191–200 of 246 posts
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Have you shopped at Whole Foods or Bristol Farms for seasonal products? Compared to the major grocery store chains their produce is leaps and bounds better. I don't believe in the organic marketing crap but their food, especially when it comes to fruit, is amazing, unlike anything you can find at Kroger, Publix, or Safeway. Cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, apples, tomatoes, and countl…
Part of this is due to volume. A chain like Safeway needs massive volume to supply all their stores. A smaller chain can be more selective in what they buy because they need smaller amounts. Smaller chains are also more willing to deal with local farms directly for regional supply. In PDX, I'd rank the produce quality as: 1) farmers market (unlike many cities, in Portland the vendors are the farmers) 2) Zupans - on t…
At one time the farmers markets in PDX were superb, great produce at modest prices. Over the years they've become "fancy", kind of resembling Saturday Market, and prices are high. There are bargains to be found, though it takes some effort.
Asian markets, like out on 82nd, offer some interesting (and to us non-Asians, rather exotic) options. Unlike the Chinese vendors described in the article, produce is generally in good shape and prices reasonable. Also they're good places to buy cooking hardware, like an authentic cast-iron wok, for way less than what they charge at upscale kitchen stores.
No argument about Zupans for fresh fish, better than other grocers in PDX. They usually have good produce, but it is expensive and often available elsewhere for less.
Whole foods is OK, but I don't find it's particularly superior. New Seasons can be good, if selections somewhat quirky.
Freddy's is probably best for staples, partly because they're a Kroger's subsidiary which is a huge national chain. Hardly ever go to Safeway as nothing special there and further away.
I'd add that local, seasonal produce isn't hard to find in PDX, many grocers do feature regionally sourced fruits and vegetables, along with the "factory made" stuff. There's always the option of "U-Pick" on Sauvie's Island, an adventure in itself.
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FYI "jipped" is actually spelled "gypped", which is a slur against Gypsies. I only raise this because I used to say it a lot, and was unaware of its etymology and connotations.
And "Gypsies", describing the Romani people, is sometimes considered derogatory because of its negative connotations, and because it is reflective of the mistaken belief that they were itinerant Egyptians.
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There's a lot of western restaurants (Admittedly usually on the higher end) who change their menus seasonally, if not daily to reflect whats available. Its part of what the whole farm-to-table phenomenon is about.
One thing is a lot of asian recipes tend to be more modular. Also, the middle/lower range asian restaurants can't afford to print menus each day. So for instance, if the shrimp don't look good that day, they'll gladly throw in the littleneck clams that just came in. Same with green leafy vegetables, where they're pretty much interchangeable. "We have ong choy instead of a choy. Deal with it." Whereas in a lot of west…
They will eventually though.
As someone said above, they're not far away enough from the farms yet.
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My main point is that most western groceries have an expectation of having any produce in any season, eg apples during the summer and peaches during the winter. Whole Food is just an example of a national food chain most people are familiar with. For example, outside of the west coast, nobody knows what an Albertson's is. And outside of the midwest, nobody knows what a HyVee is.
What about Trader Joe's? Good quality at more reasonable prices.
Was trying to provide a common point of reference.
Whole Foods exists in the UK and Canada. Trader Joe's does not.
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Trader Joe's is great for prepared meals, but they are absolutely the worst grocer with regard to meat and produce. Often substantially worse than discount grocers like Krogers or Smart and Final.
in terms of quality or pricing?
I lived on henry street for a while, and I can't say that I know anything about the back end of the distribution network, but I can say this article is missing a lot of things about the front end. The produce is cheaper than a standard western store, but the quality is much more varied. Moreover, the market (in the economic sense) seems really efficient. If you see something cheap in Manhattan chinatown in every stor…
> For example, I have seen one place where if they have baskets of strawberries, and some of the strawberries are getting moldy, they will by hand separate out the non moldy ones, toss the moldy ones, and repackage the baskets. The financial crisis, explained with strawberries.
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Your experience definitely does not mirror mine. Where I live, there's a WF literally across the street from a Safeway. I've extensively comparison-shopped, and have found that WF's produce (I don't eat meat, sorry) is always cheaper than Safeway's, and there's lots more selection. In general, the local WF is cheaper for anything shopping the perimeter. Packaged goods are more expensive, and often not brand-for-brand…
Where do you live? My experience comes from wealthy suburbs in Los Angeles and Miami as well as the Bay Area in general but different markets are different. There can be many effects in play like marketing, staffing, and real estate prices. The Vons I mentioned is actually getting more expensive while the Pavilions is getting cheaper because the Vons cut back on cashiers. The longer lines have caused many of my frien…
My only two points of reference are Denver, CO and Kansas City, MO.
In Kansas City, Whole Foods produce and dairy prices were anywhere from 100-200% more than their Price Chopper / Hen House / Hy-Vee equivalents. Meat was marked up around 150% from their commodity supermarket price with a marked increase in quality and variety.
Denver has a roughly 30% higher cost of living than KC, and here the Whole Foods / Sprouts produce and dairy goods prices are competitive to slightly-higher than the King Soopers (local Kroger subsidiary) / Safeway prices. Meat is marked up around 100% from the commodity supermarket price, but with the same distinction in quality and variety.
This is all anecdotal and subject to my terrible aggregated memories of shopping trips, but this subject is fascinating to ponder.
I lived on henry street for a while, and I can't say that I know anything about the back end of the distribution network, but I can say this article is missing a lot of things about the front end. The produce is cheaper than a standard western store, but the quality is much more varied. Moreover, the market (in the economic sense) seems really efficient. If you see something cheap in Manhattan chinatown in every stor…
They definitely missed the point about ugly fruit and vegetables. From speaking to some of the vendors of cheaper fruits and veggies at farmer's markets, some of them (but not all) buy the second dibs (what the supermarkets and their other obligations don't buy) as well as more irregular fruit and produce. Now, of course there is a growing ugly fruit and vegetable movement[1]. It's becoming more mainstream and even W…
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And this describes grocery shopping in China, not just Chinatown. I look forward to the day I can just go to a western supermarket and not have to worry about getting jipped on veggies...save so much work even if they cost a lot more money.
FYI "jipped" is actually spelled "gypped", which is a slur against Gypsies. I only raise this because I used to say it a lot, and was unaware of its etymology and connotations.