You’ve heard of the Whole Foods’ “Whole Paycheck”, where one grocery trip to the healthy eating chain can set you back a whole paycheck. Largely due to the organic, fair trade, and locally sourced products Whole Foods offers, it’s true – it’s expensive to shop at Whole Foods. However, just because the majority of food items the store offers are pricier than its Safeway or QFC counterparts doesn’t mean that everything is. Here are 10 foods that are, surprisingly, cheaper at Whole Foods.
Number Ten: Extra Virgin Olive Oil. A staple in every pantry, whether you’re looking for organic or just, plain old olive oil, it’s going to be cheaper at Whole Foods. A 33.8oz bottle of EVOO, organic or conventional, is nearly four dollars cheaper at Whole Foods than at Safeway, and even cheaper than Kroger or Walmart.
Number Nine: Almonds. Whole Foods takes the win when it comes to selling raw nuts by the pound. A single pound of whole almonds ended up being two bucks less than Walmart and Kroger. Furthermore, if you’re looking for packaged nuts, a 16oz back of Whole Foods’ store brand – 365 Everyday Value – almonds for $5.99, while that same price will only fetch you a 9ox bag from Safeway.
Number Eight: Organic Black Beans. Now, the internet took notice years ago that a can of organic black beans was actually cheaper at Whole Foods than the other leading grocery chains, and it seems that fact still holds true. In fact, a 15oz can of 365 Everyday Value beans is a whole forty cents cheaper than at Safeway. When it comes to groceries, a price difference that big is nothing to shrug off.
Number Seven: Cereal Bars. It actually wasn’t surprising to find that Whole Foods also beat market prices when it came to cereal bars; especially given the fact that each location seems to offer nothing less than three aisles entirely dedicated to breakfast and energy bars. A six pack of store brand cereal bars goes for nearly two dollars at Whole Foods, which is a whopping dollar cheaper than at Safeway. That means you’re paying roughly 17 cents less per bar at Whole Foods, than at Safeway.
Number Six: Cream Cheese. Admittedly, Cream Cheese isn’t that much cheaper at Whole Foods than anywhere else. However, if you’re anything like me and need to replenish your cream cheese supply at least twice a week, then you should appreciate saving ten cents by buying your bagel toppings at Whole Foods rather than Walmart or Kroger.
Number Five: Organic Frozen Vegetables. If you’re looking for non-organic greens, definitely don’t look to Whole Foods for savings, Safeway has the best prices overall when it comes to regular frozen veggies. However, if you’re shopping organic then Whole Foods is the way to go, with a bag of frozen vegetables being nearly a dollar cheaper than anywhere else.
Number Four: Macaroni. Believe it or not, but you can pick up an entire bag of pasta from Whole Foods for just 99 cents. Compare that to Safeway’s $1.29 and Walmart’s unbelievable $2.92.
Number Three: Shredded Mozzarella. Don’t look to Whole Foods’s stinky cheese room to save a dime on your dairy products, but it is definitely worth it to walk their basic dairy section for certain things, such as shredded cheese. Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday Value brand mozzarella is $3.99 for a 16oz bag, whereas Safeway sells the same size package for fifty cents more.
Number Two: Organic Milk. A gallon of organic milk costs about thirty cents less at Whole Foods than Safeway. Looking elsewhere, Whole Foods’ organic milk ends up being a whole dollar cheaper than Trader Joes and Walmart.
Number One: Paper Towels. Okay, they’re not a food, but they are something you’re probably always going to have on your grocery list, so it’s worth it to save money on them. Take an eight-roll package of paper towels from Whole Foods and you’re looking to spend 50 cents less than were you to purchase Safeway’s store brand paper towels or even Target’s. Even more surprising, Whole Foods offers more square feet of paper towel than either store.
