Surprise!- Whole Foods costs more than Wal-Mart

We don't have a Whole Foods anywhere near us and shop at a local co-op. The prices there are great. I can get all organic produce for less than the conventionally grown foods at the grocery store (well, sometimes there are a couple of produce items that are a bit more, but generally speaking all is less). Organic avocados for less than the avos at Costco. It is very disappointing that Whole Foods would be so expensive - I've always heard this. I think it puts a bad rap on organic foods for the general population and is halting the growth of a healthier, more sustainable production method of our foods. Too bad. This is a call to Whole Foods - you can do better for your customers and communities - in fact, it is my opinion that it is your responsibility to!

I'm trying to figure out why this comparison is being made. Reading the full article makes it even more confusing.

First of all, the baseline quality of the least expensive products at Whole Foods is going to be far higher than at Wal Mart. Second, Wal Mart has scale efficiencies that can't be matched by any other company in the world, so to compare a niche grocery chain to them is also an unfair comparison.

Then, the authors of the article pull in the "People's Grocery", bringing in the tired complaint that "they make profits and [People's Grocery] doesn't.

Well, the local co-op (not in it for the profits, right?) I shop at occasionally gets beaten by Whole Foods on pricing and quality across all kinds of products. So, this notion that seeking profits somehow diminishes the ability to provide affordable prices doesn't wash. It's also an odd point to assert when the original comparison was between Wal Mart (a profit-seeker extraordinaire) versus Whole Foods.

Plus, again, comparing the "People's Grocery" provides no qualitative measure about the food being bought.

It's unfortunate to see a bashing post of Whole Foods on Treehugger.

Trader Joe's usually has good food at very reasonable prices.

Unfortunately my husband and I have to live in a new city about every 2 months or so because of his job. Because of this it is difficult for me to hunt out the local (or even find it within a decent drive time of downtown) so I almost always just find the nearest Whole Foods or Wild Oats. We also are vegetarians and try to buy the local food at the stores to help out a bit more. Because of this we are always broke, but we know that the people that produced the food aren't being taken advantage of and are being paid fairly and the we are damaging the earth a bit less then if we bought the cheapest produce on the shelf. When we are back in our home town my husband and I learned how to make handcrafted soap so that we can trade our soap with local farmers. Now we can eat fresh local food that didn't break our wallet, even recently we set up a deal with a local coffee roaster!

I shop at Whole Foods because:

1) The quality of food, and availability of natural and organic foods are good.

2) I can actually engage any of the workers and get more than a glazed look in their eye in response, providing for a more pleasant shopping experience.

3) I like what they do for the community, the fact that they're wind powered, etc.

Yeah, all that costs more. But isn't the point of half the posts on here that we have to look past how much the cash register total is, and take into account effects on the workers and the environment? I agree with Joseph that this is an unfortunate post.

I shop at whole foods for several items although not the full gamut of foods. What I have found is that there prices are reasonable on certain products and outrageous on others. Perhaps what bothers me the most about Whole Foods is there excessive packaging. For instnace whereas other companies sell cereal bars in 8 count package whole foods sells 6 bars for about the same price but puts it in the same size packaging as those which offer 8 bars. I have noticed this with their cereal as well. I think they do it to make the consumer think he is paying the same as products offered in other stores for a similar size when in fact one isn't. Overall though, I like whole foods produce and milk and shop there for some of the essentials.

I wouldn't shop for food at WalMart. My father in law works is retired military and works at walmart. He is retired and want's to work but not at a desk job. anyways.... He seriously questions the sanitation and food storage practices at Walmart. Just a thought. At least with Whole Foods you know the food is going to some of the freshest in the industry.

Joseph makes his point well, as usual and I am chastised. I thought the article made some good points, and I continue to find Whole Foods fabulously attractive and wonderful to shop in but too expensive to shop in regularly. I have changed the title of the article to be less critical but while I agree that it can be seen as treehugger bashing whole foods, that was not the intent. There are many times I wish I could take down a post after seeing the comments but I never have, usually because the comments are better than the post and worth reading.

The really unfortunate side effect isn't that Whole Foods costs more, but that the price puts it out of range for people

And, unfortunately for me, the closest Trader Joe's is almost 2 hours away. And the closest Whole Foods is even further. Guess I'll have to stick to my farm co-op and the Lancaster County Farmer's market. :-D

Whole Foods Market in my opinion (and NO I am neither an employee nor a shareholder) is the best grocer in the U.S. And although they tend to be more expensive than the local Star Market, Publix, Winn Dixie, Pricerchopper, or whatever your local grocery chain store may be, the quality and diversity of food is unmatched. I have been living on a college student budget for 8 years and still manage to buy a weeks-worth of groceries (including organics) for around $60. As usual, being resourceful, looking for sale items and buying in bulk, helps me maintain my budget. Of course it would be easy to blow $200-300 without blinking an eye, but for now I will stick with Whole Kids products, bulk grains, frozen organics, and cheap organic apples, pears, and bananas. Also, I think many of you would prefer to spend more money, and buy less at Whole Foods than Wal-Mart on any given day.

Someone is paying for the savings you're getting at Walmart...

It may be the farmer/rancher, the distributor, the cashier, the stockroom guy, an animal, the environment, or you (in the form of your health). It might be all of those. I shop at Whole Foods and organic stores because I know where the food is coming from and what's in it. I also know I didn't step on someone or something to save 10¢.

FOOD WAS NOT MEANT TO BE AS CHEAPLY PRICED AS IT CURRENTLY IS BECAUSE IT DEPENDS ON OIL + SUBSIDIES. ORGANIC ROCKS, but it still take fertilizer and shipping. LOCAL is better!! HOMEGROWN IS BEST!!

I agree with the above comment that quality plays a huge part in the price difference between Walmart and WF. I wouldn't expect to be able to walk into a Walmart and buy graham crackers without hydrogenated oil in them, or bread with no HF corn syrup, or tasty imported beer and cheese.

You also need to consider that most grocery stores offset the prices of certain things by raising the price of other things. Many of the things that I buy at Whole Foods are far cheaper than at local stores (I avoid national chains whenever possible), but other stuff isn't. It all balances out, and I don't notice that I'm paying more at WF than at a local coop or locally-owned grocery chain. I'm still buying the same high-quality health-minded stuff, organic produce, etc.

And finally, I can afford to shop at these places. I'd much rather see my money going to support a good business than save a few $$ and shop at a place like Walmart (assuming that they actually carried most of the food that I eat).

Yikes! Some people that read this article got really defensive. No one is Whole Foods bashing. But its folly to pretend that Whole Foods isn't twice as expensive. It just is. I can come away with 2 bags of groceries for $30 at Whole Foods, or 4 bags at the Giant. But I know when I eat the Giant meat that I'm ingesting all kinds of hormones and chemicals. Fun. So I try to balance somewhere in the middle, getting basics at Giant and getting my meat and veg at Whole Foods. Most of my friends here in DC aren't rich, and they do the same sort of thing.

no whole foods in our area and you couldn't live on the food that walmart stocks as for the middle the bunch well thats the local supermarket most of the times "fresh" means just on the verge of going bad and as for the prices well I spend over 600.00 per month for me alone figure it out and thats not counting the money I spend on dining out with my girlfriend.

ps no lobster steak or seafood just good old KD peanutbutter and jam

Wal-Mart is corrupt.

I have a Trader Joe's I can walk to (lucky me).

For a while we had a Whole Foods a block or two away from that. I found I was constantly comparing their prices to TJ's, skipping things at WF, and heading back to TJ's.

I think the reason that TJ's can price "in the middle" as you say, is that rather than trying to keep as vast a selection as Whole Foods, WalMart, etc., they just concentrate on a smaller product line.

That line is healthy & sustainable ... but you probably have less than half as many cheeses to choose from, smaller meat selection, etc.

I would happily pay more for a product at whole foods then walmart any day. When's the last time walmart carried even 10% of the products I buy at wholefoods?

Theres a reason Whole Foods stock has doubled in the past two years or so.
The article is right, whole foods is more expensive. But its like comparing fast-food to a premium restaraunt, sure you can get more food at the fast food joint for the same amount of money, but its not just about money is it?

I love shopping at my co-op, but I'm not going to miss a house payment because I refused to buy anything other than the very best I can get in organic, fair-trade, sustainably produced groceries. When I can't afford to get everything where I want, I try not to feel guilty for buying Kroger-brand wheat bread. And neither should you.

I find it extremely hard to believe that your typical grocery run (fresh vegetables, something to drink, maybe some fish or chicken, etc.) costs twice as much at Whole Foods.

I live in Austin, TX and the Whole Foods here is a bit more expensive than the HEB but it is easier to find the best vegetables and organic stuff, plus the bulk foods are pretty good. The Central Market (another upscale supermarket with lots of organic and healthy foods and owned by HEB) is even better. The prices at the Central Market are only slightly higher than HEB for the same items (maybe 10%) but you get better service and food quality and a bit more variety, similar to what you expect at Whole Foods.

Perhaps it's the competition between the two companies that drives prices down, but you're only paying a small premium at either one over your regular grocery unless you buy predominantly packaged foods which do command more of a premium over regular supermarket brands.

Of course, best of all is the local farmers' market which thankfully runs almost year-round here.

I shop at soley at Whole Foods. Yes it is more expensive, but you have to remember that they sell Natural and Organic products which are more expensive to produce. You're paying more for your health, the planet's health, and our market system's health. Personally I think that's worth 2:1.

Learn more here:
http://www.organicfood.co.uk/sense/tooexpensive.html

I shop Trader Joes, Henrys (our local version of Wild Oats) and whatever organics I can find at the regular grocery stores (just to encourage them to carry them...). I find Whole Foods expensive, and the nearest one to me is a good 20 miles, so I don't often shop there. When I have, it's been rare to see good prices.

But, our Whole Foods markets are in LaJolla and downtown San Diego, where people can well afford the prices.

I am a happy Walmart shopper. The supercenter has great prices, it is clean and well stocked.

Most of the "Walmart is evil hype" is just blowing smoke. Before whining about them, give facts.

There is zero evidence that Whole Foods products are "produced better" or are "better than Walmarts." WalMart is a fabulously brilliant retailer that causes the entire supply chain to perform at maximum efficiency.

Are they touch? Yes. But be

Organic vegetables are little better than standard produce. The amount of "contaminants" are very minimal.

If you want to help yourself, eat organic MEAT. Animals concentrate the contaminants in plants, and are perhaps 100 times worse for you than

And frankly, most Whole Foods meats are grain fed, which is a very unhealthy way to eat meat. Grainfed animals are fatty and lack the omega 3s and CLA found in "wild" or grassfed animals.

If you want to really do something healthy, eat only grassfed beef/chicken, etc. Free range is not important. Aminals being fed the way they are supposed to eat, is FAR more important to your health.

I would love to buy only organic foods but..I have other things to buy as well like electric and water. It is a shame that whole foods are so expensive, every person deserves the right to buy food not tainted with the posisons the farmers are putting on them

dont think for a 2nd that WFM is not a business.
natural / sustainable food should be standard not status.
nickout

while Whole Foods and Wal-Mart are vastly different in terms of quality and market,
they are both chain enterprises that seem to care mostly about profits.

And while this hasn't happened in the natural foods market as much as it has with wal-mart etc,
the fact remains that chain businesses eventually gain a monopoly and drive family-owned shops out of business or buy them, because larger businesses like them are able reduce their prices more than small, independent businesses.

for this reason, I do my best to avoid chains. simple as that.

it saddens me to think that people will not support local businesses, only to save 5 cents on a bunch of carrots.

I am a student and on a very limited budget; but really, at what cost ethics?>

lack of market diversity = globalization.

Whole Foods prices their products with the same strategies as the real estate market or the fashion industry. A single person prescribing to the cult of thought where healthy food becomes an exclusive luxury meant only for those who can afford it is just as morally corrosive and socially criminal as is the existence of a single WalMart store.

This thread is why I love Treehugger.

Wow, I'm really suprised at the 'Treehugger' reader response to this...

While I support many of the actions Whole Foods takes environmentally, I specificallu do not shop there because economically they are in many ways working against sustainability, catering specifically to a bourgeoisie clientele that is willing and able to pay for their product (Which carries more of a brand base, than a quality base. Something more of a status symbol). Whereas sustainabilty, at it's roots is about availability.

While I understand that if you are in a situation where there is no available alternative, Whole Foods may very well be our best choice.

But it's companies like Trader Joes and Whole Foods that are going to limit the customer base for organic and sustainable foods. On another note a Trader Joes very strategically moved in a block away from my local co-op (which I love) and sub-sequentially prices within the co-op are going up, cutting their hours, and are very quickly going out of business.

Do sustainability, and the economy, a favor: support your local co-op!

whole foods is for yuppies afraid of the hippies that shop at co-ops

lloyd-- i live near the big carrot not near yorkville so um, easier is easier...

i dig WF and think they are doing a greta job. they have had labour issues lateley (esp. NYC) and they are called "wholePaycheque" for a reason. but if you can spend $400 there, you can spend $400 at WildOats, or at one of Canadas 2 new entries PlanetOrganic or Jimmy Pattison(!)'s UrbanFare... yeah.. yeaash!

you can also spend $60 at WFM like people said, buy grains and seeds AND SPROUT THEM AT HOME, oh and EAT RAW, you know, if you want to be good for the planet, the box of organic cookies still was printed on mulched trees, the cellophane is dino-oil, so there are always many layers...

what has always blown my mind is that peole complain that Organic food is too expensive (WFM is just the latest version) an dthese people will pay $20 for a pizza (made from $.0.50 worth of flour and $2.25 worth of toppings) or eat in a restaurant and pay $40 for a meal for two (which could have been made at home for about $7), or even the 'po folks who complain like that but will buy a $3.5o pizza slice ($0.50 value?) and then complain that organic food is too expensive....

you can either be concerned with the price of things, or you can concern yourself with the cost of things... if its the cost and you look at the lifecycles, and nutritional bioavailability in the food selections, then how expensive wholeFoods "organic" soft-shell-crabs or ready-made-whatever would not be the issue...

one last thing (ha right!) you know it's great that all the hippies hate walMArt (and i have been guilty of same meself-) but really, at some point we have to change our stance...

who is the biggest purchaser of organic cotton yoga wear? lululemon may be HOT but in the midwest they aren't the ones getting mom & pop to liveley up tehirselves... i am truely bummed that they (Walmart) didnt get to build that Ubergreen superstore in Vancouver BC last year as that would have seen a boost to every SunEdiston and green architect from here to Tierra del Fuego... WalMart is greening their practices, an dproduct line, and will continue to do so. they do that because its god business (Whihc is what we have been saying all along? right?)

personally i dont like any place that has a cash register. ithica hours and LETs and freecycle rock tha joint! I have also had a hard time finding a gas station that i consider ethical (even tho i have friends at BPSolar) and when it comes to suersized stores i would be happier leaving them than taking them... but i wouldn't be surprised if walmart ends up with more sustainable products that any other box from staples (who are doing solar roofs too) to home depot (who are now selling solarV panesl in claifornia to test the watres)

..at the end of the day WalMart will have the solar and wind, and certified organic food, and eco-frinedly cleaners.. and cheap (duh, because they are eeevil, right) and when you are taking your sustaible products out of the walmart door and into your, um, car. I'll be pointing and laughig and saying i told you so.....

seriously folks, Us vs. Them is like totally Picean energy... its aquarian time now right? there's no more us & them its all us.....

Insidious question: When you run into (whole foods, trader joes, or walmart) where do you see more people just hanging around to be seen?

I do not doubt that Whole Foods has some good organic foods ... but when they are handing out samples of $15/lb cheese to people dressed to the nines ... it's part "destination" as well.

Shopping at Whole Foods is often just an exercise in yuppie pretension. They've tapped into to the whole organic-as-status indicator thing.

If you really want to be green, shop at your local farmers market.

Personally, I'll stick to Price Chopper.

When you conduct a transaction with a for-profit business, you are conducting, by proxy, transactions with everyone they do business with.

Hence, I prefer to pay my employees a living wage, buy renewable energy, and work well with my suppliers -- and in return be treated well, receive fresh crisp vegetables, have my choice of bulk grains, and occasionally pick up a great bottle of wine and a round of excellent cheese.

Of course, it's more expensive. But there's no such thing as an equivalent basket between the two for my part. Once we switched to WF, we started eating differently -- more whole grains, more rice, more vegetable stir frys and simple meals, like a plate of olives, fresh bread and cheese. And yes, the occasional fancy prepared food. I've eaten enough wal*mart produce to want to never eat it again -- wal*mart is Food from the Fifties -- ingredients that are acceptable only in casseroles or covered in milk gravy.

(Local organic market makes us wait in line for hours and doesn't help us with finding things. Though my fellow hippies are ironically fabulous at making good soap, it's not worth the stress, misery, and prices higher than WF.)

it is all us. chain or no chain, green or not, life in this country will continue as it has since the dawn of the space age -- individually packaged, disposable, isolated from the soil it originated from -- until we agree that there is a little bit of walmart in all of us, and it is up to us as a society to temper that slice of "evil" with a serious cultural and industrial revolution. or, as generations before us, hand the job off to our children.

I shop at Whole Foods because the produce I bought from a big chain store rotted within days, tasted odd or awful and wound up thrown out. I love the flavor and quality of organic produce from Whole Foods and have never thrown out one piece of produce due to spoilage. If you want to stay on a budget, you can buy beans, oatmeal, steel cut oatmeal, cereals, grains, nuts, spices and other products out of the bins for about $.89 - $1.19/lb depending on transportation costs. Reusing a large water bottle and refilling it for about $.39/gallon is much cheaper than buying filtered water in small plastic bottles. Take a thermos of filtered water with you to work or when you run errands. Organic milk at Whole Foods is the same price as non-organic milk from other stores in my city. Use a measuring cup or scale for strict portion control and make fresh produce the main course. Make your own organic yogurt or kefir to save more money. Use a menu planner for very simple fresh meals, prep your ingredients several days in advance or at least the night before and it is easy not to eat out.

Organic apples are more expensive because the blossoms are hand picked rather than the blossoms sprayed with chemicals. Your health and weight will benefit from buying nutrition not “goodies”. The conventionally grown food from Whole Foods is grown on farms that do not use toxic pesticides, most of which are from other countries where toxic pesticides are illegal. By eating well and exercising, it is possible to save yourself from a future medical financial disaster or worse. There are books for small space, high yield gardens one is called Square Yard Gardening or French intensive gardening if you can find time and space for a garden.

I'm completely against the two-tier America that Whole Foods (and the people who shop there) are pioneering. Don't give me that crap about shopping wherever is good/bad business for every one involved in the chain-reaction of economics. Whole Foods started out as something good and like any other fledgling market in the early 90's, it became less about inspiration and change, and more about money and more money.

Anyway, I think most folks are confusing a "greed" versus "need" issue that this thread seems to be whitewashing over.

I shoppe at a Wild Oats and a couple small markets. There are no co-ops in my area, but I will shoppe at the Farmer's Market in the Summer. I used to live in a city with Whole Foods, and shopped there.

My family is by no means rich, wealthy, or upper-middle class. However, we feel the prices we pay for quality food is worth it. Any high expense paid for quality food is offset by us not owning a large screen television, an Xbox, a library of DVDs, multiple cars or other such items that somehow many folks seem to be capable of affording instead of good food.
Why pay less for more when it may be advantageous to just buy less?
'Tis all about priorities.

Wise shopping at Whole Foods allows us to pruchase food we trust from Whole Foods at just about the same cost as Wal-Mart.

The trick is to purchase sale items and make use of your freezer. We eat on our schedule purchase on Whole Foods schedule. Sure we also purchase other than sale items. We go to Wal-Mart for what I call "HARD GOODS" like napkins (made in the USA), and the like but what we eat come form Whole Food.We came home once with Wal-Mart eggs. Uck what a diffrence.

Disclamer other than being a customer I have NO connection with either WF or WM.