Amazon taps Whole Foods CEO to oversee grocery business

Amazon has tapped Whole Foods CEO Jason Buechel to oversee its sprawling grocery business, the company announced Monday.

Doug Herrington, the company’s worldwide retail chief, wrote in a memo to employees posted to Amazon’s site that Buechel will “take on an expanded responsibility leading Worldwide Grocery Stores” while continuing to lead Whole Foods. Amazon acquired the upscale grocer for $13.7 billion in 2017.

“In his time as CEO, Jason has unlocked our ability to make high-quality natural and organic groceries more affordable and accessible to customers, helping WFM achieve record sales growth and expand to over 535 locations,” Herrington said.

Buechel became CEO of Whole Foods in 2022 after co-founder John Mackey retired from the company. In his expanded role leading Amazon’s grocery business, Buechel will succeed Tony Hoggett, who left Amazon last October to join Wondery, a food delivery startup led by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore.

Buechel will oversee not only Whole Foods, but also Amazon’s larger grocery business, which includes its line of Fresh supermarkets, Go cashierless stores and online grocery service.

Amazon has long been determined to cement itself as a grocery destination for shoppers. Since acquiring Whole Foods, it has launched its own chain of Fresh supermarkets, and it’s taken steps to unify its online and brick-and-mortar grocery operations while appealing to a broader swath of consumers.

Herrington said he’s “incredibly energized” by the momentum of Amazon’s grocery business.

“Since creating a single WW Grocery Stores organization in 2022, we have made notable progress in our vision to make grocery shopping simpler, faster, and more affordable for customers,” Herrington wrote in the memo. “We’ve taken steps to integrate our huge grocery selection across our broader logistics network, and create a more seamless experience for customers, especially Prime members. This work will continue under Jason’s leadership.”

The company has further tweaked its grocery division in recent years by shuttering some Fresh and Go stores as part of Jassy’s broader cost-cutting efforts. Last April, Amazon said it would begin removing its pricey and elaborate cashierless checkout system from Fresh stores in the U.S. Instead, it has focused on selling the technology, called Just Walk Out, to third-party retailers.

Amazon has also brought its Fresh and Whole Foods grocery businesses closer together since the 2017 acquisition. The company last October began piloting a new concept at one of its Whole Foods locations outside Philadelphia, where it attached an automated warehouse onto the store that lets Amazon shoppers purchase goods from brands not typically stocked at the organic grocer.