Yes, Amazon Whole Foods Groceries Are Cheaper

Photo credit: Kurtis Garbutt, CC BY 2.0.

The New York Times just did a pre- and post-Amazon Whole Foods experiment that is totally making me jealous that I didn’t think to do it.

They bought a few items at Whole Foods last Thursday, before the Amazon takeover, and then bought those same items on Monday.

The verdict? Amazon has lowered prices on Whole Foods groceries—but not all of them.

Dozen Organic Valley Large Brown Eggs

Old price: $6.19.

New price: $4.49.

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Calavo Organic Hass Avocados

(Bag of 4.)

Old price: $6.99

New price: $6.99

(Whole Foods dropped the price of some organic avocados — but not these organic avocados. Whoops!)

The NYT saved 14 percent by shopping after the Amazon Whole Foods transition—but since grocery prices are highly dynamic, they really should go conduct this experiment again.

Actually, maybe I should go to Whole Foods and see what this same basket of groceries costs in Seattle. Or, even better, maybe I should look up how much these groceries cost on Whole Food’s Instacart interface, so I don’t have to take the bus 40 minutes each way. (I do not live in a Whole Foods neighborhood.)

Here are my results:

365 Brand Organic Unsalted Butter (four sticks)

• New York on Friday: $5.29
• New York on Monday: $4.49
• Seattle on Wednesday: $4.99

Whole Trade Organic Bananas (price per pound)

• New York on Friday: $0.99
• New York on Monday: $0.69
• Seattle on Wednesday: $1.09

Organic Valley Large Brown Eggs (one dozen)

• New York on Friday: $6.19
• New York on Monday: $4.49
• Seattle on Wednesday: $5.79

Calavo Organic Hass Avocados (bag of four)

• New York on Friday: $6.99
• New York on Monday: $6.99
• Seattle on Wednesday: I’m getting $6.99 for a bag of four Mission Hass Avocados and $4.99 for a bag of four Nature’s Partner Haas Avocados. No results for Calavo.

365 Brand Crunch Almond Butter (16 oz)

• New York on Friday: $7.99
• New York on Monday: $6.99
• Seattle on Wednesday: $7.99

To be fair, I don’t know how much cheaper Seattle Whole Foods prices are than they were last week, but it’s interesting to see all of these figures side-by-side.

Anyone else want to see what these groceries cost in your neighborhood? Use the Whole Foods Delivery link, and you should be able to look up prices without having to leave your… um… wherever you are right now.

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