.
An Amazon spokesperson told Progressive Grocer that grocery integration under a larger umbrella is part of the company’s plans. “We have a successful and growing grocery business that spans fresh groceries, pantry staples, and everyday household goods, both online and in our stores. To make it even easier to collaborate and innovate on behalf of our customers, we’re continuing to unify teams across our grocery brands. These changes reflect our long-term commitment to making grocery shopping easier, faster, and more affordable for customers,” explained Lauren Snyder.
She affirmed that the company is working to provide one consistent experience across teams, from a corporate employee standpoint.
The move reportedly includes leadership changes. The circulated memo revealed that Karen Christiansen, Whole Foods’ SVP of merchandising, will lead North America Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go; Whole Foods’ Sonya Gafsi Oblisk, chief merchandising and marketing officer, will head up marketing and store brands and lead grocery marketing for Amazon; and Christina Minardi, EVP of growth and development (and a PG Top Woman in Grocery winner), will spearhead the unified group’s real estate and development. Other Whole Foods veterans, including Bill Jordan and Anand Varadarajan, likewise have updated roles within the larger grocery unit, according to the report.
In recent weeks, Jassy and Buechel have weighed in on the company’s grocery successes and future. During a recent shareholder session, Jassy said that Amazon remains “bullish” on grocery. “It's a very significant business, and then I think we have a bunch of other areas that will allow us to grow in this area,” he declared.
Buechel recently wrote in a blog post about the strength of Amazon’s efficiencies in grocery. He pointed out that more than two billion groceries and household essentials were delivered the same or next day in the United States in 2024, a 50%-year-over-year increase. Amazon’s spokesperson added that the company adds more fresh groceries to its selection every day.
Amazon acquired Whole Foods in 2017 for $13.7 billion. Since then, the two enterprises have explored ways to bring their grocery teams together to leverage their respective strengths while preserving each of their unique brand identities. The company is steadfast in its position that each of its brands – Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Go and local grocery partners – has a unique customer value proposition.
From a footprint standpoint, both businesses have continually moved forward, including a flurry of activity over the past several months. Whole Foods is expanding its footprint, opening a trio of smaller format Daily Shop concepts in the metro New York City area and welcoming shoppers to new Whole Foods stores in Las Vegas, Miami and St Charles, Ill., as well as internationally in London. Many Amazon Fresh stores have been redesigned, spurring a 20% gain in customer spend in stores, according to the company spokesperson.
Progressive Grocer’s Editorial Director and Associate Publisher Gina Acosta recently penned a retailer deep dive on Amazon’s grocery business.
Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2025 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. The company was also named among PG’s Retailers of the Century and appeared on its Most Sustainable Grocers list.
