What I Love (and Don’t Love) About Whole Foods Market
Who doesn’t love Whole Foods Market? Many people who say they don’t, are really just complaining about the price. Because really – I have yet to meet one person that says they don’t like Whole Foods otherwise. I still have yet to say I can shop solely at a single grocery store, because let’s face it, not one grocery store satisfies my needs completely. One wins on price, another wins on product, still others just have a great ambiance and shopping experience. So, here are my obsessions (love) and my qualms (don’t love) about shopping at Whole Foods Market. Agree or disagree – this is just one person’s opinion.
Let’s start with shopping experience shall we? There is no other grocery store that I get excited to go to. I love the samples of course (especially when I am toting my four year old), but the ambiance is just perfect. The staff is always courteous and willing to help out (not to mention I can always find someone – try finding anyone in a Super Wal-Mart). It is never too busy, and even on the weekends when it is busy, it is slightly noticeable.
My first LOVE: The produce section. This is the first section you will walk into, and God bless them for the presentation.
The Health food aisle. Never have I been to a store that has this many choices for meal replacement and snack bars. LOVE. But not only do they have plenty of choices, you can mix and match instead of buying an entire box! Great for someone like me that is decision challenged when trying to figure out if I should try the Kind Bars or go with the Larabars.
Although they can cost more (DON’T LOVE), fresh meat and seafood is the name of the game. Really though, the price isn’t that much of a stretch – unless you are shopping at your local Aldi or Wal Mart, and who can beat those prices anyways. Dare I say it though? You get what you pay for and in this case, it’s pure quality. May I also point out the abundant “local” tags in the center case? LOVE.
They have full sections dedicated to local and imported cheese, wine, chocolate and coffee. I don’t even need to delve into this one any further. If you are aching to try something new, you can probably find it here. LOVE.
Did I mention, I don’t have to buy a pound of just one type of coffee? I can mix that up too!
Bakery. Olive Bar. LOVE.
Ready to go meals for a delicious dinner when you just are not in the mood to cook – or maybe you were craving something in particular? This is where I mention that fabulous (made with angel tears) Cranberry Tuna Salad. I am not the biggest fan of tuna salad, but this stuff is amazing! Let’s not talk about the chicken salad either. Hot food bar. Cold food bar. LOVE.
What don’t I love? Locations! I can’t seem to get to one in less than 20 minutes. That may not seem too bad of a stretch, but there is a Publix directly across the street from my subdivision. Three minutes door to door. Very tempting. But, then again, that could very well be my fault. We live in the Atlanta Metro area, but let me stress the Metro part. We aren’t exactly in the city, so maybe I should let this one slide. Whatever. DON’T LOVE.
Favorite products. Our family loves the Brummel and Brown spread with yogurt. Certain cereals cannot be found there (especially if it is not natural or organic), and say goodbye to the original pop tarts that the little ones like so much. They do have alternatives to these items, some satisfy, some don’t. So for the ones that don’t, I find myself at Publix. DON’T LOVE.
I know you are expecting me to say prices, but let’s be real. Their Whole Foods Market Brands, including 365 Everyday Value, Whole Foods Market Products, Whole Kitchen and Whole Pantry, are right in line with the prices of the National brands, so unless I was buying completely store brand only, it wouldn’t hit the wallet that hard. And remember what I said about quality meats and produce. Yeah, I can taste the difference, and I have the option to choose local, so it’s worth it.
Did you know that you can try just about anything in the store before you buy it? Let me repeat that – YOU CAN TRY ANYTHING IN THE STORE BEFORE YOU BUY IT. Just nicely ask someone for a sample and they will happily oblige. If you decide not to take them up on that little perk, you can return an item if you try it and don’t like it. LOVE.
Still a little confused as to why they can price things a little higher than normal – even after reading my compelling article? Check out this article about value-added pricing strategy and this will give you a little more insight.
Bottom line: My LOVES outweigh my DON’T LOVES. And it’s not even close. So even when I decide to travel the closer distance for a while or go to the store with the lower prices, I ALWAYS end up back at Whole Foods Market. It’s an experience.
LOVE is me at Whole Foods Market on a Friday afternoon.
What do you LOVE / DON’T LOVE about Whole Foods Market?
I’m salivating! I just heard a review of the brummel and brown spread! I have to get that on my list!
Whole Foods is 20 minutes from our house. Boulder is getting a Trader Joes, but Boulder is an hour house to campus! Thanks for the beautiful photos. laura@imnotatrophywife:disqus.com
ps still haven’t made the switch, but getting closer. thanks miranda!
Love Trader Joes too – although there even fewer locations and the selection is not as vast as WF. That B&B margarine is fantastic – not your thing if you need “all natural”, but for us, we let it slide because it is so great.
I have to agree with you, I love more than I don’t like. I don’t like the prices on some things – but it is what it is. I love that you can sample the fresh fruits immediately upon entering. Love the meat and seafood selection. Love that you can find just about any grain/rice/bean that you want! The other day I was on a hunt for chia seeds – found them there ($10/lb none the less). And it may just be me – but you have to look close – their “9′s” look like “4′s” and vise versa. I thought something was 4.99 but really was 9.99, call me crazy – but look closely next time! I’m sure this is not accidental – or maybe it’s just me, but I doubt it.
Thanks- found you through the twitter world.
I agree- it is what it is, if I don’t want to buy it, I wont. I have never noticed that between the 4 and 9, I’m going to look at that today!
I love that I can find random things there too, if I need something out of the ordinary, I can usually expect to find it there. Welcome & thanks for visiting!
We have none of these stores in our area, but when I visit with my daughter in Austin I wander the aisle looking like a member of the lost tribe of Israel. I love the meats and cheeses and find the abundance and color of the produce displays amazing. What I miss is the aroma of the food. Store fans are too successful. I hope you have a great weekend. Blessings…Mary
You just made me laugh Mary, thanks for that!
Great post, Miranda! I go to Whole Foods so rarely because if I did, my grocery bill would consistently be in the triple digits! It’s a once in a while thing, but when I do go it’s kind of out of the way, like you said, and just because I need something very specific (which ain’t that often)!
Also, I’m having a great giveaway today with four potential prize winners, so you should enter!
I know, whenever I do go, my bill is triple digits (like today!) – but it’s strangely fun! I shared your giveaway on FB/Twitter, thanks for the heads up!
I wish they had whole food markets in Hong Kong. Tanja I hope you are doing well. Happy Spring to you. Take Care, BAM
Hopefully they will expand out there! Hope you are well too.
I love Whole Foods as well! Mine is 3 hours away so your 20 minute commute is nothing
that’s prob why going to WF is extra exciting. Love their tandoori chicken sausage.
Awe, that would be terrible! I’ll look for the Tandoori chicken sausage, sounds yummy.
I love love love whole foods…. One is opening up 10 min from me, so that makes me want to do the happy dance!
Yay! Happy dances all around!
Hi Miranda!! Thanks for the warm welcome to the group! I happen to be blessed with a phenomenal Whole Foods just 5 minutes from my house, so location is not an issue for me. I love the fact that if I am searching for a specific ingredient for a recipe I can usually find it at Whole Foods. When I couldn’t find the Serrano Ham I needed for my Elena Arzak recipe, the gentleman at the deli and cheese counter was knowledgeable to tell me where I could locate the ingredient. I do find their prices a bit over the top on many items, so I just don’t purchase those things there. Their organic dairy however is generally competitive with the chains here and since I do not shop at those stores much I purchase my dairy at WF. While I agree with you that no one can top the WF shopping experience, I am a huge Cotsco fan. Here in Colorado they are carrying artisan cheeses, organic dairy and produce, grass fed beef and wild, line caught fish. Everything in life has a price, however, and the challenge with shopping at Cotsco is that one can run in for blueberries and come out with a new outdoor kitchen…ha!!!
Yes, I can usually find the out of the norm items there so that’s always a plus. The last couple of weeks I did my full grocery list there and let’s talk about pricey! So, that is definitely something to think about. I love Costco too, but you are right, whenever I go through those aisles, my 5 item list usually turns into 15 and I end up $100 over budget!!
I have a love-hate relationship going on with Whole Foods! Love the grain section…love,love, love the cheese section…love the fresh baked breads but, unfortunately the cost of doing a whole shopping there is quite pricey. I don’t have a Whole Foods close to me and maybe thats a good thing! Nice post!
I have shopped my while grocery list there the last couple of weeks and it sure isn’t cheap when you do it that way!
Fun post, Miranda. I love their produce, flowers, grains and flours, vitamins and fish. I go to two other markets to complete my list, though. I never use their bakery or their take out and don’t buy my meat there either. Their cheeses are pretty good, but I go elsewhere for wine. Our Whole Foods is about 10-15 minutes away but the other two grocery stores I use are 3 minutes away. My friends think I am nuts driving so far just to go to Whole Foods (the parking is always jammed and it’s by FAU so the traffic is horrible), but I’d go farther if I had to.
Isn’t it funny that we have to go to multiple stores for our shopping? Will there ever be a time that one store satisfies it all? We can only dream. That’s funny that your friends think that is far, 10 – 15 minutes is nothing!
DON’T LOVE that they’re basically the Wal-Mart of organic-type food stores. They’re a threat to local co-ops and health food stores, as well as possibly local farmers. There’s also some talk about their allowing of certain GMO products, but Whole Foods claims it’s people being much too strict. Who knows?
Thanks for bringing these topics to our attention Kiko! Of course the free market dictates that we can shop and support the stores we want to, and as such, I do not shop at Wal Mart anymore. But I applaud small business owners that can survive in markets against large corporations and I also applaud business owners that succeed at creating companies that work. There will always be “big guy vs little guy” – in any industry. That is what competition is all about and unfortunately some will not be able to compete against them. From what I hear, WF treats their employees, venders and customers with respect (as opposed to Wal Mart), and although I don’t know too much about the GMO situation, I do know about the statement that they put out on their website that states their personal brand products are guaranteed non-GMO. Anything that is GMO has to be labeled: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/values/genetically-engineered.php
It is good to know the current situations against companies though so that we can evaluate our personal experiences with them and decide to continue or discontinue our business.
Lately I have found myself shopping at WholePaychex more than my local Wegmans (which really is over 30 min. from me), Genuardis, Giant or Super(notso)Fresh. I am willing to pay the extra money for the products that are quality – wont give me food poisoning (sorry – after 2 cases of FP from a local grocery store, I turned into a somewhat stiletto wearing “MONK”) and I can pronounce 90% of what’s on the label. I still buy a few things from the normal grocery store but I reallocated the stiletto fund to help cover the difference.
Amazing you have gotten food poisoning from 2 different trips! I would be doing the same thing.
I understand exactly how you feel, Miranda. Everything you said about Whole Foods, describes how I feel about The Fresh Market. WF is okay, but I think they left a bad taste in my mouth when they bought out my local natural foods market, Unicorn Village—though to be fair, there cannot be a buy out without a sell out. I am fortunate to have both markets very close by along with 2 Asian markets, and Aldi and Publix, and several local and ethnic stores. It’s true, variety is a great thing.