Cookaholics Bulletin Board

All,

I don't think I shop at any supermarkets. Very occasionally we'll go to a Safeway for some kind of frozen food or similar we can't get elsewhere (like frozen blackeyed peas) but our shopping is pretty much: greengrocer's, asian markets, middle eastern markets, TJ's, bakery.

A Whole Wallet is moving in fairly nearby, and I doubt we'll shop there.

The Whole Wallet in St. Paul sells Fage greek yogurt for $2/carton cheaper than anywhere that I've found around here.

Yeah, Whole Paycheck can actually be a good bargain, if you shop it right. 365 Brand stuff is usually pretty high-quality. The prices for produce are on par with our local bargain chain, if you stick to seasonal items. I haven't noticed the meat to be any pricier than similar (i.e. "natural" and organic brands) products in other stores, though it can't beat the farmer's market. They do tack on about an extra $2 per pound for parmigiano, but the 365 dairy products cost about the same as other stores' store-brand organic dairy and it gets a 4-cow rating from the Cornucopia Institute. My local WF is quite aggressive with the coupons, too. If I am buying something and there's a coupon for it in the current, or just past flyer, the cashier will dig it out and apply it. When I was picking up butter for holiday baking, the cashier called around to the other registers until she found the just-expired coupon for Organic Valley butter. Then, she applied it 5 times for each pound of butter I was buying, even though I was buying 365 butter. I could get a some better bargains shopping around, but with time and gas at a premium, Whole Foods actually makes a lot of sense as the place to go when I can only get to one place.

I can't tell you how many things I get at Asian markets at incredible savings! Not just the obvious, but the meat is incredible. The pork is trimmed to perfection, at much lower prices (and, of course, there are those things UNAVAILABLE elsewhere! lol). And with some things (like the ginger, mentioned previously) there is such an incredible turnover that, even if the supermarkets could match the price, the freshness could never be close.

I almost never go through a non-express line in a supermarket, I buy so little, and usually only things on sale.

SOW, I thought they outlawed way overpricing things, just so that they could put them on sale for 60 or 70% off. Didn't they fine Sears for this years ago, in their appliance sales? Supermarkets do this all the time around here.

Dave

One thing they do jack the price up on at the Asian grocery is chicken feet. Holey Moley! I use to buy those things for under $1/lb at the Jewel in K-zoo. They want $4-$5/lb at the Asian market.

Chicken leg quarters $0.19/pound today...time to make more chicken broth.

Kurt, I can't believe that price. What's the story?

What steams me is when the local grocery does a "buy one get one free" special except that they raise the price of the single item by 20% or more - if you want one you pay the higher price. Thins like $6 for a pound of Armour bacon (but BOGO Free!) when the good stuff in the butcher case (buy as little or as much as you need) is $4 a pound.

They had a sell by/use by date of today, they had about a dozen packages, I bought 9 and tossed 6 in the freezer...