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Recently, the Environmental Working Group stated that celery is one of the so-called "Dirty Dozen," the twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables on the market. As I was chewing on a piece of celery at the time, I began to notice the bitter overtones of what I assumed was a nasty chemical fertilizer. I began to wonder if it might be sarin or perhaps some dioxin derivative. Completely unable to enjoy my snack any longer, I resolved to find some organic celery.After a long and fruitless (vegetable-less?) search, I finally broke down and decided to go to Whole Foods (NASDAQ: WFMI) . There, tucked into an extensive and impressive collection of colorful veggies, I found what I was looking for: fresh, organic celery. The price? $4.99.
To be honest, if I'm paying $4.99 for a vegetable, I expect it to pick my daughter up from daycare and maybe help out with the rent. I'm used to paying between $1 and $1.25 for a bunch of celery, which made Whole Foods' prices seem like a particularly tasteless joke. However, rather than throw the celery to the ground and loudly denounce Whole Foods as a bunch of money-grubbing ripoff artists, I politely returned the bunch to the counter and left.
There were two reasons for my restrained response: first, I'm saving up my first arrest for something special, like picketing Anne Coulter's funeral, and there's no way I'm getting carted off for yelling at a bunch of celery opportunists. The second reason is that I wasn't really all that surprised. You see, I've gotten used to Whole Foods' massively inflated prices and somewhat snotty attitude.
Apparently, I'm not alone. In a recent survey by Mambo Sprouts, an organic and natural foods marketer, 30% of respondents stated that they are now shopping at natural food chains, like Whole Foods, less than they were six months ago. By comparison, only 9% stated that they had cut back on their visits to Trader Joe's. On the other side, 12% stated that they were shopping at organic chains more than they were six months ago; 19% said the same of Trader Joe's. While shoppers are getting increasingly concerned about the contaminants in their food, they are also unwilling to pay the premium that markets like Whole Foods charge.
Maybe it's time for Whole Foods to realize that poor people want to eat well, too!
Bruce Watson is a freelance writer, blogger, and all-around cheapskate. He thought about buying some honey at Whole Foods, but he couldn't afford the mortgage.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-08-2008 @ 12:26PM
David said...
You have to understand that much of the whole foods / organic movement comes from rich people who were hippies in the 60s. Now that they are rich, they want to form a society that is in line with their hippie socialite values. Everyone associates republicans with being the rich, but in actuality, much of the rich are big city Liberals. They want America to be more like France.
5-08-2008 @ 12:29PM
Ashebir Aberra said...
"Maybe it's time for Whole Foods to realize that poor people want to eat well, too!" Bruce Watson
Hey Bruce,
Whole Foods is not meant for poor people, just like the $100 champagne and crystals. You are in the wrong market segment.
Ashebir Aberra
A satisfied customer of Whole Foods
5-08-2008 @ 12:29PM
Bruce Watson said...
David-
You make a fair point, but I'm not sure that you can generalize so broadly about everyone who shops at organic grocery stores. Certainly, self-indulgent ex-hippies make up a fair bit of Whole Foods' customer base, but I think this comes down to a wealth/poverty divide, not a liberal/conservative one.
5-08-2008 @ 12:31PM
Bruce Watson said...
Ashebir-
You're right--Whole Foods isn't for poor people. It's also not for smart ones.
Let me put it this way: Celery isn't a status symbol. If you're paying $4.99, you're proof of that old saying about a fool and his money!
5-08-2008 @ 5:36PM
MamaBirdSurelyYouNest said...
Bruce - I would have skipped the celery too -- but I was dumbfounded yesterday when, after going out of my way to buy stuff at Safeway rather than scavenge for the ransom they'd ask for at WF for the *exact same items* (all organic: ketchup, mustard, and olive oil, among others) -- guess who had by far the cheaper price per oz? I was totally astonished. And pissed, since I had already bought the Safeway overpriced stuff. I keep a food journal every now and then for food I buy routinely and it's obvious I need to do it again. Maybe Safeway jacked the price on their organics line bz of rising food costs. Who knows?
5-09-2008 @ 12:08PM
Brian said...
LOL!!!! This guy bases his entire opinion on Whole Foods on the price of celery. If you lived in the real world and actually stepped inside of the stores to do a comprehensive price comparison, you would understand the fact that Whole Foods offers very competitive prices, in many cases lower than Safeway. But most important -- there is no question that the quality/safety of the Whole Foods producsts is far superior to the competition. In combination, Whole Foods offers the best value proposition in the market and this is proven by the success of the stores -- customers LOVE these stores.
The other hilarious part of your "analysis" is that you give weight to a survey that focused on 1,000 people in New Jersey -- LOL!!!...there is no way that is an accurate representation of the Whole Foods customer base.
5-09-2008 @ 12:10PM
Bruce Watson said...
Mama Bird-
Fair point. Some items are actually cheaper at Whole Foods--in fact, their 365 line occasionally has real bargains. While we're on it, a lot of supermarkets are cashing in on the organic train, massively marking up their prices.
Personally, though, I'm going to stick with Trader Joe's--decent prices, fewer gimmicks...
5-09-2008 @ 12:26PM
Bruce Watson said...
Brian-
LOL!! First off, while Whole Foods offers lower prices on some items, they are, by and large, considerably more expensive. While you might want to dismiss this as a "celery-only" analysis, even the most minimal amount of market awareness will tell you that Whole Foods' markup is, by and large, astronomical.
Second, many of Whole Foods' products (the same ones that you tout as being superior to those of competitors) ARE THE SAME AS THOSE SOLD AT OTHER STORES. Ironically, Whole Foods' proprietary brands are, usually, the only real deals available in the store.
Third, if you really want to get realistic about safety, concern for customers, etc., you might take a peek at Whole Foods' sushi rolls--they use HFCS. In fact, many of Whole Foods' products are loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Organic? Green? Safe? I don't think so.
Finally, while Mambo Sprouts is a New Jersey-based company, their survey was nationwide. While we're on the topic, though, you might not know this, but New Jersey is located next to New York. A significant percentage of New Jersey's population is urban, affluent, and well-educated. I would say that New Jersey is EXACTLY Whole Foods' customer base.
5-09-2008 @ 4:52PM
Laura Bruzas said...
I'm health-minded, cost conscious and love to eat well so I wrote a 32-booklet called 50 Simple Ways to Eat Well for Less. If you'd like to check it out, please vist www.HealthyDining.org. Note: We are an all-volunteer, grassroots, community education and outreach effort.
Laura Bruzas
www.HealthyDining.org
5-09-2008 @ 6:12PM
asphaltjesus said...
Way to go there genius.
Nowhere in your brilliant analysis did you factor in the possibility that organic celery is *much* more expensive to produce than the creepfest celery at your average mass market establishment.
It's easy to slag Whole Foods by simply ignoring the reality that organic produce are for the most part, much more expensive to grow.
Oh no. Just ignore the reality that possibly safer/better food will be more expensive to grow.
5-09-2008 @ 6:14PM
Bruce Watson said...
Asphalt Jesus,
You seem to take this really personally. Are you an employee/stockholder of Whole Foods?
Yes, organic produce is more expensive to grow, and I do expect a markup. But 500%? Do you really think that's legit?
5-13-2008 @ 1:18PM
fiona said...
I like to buy organic when it makes sense financially, a little more money for a little less pesticides. However I honestly don't understand why it is so much higher? They save money by not using toxic pesticides, maybe I'm a little dull here but I honestly don't get it and so far no one has been able to give me a real answer. (yes that's an invite to give me a real answer). On the other side, I save money by having a garden where I grow my own salad fixings and beans and squash. For the fruits I go to the local farmers market. It's not "organic" in that they do use pesticides I'm sure, but it's more affordable because it's straight from the farm to me, cutting out the middle man.
For my other things, I make my own bread from freshly ground wheat berries (prices on that's gone up too!) and I am waiting for my little urban hens to start laying so we can have eggs on the cheap too. Those WILL be organic since they're only eating organic feed and organic kitchen scraps. No GMO's etc etc. Okay, Thanks for the article, and for the insight into Whole Foods or as I've heard it called "whole paycheck".
fiona
5-13-2008 @ 1:22PM
Bruce Watson said...
Fiona-
I was considering writing about all the reasons that organic produce is so much more expensive, but the truth of the matter is that I completely agree with you. While organic fruits and veggies cost more to produce, and they tend to be a little less hardy, but I don't really think that they cost 5x as much. Basically, farmers and food companies charge more for organic produce simply because they can!
5-21-2008 @ 3:36PM
Evelyn said...
Did you know that WF cert's it's own Organic products? I know they do the meat. I raise 100% Organic, natural meat. My calves/chicks/lambs/kids land on pasture, out of pastured moms. Those babies eat what their mamas show them in the pasture & they drink well water (tested yearly). I am present at every (very carefully controlled humane) death & supervise the cutting of the meat. I know what's in my meat & I know that it would take ~50K head to supply WF's shelves. There aren't that many head of Organic, Grass FINISHED beeves raised in this country a year. The figure is below 10K head. So, how does WF have it on their shelves? They import much, from countries that don't have USDA inspection. They also qualify the Organic & Grass finihing claim, by saying 'as available'. Now... WHAT does "as available' mean? "I didn't like the price of the Organic chick starter, so I didn't order it, so it's not available, so I don't have to use it!
They also have a 'protocol' for rearing the animals. They buy from a supplier overseas who cert's that the animals were raised according to this protocol. "OK now.... you know that these animals were never fed Melmine... right? You sign this paper saying so & we'll give you a premium for the meat. If you don't sign it, we won't buy it." How long do you think it takes their supplier to sign that paper, Melmine or not? WF doesn't inspect because the meat is from overseas & it wouldn't be cost effcient. If I sold to them, they'd come inspect my farm (& that'd be OK... I'm proud of how my animals live!) But, they don't inspect what the animals they sell at their butcher counter live like.
If you buy meat at WF, you might was well get it at WalMart. There's no real difference!
As to Organic Fruits & Veggies being less hardy? You should see the stuff growing in my garden! Again, 100% Organic. My yard hasn't seen chems in over 40 yrs! An 18 inch layer of mulch disappears in less than 6 months, my microbial community is so healthy. So are my plants! But, if the city had their way, I'd have chem treated lawn. I've been brought up on criminal charges 2x for using mulch in my yard! They say that they'd leave me alone if I didn't have a 1400 sq ft butterfly garden in my front yard!