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Supermarket Price Check!
The recent discussion about the quality of Whole Foods and the opening of Best Market got me to wondering which area supermarket has the lowest prices. The four establishments I checked have less overlap than you might expect, so I focused on brand-name goods; meat and produce simply have too many variables. I didn’t note when an item was marked as on sale: Best Market annotates the price with the sale’s end date, but Whole Foods doesn’t, and if an item is always on sale, then that’s just it’s price, right? At the end of the day, what matters is what the price is then and there.
P.S. For FreshDirect, you’ll have to factor in the $5.99 delivery fee and tip.
MAILLE MUSTARD (7.3 OZ.)
★ Best Market: $3.69
Gourmet Garage: $4.49
Whole Foods: $4.39
FreshDirect: $3.99*
*FreshDirect’s Maille mustard is 7.5 ounces (and it’s not a typo because the image shows 7.5 ounces, too)…. So either FreshDirect has slightly larger jars, or Maille has moved to a smaller jar and FreshDirect is still working through the old inventory or has yet to update its website.
MCCANN’S STEEL-CUT OATMEAL (28 OZ.)
Best Market: $8.99
Gourmet Garage: $9.99
★ Whole Foods: $6.59
FreshDirect: $7.59
SAN MARZANO WHOLE PEELED TOMATOES (28 OZ.)
Best Market: $3.69
Gourmet Garage: $3.99
Whole Foods: $3.69
★ FreshDirect: $3.59
SAN PELLEGRINO SPARKLING WATER (1 LITER)
Best Market: $2.29
Gourmet Garage: $2.29
Whole Foods: $2.69
★ FreshDirect: $1.89
BONNE MAMAN PRESERVES (13 OZ.)
Best Market: $4.99
Gourmet Garage: $4.99
Whole Foods: $4.99
FreshDirect: $4.99
RICE SELECT ARBORIO RICE (32 OZ.)
Best Market: $8.79
Gourmet Garage: $7.99
Whole Foods: $7.99
★ FreshDirect: $7.69*
*FreshDirect’s Rice Select arborio rice is 36 ounces…. See the Maille mustard item for a possible explanation.
NEWMAN’S OWN SALAD DRESSING (16 OZ.)
Best Market: $4.39
★ Gourmet Garage: $3.99
Whole Foods: $5.49
FreshDirect: $4.79
RAO’S MARINARA SAUCE (24 OZ.)
Best Market: $6.99
Gourmet Garage: $9.99
★ Whole Foods: $5.99
FreshDirect: $8.59
DOLE BANANAS (PER POUND)
★ Best Market: 58¢
Gourmet Garage: 99¢
Whole Foods: 99¢ (organic)
FreshDirect: 88¢
TROPICANA ORIGINAL ORANGE JUICE (59 OZ.)
★ Best Market: $3.88
Gourmet Garage: $5.49
Whole Foods: $4.39
FreshDirect: $4.39
PHILADELPHIA CREAM CHEESE (8 OZ.)
Best Market: $3.49
Gourmet Garage: $4.49
Whole Foods: $4.79
★ FreshDirect: $3.39
PLUGRA BUTTER (8 OZ.)
Best Market: $4.49
Gourmet Garage: $4.49
★ Whole Foods: $3.19
FreshDirect: $3.79
BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM (1 PINT)
Best Market: $5.49
Gourmet Garage: $6.49
★ Whole Foods: $4.99
★ FreshDirect: $4.99
TALENTI ICE CREAM (1 PINT)
Best Market: $4.99
Gourmet Garage: $6.99
★ Whole Foods: $3.99
FreshDirect: $4.99
This spreadsheet makes it clearer that there isn’t really a dramatic pattern, except that Gourmet Garage is substantially more expensive. (Green is cheapest, red is most expensive. And 100% is the lowest price, with the other percentages indicate how much higher they are.) So if you were to buy all 14 of these items at each store, here’s what you’d pay:
Best Market: $66.74
Gourmet Garage: $76.66
★ Whole Foods: $64.16
FreshDirect: $65.55
24 Comments
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Wow.. very interesting..
This is great work. Thanks for the info.
I’d be curious how well Amazon Fresh (www.Fresh.Amazon.com) does against these competitors… I think their prices are significantly below Fresh Direct’s….
If you decide to do the research, by all means let us know what you discover.
For things like deli meats/cheeses Best Market is significantly cheaper than Whole Foods. I have never been to Gourmet Garage or used Fresh Direct.
Are you comparing identical items or just “deli turkey?” As Eric showed, Whole Foods has very competitive prices, especially when you look at organic and “high end” products. I just got home from Best Market and was shocked by the prices on green cleaning items. I don’t see the two being in competition at all–one’s the conventional grocery store and the other is the organic/health food store.
After 20 years of the Food Emporium, Best Market feels like the Twilight Zone. People waling the aisles with their jaws dropped, as in “Is this for real?” The staff is so nice and helpful, the food is fresh, the aisles are organized, it’s so clean. An older woman said with a smile “‘Ive been around long enough to know fresh food. Produce from the Food Emporium wasn’t edible. I don’t mind paying for it if it’s good, and now I’m going to gain so much weight…” The prices seemed very good to me, no long lines like Whole Foods, I’m sold on the new biz in town.
Would be curious to see how Amazon Fresh compares.
Curious enough to do it yourself?
HAHAHA!
It’s an old article, but the results above are confirmed in it
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-03/whole-foods-plays-bargain-grocer-in-manhattan
A great piece of investigative journalism. Results are as expected, but I never had the proof until now. GG can charge whatever they like because there’s no competition in NE Tribeca – NE Tribeca is just glad to have a place to buy food.
My problem with Fresh Direct is all the boxes I have to get rid of. I wish that Fairway had come in, but they’re having massive financial problems right now.
I was always thinking about this. Nice job Erik !
It would be interesting to add the Key Food (55 Fulton, downstairs) to the survey. For me this supermarket is geographically convenient and seems to beat everyone else on most everyday stuff.
(Bad form to reply to my own post, sorry)
Also worth taking into account, unless you’re stuck on, say, Philadelphia brand cream cheese or Tropicana brand OJ, the Whole Foods brands for these products are rather good for everyday consumption and, for example, 64 oz. of 365 OJ is $2.99.
thanks so much for doing this, I’m always wondering… Wholefoods butter is cheaper by the way (at least it was cheaper than FE and FD last time I checked)
Please note TriBeCaNs that the 1% are the only ones that can afford to shop at Best Market, so all you commoners get to steppin’ down to the five & dime Whole Foods.
You get kudos from me for two reasons: I’m a data visualization geek (love the spreadsheet) and of course I live and buy groceries here.
I love this. I knew they won on basics (like eggs, milk, butter) , but I had never done a comprehensive comparison, so this is helpful. The margin is significantly greater if you used the 365 organic brand (their own label) which is of a very high quality and covers at least half the items up there.
I’m staggered!
I’m living in London, England.
Compared to prices at say, Sainsburys or Lidl you guys are being ripped off BIG time!
Prices there are typically 39-40% higher than we pay!
Even Philly cheese is 50% cheaper!!
I’m a Fresh Direct customer and buy a yearly pass for $119 which makes the delivery charge very low, especially if like me you order frequently. I use the FD brand, also a big savings. Many of their prepared foods are very good. Try their pizza.
Many thanks for this very useful comparison. We often take the subway to Westside Market on 14th and 7th because their produce is very competitive but I am so happy to have an alternative to whole foods for everyday items like recycling bags and bagels.
I wish you had included Max Delivery too. They don’t leave you with all the boxes that fresh direct uses. They use reusable bags and have great produce and lots of organic items.
It’s a bit of a segue, but any further info on what appears to be a decline of stocked items at Whole Foods? Once the previous conversation here brought it to my attention, the shelves and freezers definitely have holes in them that you’d never have sen before…