Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Earth Fare, Fresh Thyme

[Mom28kds]

If you have gone to any or all of these stores, which one seems to be less expensive and which ones do you like best and why? I have all of these within 30 minutes of me. I'm switching over our kitchen to more clean eating and was hoping for some input as to which ones to go to. Thanks :)

[MEmama]

We have Whole Foods and Trader Joes near us. I like them both, for different things. We usually go to WF every week or two and Trader Joes less frequently. Our local grocery carries a lot of local produce (important to me), and we belong to a CSA as well as have multiple year round farm markets.

 

At Trader Joes I stock up on frozen fire roasted peppers because that's a major convenience item for me. And I looove their daffodils in March. :)

[Jane in NC]

I can't address Fresh Thyme since I have not been in one; to be honest, I have only shopped at Earth Fare once, a store that had a great vibe and helpful staff.  If I lived near Earth Fare, I would be checking it out.

 

WF and TJ are different stores to me.  TJ has lots of processed foods that people love. I'm not terribly keen on their fruit and veg.  But when you can find basics at TJ, they'll probably be the lowest cost in town.  Just be careful.  Not everything at TJ is organic.

 

I think one can be a wise shopper at Whole Foods. It is easy to make it a Whole Paycheck experience by going for the high end items but WF has bulk bins, sales, good prices on many basics (organics).

 

I suspect that you might find a way to make two or three of these stores fit your lifestyle.

[TranquilMind]

We've been to all of them.  Trader Joe's is by far the cheapest.  None have everything, but WF and Earth Fare carry a lot of stuff, but are most expensive. 

[J'swife]

I like the sales of produce at FT, but I don't know how it compares to others, we don't have any others here.

[Lawyer&Mom]

I love going to TJs for a party. So many great frozen appetizers and snacks. It's really frustrating for me to get regular groceries there. They don't have all the basics I need. I manage to do pretty well at Whole Foods, but we only buy produce, dairy, fresh meat etc. It's the fancy extras that can really add up.

[LucyStoner]

Trader Joe's is the cheapest. It's actually also one of the cheaper grocery stores around here period. Their cheese, olive oil and syrup prices are especially cheap.

 

Trader Joes olive oil is also actually olive oil. Many of the brands at whole foods, Safeway and krogers are not actually all olive oil.

[Mom28kds]

These are all so good! Thank you so much :)

 

[Laurie4b]

I can only compare TJs with WF. Trader Joes is the least expensive by far. All of the produce at the store near me is nice, including the organic produce, though the selection of organic is limited. In general, if TJ's sells it, it will be the cheapest price in town. The negative is that none of their produce is local. Their nuts are a good buy. I love their seaweed as well for a healthy salty snack. They have some inexpensive soups and stocks which have only real ingredients in them and yet are a good time saver. Their organic yogurt is inexpensive. ETA: frozen fruit and veges are excellent quality and price.

 

At WF, sometimes there will be a good sale on some kind of organic produce. They also carry some locally raised produce, (local to them means regionally local, but that's still good) but it is limited. They have a nice variety of fish and meat, although again, $$. I have not seen local meat there. (I buy that elsewhere.) They have plain kefir and our TJs only has flavored kinds, so that is one thing I go to WF specifically to buy.

[Matryoshka]

Anything I can get at TJ's, I buy there.  It's not a full-service grocery, but what is there is good quality and inexpensive, and there's some really yummy stuff there you can't even find elsewhere.

 

Minor exceptions: meat and fresh produce.  This is what I mostly get at Whole Foods - fresher there.  For meats, I shop the sales.  I'll also get a few other things at WF that TJ's just doesn't have because of the more limited selection.  And stuff that's on sale, then I buy in bulk. and speaking of bulk, the bulk bin for things like dried beans, rice, oats, flour.  This keeps WF from becoming Whole Paycheck.  I do not buy anything processed or much of anything packaged at Whole Foods, with rare exceptions.

 

Things like trash and ziploc bags I get at the regular supermarket.

 

We don't have those other two stores around here, so I can't comment.

 

[RKWAcademy]

I like Trader Joe's a lot.  However, their produce is not great.  If you have a big budget and are making really healthy changes, Whole Foods is nice.  Really great produce and interesting specialty foods.  But people don't call it Whole Paycheck for nothing.  I go to Whole Foods maybe 4 times a year.  I go to Trader Joe's once or twice per month.  Neither are close to me.  I pass WF to get to my TJ.  I wish I could afford to buy my produce from WF.  I just get produce at Kroger or Costco because they are better than TJ on most things.  But at TJ, I buy frozen vegetables, chicken, peanut butter, crackers, cheese, occasional lunch meat, tortillas, olive oil, dried fruit, nuts, and other miscellaneous staples.  They do have their share of junk food, so I don't assume everything is necessarily health just because it's TJ.

 

I went to an Earth Fare once and was surprised how expensive it was.