Get to Know a Serious Eater.

KatieA's Profile

Website:

Location:

About:

Favorite foods:

Last bite on earth:

The Ten Most Recent Comments By KatieA

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

I think it is because Whole Foods offers a wide range of products, some of which are expensive. But you don't have to choose the most expensive option within each product category. I am very much a Whole Foods girl. Love the place. In terms of price/quality, I find that Whole Foods offers the best value proposition on the market by far. I find my shopping bill to be very reasonable -- just be smart about what you purchase. The 365 brand is great. As for Trader Joes, it is an ok store but it seems to be more for college kids. The quality at Trader Joes doesn't compare to Whole Foods, especially produce. Variety/breadth of selection at Trader Joes is also lacking. With that said, I think TJs does serve its target customer base well...just not for me.

KatieA at 12:20AM on 04/17/08

Responses to Comments by KatieA

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

I think it does depend a lot on where you are, and what you are buying. I find that their house brand is priced very competitively, and often comes in cheaper. For example their house organic soy milk is the cheapest I have found anywhere. Their cereal bars (my son's snack of choice) are priced the same as the TJ's brand. I live outside of San Francisco, so groceries are expensive no matter where I shop..

BorderMommy at 6:18PM on 04/19/08

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

Oh Hillary, that link brought back a flood of suppressed memories. Portioning that king of cheeses really is a rite of love and labor. In the shop where I worked, it was both a badge and a burden to know how to do it. I was the only female.

Back to the topic, I stopped in the other day to look for some veal. They had excellent prices, in fact, $6.99/lb for shoulder roast. It's the first time I ever bought veal, but I know that when I see it in other shops (rarely), it's in double-digit zone. Same price for lamb shanks, which is good to me. They were a nice size, too, suitable for one per person without being ridiculous behemoths. Since it's not too far from my home, I think I will look to it more in the future for meat. The smaller store in Austin (Sun Harvest) has been bad for me in the meat area, and Central Market can get hugely expensive.

But the produce is ridiculous. The only items I saw that were good deals were fresh herbs (anything other than parsley and cilantro are always $3 per stupid plastic clamshell at the supermarket $1.49 at WF -- still, .99 at Central Market).

Dairy was higher than any other store I visited, though.

And the service really is helpful. I was using their self-checkout and a couple of my items weren't in the computer. She overrode the system and I scored a bag of purple potatoes for a buck.

I do love their rustic French baguette.

renzata at 11:27AM on 04/19/08

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

After reading all the comments, I don't know where to start. I still love Whole Foods which is perfect when you are trying a new recipe and need a whole range of things. When I need cranberries and nuts of any kind but just need a little bit, the bulk section is great. TJ quality is so low, the granola is nothing compared to Whole Foods and the produce, so little to choose from(cheese is great though). Someone mentioned that Whole Foods might have different prices in different areas, that makes sense. In Seattle there is a supermarket called QFC, just a supermarket with prices way more expensive then Whole Foods. I still am so happy that Whole Foods exists.

Frantic foodie at 9:56AM on 04/19/08

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

Whole Foods is so expensive because they choose to purchase high quality products. For example, who else would spend their money on g-d knows how many authentic wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese just to crack it all at the same time to make a Guinness World Record?

Hillary
Chew on that

Chew on That at 10:14AM on 04/18/08

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

i think the whole foods in nyc are relative to the other markets we have. i guess in other places they are more expensive. all i know is that fage yogurt is 2.99 at the gristedes on my corner. it is 1.99 at whole foods. i guess you just need to know what is worth buying and what isn't.

as for tj's if it wasn't so cramped i would shop their. i love the on on long island but i rarely go. i did a price check the other day, a bag of shredded carrots was a dollar cheaper then at gristedes.

jaf at 12:00PM on 04/17/08

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

I basically spend my grocery money between Whole Foods, Trader Joes, and the greenmarket. I work in theatre, which is definitely not a profession known for making money, and so I have to shop around to make my grocery dollars stretch throughout the week. Then again, I'm in Manhattan, and it seems like WF is cheaper here? I walked out of WF yesterday with two stuffed grocery bags for $30. That's about what I would do at TJs.

pbisNOTmyname at 10:15AM on 04/17/08

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

Ha, Trader Joe's for college kids? The one near us is teeming with retired folks. There's a street nearby that's full of high-rise condos populated mostly, but not entirely, by empty-nesters, and they have flocked to TJ's en masse. These are folks who can afford to live in upper-middle-class housing, so I imagine most of them are not living solely on Social Security. They are wild about the place. And our TJ's is what the store calls an "East Coast model", which means it's smaller and with a less-extensive inventory.

lemons at 10:01AM on 04/17/08

From Talk

Why do people think Whole Foods is so expensive?

@wookie: Be careful of those new Whole Foods! They just built a new one by my mom's house in Arizona, and we went there when I visited. I swear to you, I wanted to go buy a tent and set up camp by the sushi bar. Some delights it contained? A chocolate fountain, a panini bar, a "smokehouse" (when I was walking towards it, all I could smell was delicious bacon), an actual BAR that you could sit at and enjoy a beer... I thought my local WF was huge until I saw this one.....

modysoul at 7:56AM on 04/17/08