Hain Celestial encouraged by proposed Whole Foods deal

Hain Celestial’s North American CEO says he does not know how Amazon’s proposed acquisition of Whole Foods Market will impact business, but he believes it could be a way for the company to increase its household penetration.

Roy Graber Headshot
Photo courtesy of Whole Foods Market
Photo courtesy of Whole Foods Market

Hain Celestial’s North American CEO says he does not know how Amazon’s proposed acquisition of Whole Foods Market will impact business, but he believes it could be a way for the company to increase its household penetration.

Amazon, earlier in June, announced its intent to acquire Whole Foods for a price of about $13.7 billion, with the deal expected to be finalized during the second half of 2017.

Hain Celestial is a diversified natural and organic foods company, and the parent company of poultry company Hain Pure Protein and shareholder of Empire Kosher Poultry.

“With the recent announcement of Amazon’s intention to acquire Whole Foods we see further positive opportunities for growth, Gary Tickle, CEO, Hain Celestial North America, said during Hain Celestial’s most recent earnings call.

“There’s a great deal of speculation about how Amazon may choose to leverage Whole Foods, but we feel that the hallmarks of what makes Amazon successful, being consumer convenience and greater product accessibility, coupled with competitive pricing and data-driven customization, are likely to be applied in some form to Whole Foods.”

Tickle said Hain Celestial is one of Whole Foods’ largest suppliers of branded natural, organic foods, and that over the last 12 weeks, more than 1,200 Hain Celestial items have sold at Whole Foods. The company also has two representatives on the Whole Foods Supplier Advisory Council.

Tickle adds that the proposed acquisition “presents us with a real opportunity to increase availability and household penetration for our range, and to further expand the growth of natural and organic offerings to conventional shopping sites.”

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