Trader Joe's/Whole Foods Market

[Cataboo]

I love trader joe's. Whole foods is great - but it's really expensive, if $20 a lb for salmon or $5 for a loaf of bread or like $5 for a bell pepper is okay for you, then it's okay for you.

Trader joe's is a lot more reasonably priced - they don't have fresh meats, but they have a good selection of frozen meat & vegetables. I love the dried fruit at trader joe's - dried mangos, dried hibiscus flowers, dried bananas, and a lot of the more exotic asian fruit.

Grapeseed or olive oil is pretty well priced at trader joes, cereals, etc. They do have this nasty habit of discontinuing whatever is my current favorite trader joe's product.

[surgtech1956]

Thanks. Sounds like I'm going to make a stop at Trader Joe's(have to make sure I put my little cooler in the truck for refrigerated items).

[ridenread]

If you are a coffee drinker Trader Joe's also has some really awesome whole bean coffee. We stock up on large cans of dark roast whenever we go

[Pedal Wench]

My favorite TJ item: Flattened Bananas. It's like banana jerky - thinly sliced lengthwise, then dehydrated. Yum! Kinda chewy - like raisins - and intensely banana-y.

[GLC1968]

Hmmm, I like Whole Foods 100% better than TJ's. Maybe my local TJ's sucks compared to others...but they had lousy and expensive produce and 98% of their products were prepared items or snack foods. I wanted to buy basics or speciality items for making my own things and they carried none of it (like no rye flour!).

If you like convenince foods, you'll love it. They have rows upon rows of prepared frozen foods to chose from... If you would rather make your own from scratch, head for Whole Foods instead.

Our TJ's doesn't even have a very good wine section and I thought they were supposed to be known for good, inexpensive wines!

[Cataboo]

I guess it depends on what you go for. Whole foods does have a nice bulk section.

I tend to either get my produce at Costco, farmer's markets, or at Korean grocery stores. Usually nothing can beat the selection & prices on the latter. Costco's great if you want 5 lbs of organic spinach for $5.

Whole foods has a ton of packaged prepared foods as well.

I hven't noticed a problem when looking for ingredients from scratch at Trader joe's, but I don't live near one, so I really just pop in when I get a change and buy a bunch of the dried fruit.

[ny biker]

I haven't been to a Whole Foods in a long time, and I've never shopped there regularly, but I think they are bigger than TJ's and carry a wider variety of products.

I like the whole wheat cinnamon British muffins at Trader Joe's. And some of the fresh soups in their refrigerator case. I used to like the pizza bagels, but they don't seem to carry them anymore.

[Trek420]

Thanks. Sounds like I'm going to make a stop at Trader Joe's(have to make sure I put my little cooler in the truck for refrigerated items).

Cooler? Bring a trailer. I loooooooove TJ's. It's one place I really don't need a shopping list because practically everything is healthy and good. Even TJ's chocolate on chocolate Jo Jo's

I do rankle at the produce. I prefer to choose my own and for example eggplant in a container of two, over packaged, you gotta get two, can't get one or 3 or 5 .... so produce at the farm market but other stuff at TJ's when I can.

[smilingcat]

TJ really drives a hard bargain with the suppliers. but as a consumer, prices are pretty darn good. They seem to carry overflow items packaged in their own label.

I buy my fruit and veg from the farmers market (things I'm not growing). We also have whole food near my house and I'm not crazy about them. Their brand label, "365 days", is manufactured in China. Soybean yup, tater tots yup,... I was not impressed with the fish selection, quality, variety, eco friendly... and freshness. Yes you can buy Chilean seabass. A big NO-NO. Besides, I'm not snooty like the crowds at my local whole foods. We prefer to spend our money at local farmers market, where I can talk directly to the farmers. Places we shop regularly are Sprouts, and TJ's.

I guess the bottom line is depending on what kind of person you are, you may prefer Whole foods (yuppy), or TJ's (working class, someone who marches to a different drummer). We hop-skip-and-jump to a different drummer.

[dingster1]

Funny this came up. I went to a Whole Foods today because they are the only place that sells the Diva Cup (yep, finally gonna try it). Its a pricey place. Trader Joes in my neck of the woods is friendlier and smaller. I live close to a Dutch Market so I try and pick up fruits/meats there.

[Crankin]

There is a Whole Foods in the next town, but I have never been there. It's in a direction I don't often travel. There is a TJ's about 3 miles from my house in Acton. I go there for certain things: the dark chocolate bars, huge flats of blueberries at certain times of year, some cheeses, etc. I find that the produce doesn't even come close to what's in the local chains and it looks limp and very small. So, I buy produce in the regular store, or starting in about a month at the local farm stands. The prices at TJ's are good. My son shops there for his regular shopping and he told me that it's about 30% cheaper for him.
I prefer to go the local natural foods store, which is homey, but has a huge selection, lots of prepared foods, and a bunch of people who actually know their customers (also free coffee and tea, reading material, tables, etc).

[Pedal Wench]

yeah - I don't go to TJ's for the fresh produce - they just don't have a large selection. I never pay attention to their prices for produce, because I don't really buy any there.

Whole Foods has nice produce, but yikes - it's pricey. Except for bagged lettuces, which I buy for my daily lunch (I eat a whole bag for lunch) and it's significantly cheaper - $1.99/bag versus $2.69 for the store brand and $3.69 for the Fresh Express at my supermarket.