Will John Mackey’s New Love.Life Concept Change How We Think About Food And Health?

Whole Foods founder John Mackey, who officially stepped down as the CEO of the Amazon.com-owned grocer in 2022, has started another health food-focused endeavor. A new restaurant co-founded by Mr. Mackey called Love.Life is built around his belief in “food as medicine.” He sees the restaurant as one piece of a comprehensive health and wellness hub that he believes is powerful enough to impact the nation’s health.

The first Love.Life location opened this month in Culver City, CA, according to Fitt Insider. The menu contains items free from hydrogenated fats and 200 preservatives and additives. It has a section devoted to foods proven to treat and reverse chronic health conditions.

Mr. Mackey, next year, plans to launch physical wellness hubs co-branded with the restaurant, which will employ clinicians who “prescribe tailored lifestyle programming and precision wellness therapies for preventing and managing chronic illness.”

Medical and wellness offers integrated into the restaurant could leverage resources that Mr. Mackey has recently acquired, such as a telehealth platform now branded Love.Life Telehealth.

Mr. Mackey’s new restaurant, and the notion that eating choices are a cornerstone of public health, are in keeping with his long-espoused, animating personal ideology, which he calls “conscious capitalism.”

Just how far of an impact the restaurant and wellness chain could have on public health in the U.S. could depend on the price tag. While RetailWire was unable to find a list of prices for the menu of the first Love.Life location, such restaurants do not have a reputation for being cheap. Nor do projects involving Mr. Mackey in general, as Whole Foods maintained a consistent reputation for high prices under his tenure, leading to the retailer being stuck with the nickname “Whole Paycheck.”

While the chain struggled with its price perception after its acquisition by Amazon, more recent moves have indicated that Whole Foods may be attempting to turn over a new leaf. In January of 2023, the chain began pressuring its suppliers to lower prices as their costs began to moderate, The Wall Street Journal reported.