Ex-CEO praises Jeff Bezos' long-term thinking at Whole Foods, calling him a "brilliant man."

John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods, considers Jeff Bezos a "brilliant man" due to some price cuts at the grocery chain.

Mackey, who served as Whole Foods' CEO from the brand's inception in 1980 until 2022, told Fortune last week that what he likes most about Jeff, besides his creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, is his long-term thinking.

In 2017, Amazon bought Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, despite the grocery chain's declining sales. Instead of raising prices for a quick revenue boost, Bezos could have chosen to focus on improving the customer experience.

Customers were already turning away from Whole Foods due to its high prices, and raising them even further threatened to drive them away. In response, larger, less expensive rivals like Walmart started stocking more organic foods to appeal to Whole Foods' target customers.

Bezos devised a comprehensive strategy to transform the financial operations of the grocery store.

Mackey stated that he implemented price cuts to retain customers four times, while Bezos focused on increasing profit margins by reducing inefficiencies in Whole Foods' product selection.

By increasing the production of Whole Foods' in-house 365 brand, Amazon was able to sell more products online. This allowed Whole Foods to lower prices while maintaining a reasonable profit margin, as the lower production costs offset the increased competition.

The acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon has garnered mixed reviews from critics. Despite controlling only 2% of its industry's market share, according to IBISWorld, this is less than some analysts had predicted following the acquisition by one of the world's most valuable companies.

Last year, Whole Foods' revenue growth was aided by the fact that Amazon's physical stores, which are primarily Whole Foods locations, generated over $20 billion in net sales, an increase from $17.2 billion in 2019.

The strategy shift implemented by Bezos, who relinquished his position as Amazon's CEO in 2021, helped alleviate the negative perception of Whole Foods as an overpriced store.

Mackey stated that he rarely hears the "whole paycheck" narrative anymore, which he attributes to Amazon.

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