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Whole Foods Reaches Out to Competitors to Help Dispute Anti-Trust Charges

By Ethisphere.com

Team of Rivals? Not Quite. In response to a series of 2007 FTC antitrust suits, Whole Foods has asked 96 of its U.S.-based competitors to hand over sensitive company data. John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, believes the information will help fight the 29 separate lawsuits it is facing ? one for each of the regions that the FTC alleges Whole Foods broke antitrust laws when it purchased Wild Oats in 2007.

Whole Foods, and Mackey, are taking two contradictory paths in trying to gather the information. The first was by seeking subpoenas targeted at the 96 companies. Late last year that path caused a huge PR fallout in Portland, Oregon (but didn?t stop the motion for subpoenas), so this week Mackey decided to personally appeal to the CEOs of the various companies by sending them a letter.

This tactic is even more gutsy due to the nature of the information that Whole Foods is requesting. New Seasons, a Portland, Oregon-based natural foods retailer subpoenaed by Whole Foods, said it was asked to hand over two year?s worth of sales figures, future expansion plans and any internal communication regarding the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger.

While Whole Foods says the info will only be going to their outside counsel, many involved are skeptical. Brian Rohter, CEO of New Seasons, may have put it best when he said, “That?s like trusting the fox to guard the henhouse ? and we don?t have any faith it?s going to work like that. I?m sorry to say this, but some of the people at Whole Foods have a history of less than stellar behavior when it comes to competing fairly.”

Of course, he?s most likely referring to Mackey?s posing as an anonymous Internet user with the name ?Rahodeb,? posting over 1,200 comments on Yahoo! Finance message boards about Whole Foods in 2007.

The trial over the Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger is set for April, but in the meantime you can get your fix on news coverage of this story (from an insider’s perspective) by heading over to the New Seasons Market blog.

Full post as published by Ethisphere Blog - Good. Smart. Business. Profit. on January 14, 2009 (boomark / email).