Whole Foods Must Haves

Be prepared to spend a lot of money. They don't call it 'Whole Paycheck' for nothing.

I can dispel the "Whole Paycheck" myth a bit.:

"Wells Fargo recently compared the cost of 100 items from various natural retail outlets and found that WFM is 7% cheaper than Safeway, 3% cheaper than Sprouts Market, 14% cheaper than The Fresh Market, 27% cheaper than Amazon Fresh, and only 4% higher than Trader Joe’s. “We were surprised to find that Whole Foods’ prices were much more competitive than we expected,” the study stated."

Whole study is here if you're interested.

https://www.wellsfargoresearch.com/disclosures/Documents/RETAIL082212-090618.pdf

Full discosure:

I do work for Whole Foods corporate.
No, we didn't do the study or even know about it till after the fact.
Yes, I get a discount.
Yes - it's enough that you should be jealous.

Hi MonkRocker: I'm glad you posted your "full disclosure" info because I think you'd kinda have to be working there to hear about that kind of a study... When I say we joke about "Whole Paycheck" I'm speaking from the experience of shopping for a week's worth of food at Stop & Shop and then trying to do the same at Whole Foods... and it's almost apples to oranges, if you'll permit me the food analogy, because Whole Foods is almost a specialty shop. It's not meant to be a regular, run of the mill grocery store. You expect, when you shop there, that Whole Foods has done its best to seek out only those products that support its mission, and so you should also expect that the prices are going to be higher than your local Market Basket, Shaw's, and the like. The prices are higher for most things (unless there is an amazing sale, which there sometimes is) but there's a reason and the reason is worth the price, at least to me.

Now full disclosure for me: My husband and I are DINKs, so we can afford to shop where we like... which is why we get the bulk of our groceries from Peapod (delivery service) and I go to Whole Foods to supplement with specialty products. Having the groceries delivered has been a fantastic experience and has helped me lose weight by freeing up my time (I now spend that time at the gym), allowing me to review my order at a glance to see the balance of foods I'm choosing, and eliminating impulse shopping. It also gets my husband more involved in the choices; he hates to shop but enjoys being able to review the order and add to it with a couple of clicks.

Hi MonkRocker: I'm glad you posted your "full disclosure" info because I think you'd kinda have to be working there to hear about that kind of a study... When I say we joke about "Whole Paycheck" I'm speaking from the experience of shopping for a week's worth of food at Stop & Shop and then trying to do the same at Whole Foods... and it's almost apples to oranges, if you'll permit me the food analogy, because Whole Foods is almost a specialty shop. It's not meant to be a regular, run of the mill grocery store. You expect, when you shop there, that Whole Foods has done its best to seek out only those products that support its mission, and so you should also expect that the prices are going to be higher than your local Market Basket, Shaw's, and the like. The prices are higher for most things (unless there is an amazing sale, which there sometimes is) but there's a reason and the reason is worth the price, at least to me.

Now full disclosure for me: My husband and I are DINKs, so we can afford to shop where we like... which is why we get the bulk of our groceries from Peapod (delivery service) and I go to Whole Foods to supplement with specialty products. Having the groceries delivered has been a fantastic experience and has helped me lose weight by freeing up my time (I now spend that time at the gym), allowing me to review my order at a glance to see the balance of foods I'm choosing, and eliminating impulse shopping. It also gets my husband more involved in the choices; he hates to shop but enjoys being able to review the order and add to it with a couple of clicks.

Yeah - I hear ya. It'd be tough to compare if you're not able to buy the exact same stuff at both places, really. I shop basically nightly - for whatever I will be having for dinner that night. But I have the advantage of being able to do that since our corporate office is over a store. No one at Whole Foods would deny that it's more expensive to shop there. I was just saying it's not quite as bad as the stigma would have you believe.

LOL... I'm only replying to this because I had no idea what a "DINK" was, so I googled it... and low and behold... I'm 'DINK' too. To save anyone else the search (if you're like me and had never heard of that term..." Dual Income, No Kids.

Yay for DINKs. Ok... i'm done. But yes, Whole Foods is a rarity stop for me... only if it's something specific that I can't seem to find anywhere else. I did find it pricey; but I was expecting that - as I feel it's a specialty store.

I didn't know that term either. I guess that makes me a SINK.