Whole Foods or Trader Joes..

Trade Joe's has Turbinado Sugar and Sea Salt Dark Chocolate Almonds. They are simply the greatest food item ever made.

oh I wanted to add something…. Although I'm obsessed with my TJS….. Several years ago, my kids opened up a package of Trader Joes frozen pancakes, and lets just say there was some EXTRA protein in it….


In the form of a baby tarantula looking spider!!!!

um yeah, my kids were traumatized and wouldn't eat frozen pancakes for a few years after that :laugh:

I used to shop at Whole Foods regularly but stopped because it's so expensive and I don't feel like it's necessary for everything I eat to be organic. Now I shop at Trader Joe's regularly, plus any of the other nearby grocery chains for the things I can't find there.

Whole Foods is wonderful, but I tend to go to Trader Joe's almost exclusively. Their produce is affordable and I dig that their in-house brands don't use ingredients with GMOs. I can get a whole week's worth of groceries at TJ's for around $80, which is pretty special in NYC. At whole foods, I'm lucky to get out with the same for under $200. I'm sure that has to do with the fact that I buy more frivolously there, but it is what it is.

Trader Joe's has a bottle of wine with a cat on it.
I've only shopped at Whole Foods once, but I will prefer TJ's for that one reason

Literally the best reason I've heard. You can't beat two buck chuck and the cat on the bottle is like icing on the boozy cake.

Trader Joes.

Although, I love Whole Foods ready to go food better.

They are just now building a Trader Joe's in my town, so I have zero things to say about them (except that my sister in law is SO sad that the Denver store has the only liquor license, so she can't get two buck chuck in our store once it opens).

I second whoever said Sprouts, though. Whole Foods has delicious but ridiculously expensive for many many things, and Sprouts has great produce, bulk products, and meats, and decent prices on their eggs and packaged stuff, at least the house brand. I think Sprouts are only in CO, AZ, and CA, though.

That being said, we got our wedding cake from Whole Foods and it was amazing, and less expensive than even a wedding cake from King Soopers because we didn't get it stacked. Chocolate Berry Chantilly cake...yum

Here you go OP. A convenient flow chart to help with your decision.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/trader-joes-or-whole-foods/2014/03/21/33a0232e-b144-11e3-95e8-39bef8e9a48b_graphic.html

Haha! Love this!

Honestly, because I shop at Aldi (if you can't tell by all the "fit and active" yogurt I have been eating lately), I will probably shop at Trader Joe's over Whole Foods... Whole Foods is just so expensive...

But since I'm not driving to either... I will shop at neither... I'm lazy like that considering I can't count on two hands how many other stores (usually multiples of Albertsons, Kroger, Tom Thumb aka Safeway, Aldi's, Walmart) I have within a 5 mile radius of my house... and Trader Joes and Whole Foods are not anywhere near that radius.


BUT I hear rumors that we are getting a Sprouts and I can't wait.

The whole idea of trader Joe's is to keep cost down by providing their brands, it's really trail and error and also personal preference... btw trader Joe's and aldi both started in Germany and have really interesting info on their sites, but whole foods truly is a magical wonderland and I wish I lived there!

Trader Joe's started in Pasadena, CA in 1967 (not Germany). My parents used to drag me to the very first store (still standing) as a child. Hated going there, but I LOVE Trader Joe's now!

Trader Joe's may have started in CA but they are owned by the sister corporation from Germany that owns and operates Aldi... There is an Aldi North (Nord) and South (Sud). One runs Aldi's USA and the other runs Trader Joes.

TOPIC: Whole Foods or Trader Joes..
Which typically has more brands that you trust?

The two stores compliment each other. When both carry the same brand, like in personal supplies, Trader Joes is almost always cheaper.

Whole Foods always has the best produce, hands down. Wider selection of baked goods from breads to sweets.

Trader Joes house brands like extra pulp orange juice and frozen Mac & Cheese are good quality for good prices.

I'm a big fan of both brands.

This content has been removed.

Trader Joe's by a mile! :bigsmile:

Whole Foods. The quality of the fresh fruits and vegetables are higher--fewer discards, almost all are firm and yummy. The quality of the frozen products is higher--most TJ's microwaved items are full of sodium or saturates fats. The selection of goods is wider--especially when it comes to meats, dairy, juices, and ready-to-eat items. I also like that Whole Foods stocks and support local and smaller companies.

They also support Monsanto.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/whole-story/gmomonsanto-buyout-rumors-untrue

Rumor No. 3: Whole Foods Market recently decided to start selling food with GMOs. Wrong again! As long as GMO crops have been in this country, GMOs have been in the US food supply. The most effective action we can take now is to label the food that DOESN’T include GMOs. That’s why we’ve enrolled our 365 Everyday Value and 365 Organic product line in the Non-GMO Project Verification Program, and have encouraged our branded vendors to do the same – and many, many have.



Now of course this is marketing speak from a marketer, so do I trust every golden syrupy word? No. But I'd like some counter evidence that they are in bed with Monsanto, please. Because if they are, that's another reason for me to venture into that scary, scary farmer's market at some unholy hour of the morning required to get the good stuff.