With organic products now so widely available, we wondered how prices on a shopping list of six organic items would compare at three markets: Jewel-Osco, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market. (If the store carried more than one organic brand, we recorded the price of the lowest-priced option. Prices are rounded off.)
Interestingly, Whole Foods Market, which has a reputation for being high-priced, rang up cheaper than Jewel, which carries a wide variety of organic items under the Wild Harvest label. On the other hand, Jewel is much more likely to offer sale prices and “buy one, get one free” deals. Trader Joe’s, which carries organics under its own store brand, was where we found the lowest prices.
%% Product Jewel-Osco Trader Joe’s Whole Foods 2% milk (1 gallon) $6.29 $5.99 $5.99 Peanut butter (16-ounce jar) $4.59 $2.99 *$3.69 Mixed salad greens (5-ounce package) $3.99 $2.49 $3.99 Applesauce (24-ounce jar) $2.69 $2.29 $2.99 Diced tomatoes (28-ounce can) $2.89 $1.89 $2.69 Large eggs (per dozen) **$3.52 $4.49 $3.49 Total $23.97 $20.14 $22.84 *18-ounce jar **Price with Jewel Preferred Card %%