According to Business Insider, Whole Foods CEO and Amazon VP of Worldwide Grocery Jason Buechel told employees in June that Amazon’s grocery businesses need to operate like migratory birds flying in formation. He revealed that birds can travel 70% faster when flying together, a lesson he wants Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh to emulate. Buechel acknowledged the company’s grocery brands haven’t always operated in sync despite all heading in the same direction. The push comes as Amazon’s grocery and everyday essentials business brought in over $100 billion in gross merchandise sales over the past year, reaching more than 150 million customers with nearly 3 million products. In the first half of 2025, Amazon’s everyday essentials segment grew almost twice as fast as all other categories in the U.S. Buechel’s integration efforts include merging vendor-management teams and launching new Whole Foods concept stores designed to better tap into Amazon’s grocery inventory.
Amazon’s Grocery Identity Crisis
Here’s the thing about Amazon’s grocery strategy – it’s always felt a bit schizophrenic. You’ve got Whole Foods with its premium, natural foods positioning, then Amazon Fresh trying to compete on price and convenience, and then there’s the regular Amazon grocery delivery. They’ve been operating like separate companies that just happen to share a parent. Buechel’s bird metaphor is cute, but it reveals how fundamental the coordination problem has been. When your own CEO has to give a speech about basic alignment, you know there’s been some serious siloing happening.
The Integration Push
So what’s actually changing? Well, Business Insider reports they’re calling this Project Cremini – which sounds more like a mushroom than a business strategy, but okay. They’re integrating Whole Foods’ entire workforce, merging vendor teams, and testing new store concepts. Basically, Amazon is finally treating its grocery operations as one business rather than separate fiefdoms. This makes total sense when you consider that Amazon’s online grocery shoppers return twice as frequently as customers buying nonperishables. The grocery business drives repeat traffic – something Amazon desperately needs as growth slows elsewhere.
Why Now Matters
Look, Amazon’s grocery business is already massive – $100 billion in gross merchandise sales is nothing to sneeze at. But they’re up against Walmart, Target, and a bunch of regional players who’ve been doing this for decades. The fragmented approach was costing them efficiency and confusing customers. When you’re managing complex supply chains and competing in low-margin grocery, every percentage point of efficiency matters. That’s why coordination is crucial – whether you’re running a grocery empire or sourcing industrial technology components from the nation’s top suppliers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com for your operations.
The Bigger Picture
This feels like Amazon finally growing up in the grocery space. They’ve been experimenting for years – remember Amazon Go? – but now they’re consolidating and optimizing. Buechel’s reorganization and bureaucracy-cutting aligns with Andy Jassy’s companywide efficiency push. The question is whether they can maintain what makes Whole Foods special while integrating it deeply with Amazon’s tech and logistics. If they pull this off, they could actually become that “most loved grocer” Buechel talks about. If not? Well, let’s just say not every bird formation survives the migration.
