4 ms·

I know it's a meme that WholeFoods is expensive, but I've actually found it pretty comparable in price to other local organic markets and co-ops. I think a deca

I know it's a meme that WholeFoods is expensive, but I've actually found it pretty comparable in price to other local organic markets and co-ops. I think a decade ago it was definitely more exclusive, but now it's in the same ballpark--I actually find WholeFood's veggies, fruits, meat, and cheese are cheaper than my local co-op.

dmicah 4y ago
Maybe it was just local competition, but in college a gallon of milk at Whole Foods was about $.25 cheaper than the Safeway across the street.
- potatochup 4y ago
  Milk is a classic loss leader though. It's (intentionally) hard to compare overall prices between supermarkets
- stevenwoo 4y ago
  The San Francisco Chronicle did an informal comparison (equivalent items where identical not available) shopping survey last year and found Whole Foods and Safeway neck and neck for most expensive groceries among major grocery stores in Bay Area.
stjohnswarts 4y ago
Yeah, they can have decent prices especially if you're willing to move your eating choices around "what's on sale this week". Same with most expensive stores. I definitely do it with whole foods, sprouts, and central market. I love curb-side pickup :)
macNchz 4y ago
It has been a few years since I regularly shopped at Whole Foods, but when I did my impression was that at least some of their reputation for high prices came from the fact that they had a wider range of minimum to maximum price in a given product category than a typical supermarket. I found their produce and "365" store brand items pretty comparable with other shops, but they also stocked high end versions of many things that you couldn't buy elsewhere, sometimes with eye-popping prices, so you'd have to be more selective about what you picked up off the shelf. Taking spices as a random example: a regular store might have own-brand cumin for like $0.75/oz and McCormick brand for $2.00/oz. Whole Foods store brand is likely somewhere in that range, but they'll also stock Morton & Bassett for like $4.00/oz, so if you're not careful you could pay 2-5x what you might have elsewhere.

dmicah 4y ago

Maybe it was just local competition, but in college a gallon of milk at Whole Foods was about $.25 cheaper than the Safeway across the street.

potatochup 4y ago
Milk is a classic loss leader though. It's (intentionally) hard to compare overall prices between supermarkets
stevenwoo 4y ago
The San Francisco Chronicle did an informal comparison (equivalent items where identical not available) shopping survey last year and found Whole Foods and Safeway neck and neck for most expensive groceries among major grocery stores in Bay Area.

stjohnswarts 4y ago

Yeah, they can have decent prices especially if you're willing to move your eating choices around "what's on sale this week". Same with most expensive stores. I definitely do it with whole foods, sprouts, and central market. I love curb-side pickup :)

macNchz 4y ago

It has been a few years since I regularly shopped at Whole Foods, but when I did my impression was that at least some of their reputation for high prices came from the fact that they had a wider range of minimum to maximum price in a given product category than a typical supermarket. I found their produce and "365" store brand items pretty comparable with other shops, but they also stocked high end versions of many things that you couldn't buy elsewhere, sometimes with eye-popping prices, so you'd have to be more selective about what you picked up off the shelf. Taking spices as a random example: a regular store might have own-brand cumin for like $0.75/oz and McCormick brand for $2.00/oz. Whole Foods store brand is likely somewhere in that range, but they'll also stock Morton & Bassett for like $4.00/oz, so if you're not careful you could pay 2-5x what you might have elsewhere.