Sprouts Farmers Market - opinions please

[Tinkermommy]

These stores are sprouting up in my area. Never heard of them and wondered what others thought.

What are the products you like/dislike?

How are their prices?

FWIW, I usually shop at Costco, Trader Joe's and Publix. (Not Wal-Mart

 

[ashley0139]

These stores are sprouting up in my area. Never heard of them and wondered what others thought. What are the products you like/dislike? How are their prices? FWIW, I usually shop at Costco, Trader Joe's and Publix. (Not Wal-Mart

It's similar to a whole foods. More health foods as opposed to a regular grocery store.

 

[laurafergie]

They have excellent produce and always have a few really good loss leaders.

 

[Saimaeve]

I love mine.

It's sort of like Whole Foods' anemic baby brother.

He's not a bad guy, he's lot of fun and not quite as spastic as his big brother, but he's not as filled out yet.

 

[sonnyjane]

It's similar to a whole foods. More health foods as opposed to a regular grocery store.

Yup! But not as ridiculously priced as WF. They also have a lot of really good prepared or semi-pre-prepared foods.

 

[CaliBear]

They are great for buying dry goods- lentils, flours, nuts, grains, you name it. I liked their produce when I lived nearby, but I don't have recent experience with them.

 

[barneyda]

Well priced produce at Sprouts! What about "The Fresh Market"…we got one in Oklahoma about 2 years ago and I LOVE shopping there!

 

[sonnyjane]

Well priced produce at Sprouts! What about "The Fresh Market"…we got one in Oklahoma about 2 years ago and I LOVE shopping there!

Fresh Market has the best baked goods of any store, in my opinion!

 

[Micca]

Well priced produce at Sprouts! What about "The Fresh Market"…we got one in Oklahoma about 2 years ago and I LOVE shopping there!

Fresh Market is AWESOME! Going there is more fun than going out to dinner.
Everything they make is delicious, and the quality of service is excellent.

I'm not a big fan of Whole Foods or Trader Joes, just didn't do much for me. I don't think there's a "Sprouts" around here.

 

[bookgirl]

I live closer to Sprouts then WFoods. (in fact work a block from my suburbs Sprouts).

They are price-ier than Homeland or Target/Walmart but they have good Produce and Meat.

We actually have a 'local' store that opened up in my area that is a mix between Whole Foods but does carry some regular market name brands. It's also pricy but lots of choices.

 

[Sparkleshine]

The Sprouts here do double ad Wed (new ad and last weeks ad prices) so I usually go every other Wed and get what I need then! I only go for the produce and the prices can be well below what the supermarkets are charging in my area.

 

[Tinkermommy]

Thanks for the info. I can't wait to check them out.

My husband and I eat Paleo so this sounds like a good place for produce and meats.

 

[descovy]

I hit Sprouts every Wednesday for double ad day. I am not an organic eater, so I mainly shop produce. For a long while I was getting Chicken breasts there too for $1.77-$1.99/lb. But for me its mainly produce.

I shop the loss leaders, and work my meals around that. Today I spent $12 for 2 very heavy paper bags of produce.

Celery (organic happened to be same price as reg) Bananas, 5 apples, 5 oranges, 3 onions, 1lb strawberries, 1 red bell pepper, 1 golden bell pepper, 2 lbs cherries.

Can't beat that at the regular grocery store! For once a week its a deal for me!

 

[bcla]

I don't think I've been to one, but they are popping up (I hesitate to use the phrase "sprouting up") around here. They supposedly took over a site (University of California property taken over by the "Occupy the Farm" movement) around here that Whole Foods backed off of because of the protests.

I'm not sure how successful they could be around here. We've got unique businesses with spectacular prices and/or interesting selections. I live near Berkeley, California, and we've got a specialty supermarket called Berkeley Bowl (original location was on the site of a closed bowling alley) with two locations and a produce market called Monterey Market. There's also an ethnic Japanese place called Toyko Fish that has some interesting stuff. There are also three Trader Joe's in the area. Whole Foods does exist, but sometimes I wonder who shops there when we have less expensive options.

I especially love Berkeley Bowl. They have the most interesting selection. While a typical supermarket will have one set price for something like a 1 lb package of strawberries even if there are two sources, they have their buyers scour the local (and sometimes regional) suppliers for the best bargains. The 1 lb plastic pak of strawberries might be available from 8 different sources, and each one may be priced differently. Sometimes they're slightly overripe (I'm told that's great for blending or pies) and there's an exceptional value there. My kid loves blueberries. There was recently a special on some premium sized packages from an Oregon supplier, but the packaging was in Japanese. I'm guessing it was destined for Japan but that it was either refused or it was a cancelled order. These things were huge and mostly sweet with very few sour ones. I'm guessing in Japan they would have been willing to pay 10 times what I paid for them (which was ridiculously cheap).

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

We do a lot of our shopping at Costco (big family), but all of our produce comes from Sprouts. Their prices & quality blow Costco out of the water.

 

[gillep]

I just started shopping at sprouts and I love the produce, it is really good quality, and the organic is so much more affordable than at the supermarket (Safeway). One thing I did notice is that the ground hot Italian sausage I bought was really really salty. I used it in my usual spaghetti sauce and it was overwhelmingly salty, and this was the only ingredient that was different than my usual preparation. I spoke with my hairdresser and she said that she has experienced a lot of inconsistency in their homemade sausages regarding salt level but this may be an issue with the ones near us. There deli prices are also better than Safeway and they do made-to-order deli sandwiches which look good.

 

[Jeff in BigD]

I really don't care for Sprouts. They ran an advertisement sale on a beer that I really like, so I drove to 3 different Sprouts looking for said beer.


The first two had the price tag with the sale price, but none were in stock, or (more likely) they pulled them from the shelves. Third store had the beer, but wouldn't honor the price - there was a note at the registers that the ad was a misprint meant only for the AZ stores. I spoke with the manager who also refused to honor the advertised price, also stating that they weren't even supposed to carry that beer. Seemed like a silly thing to give a customer a negative experience over.


Had it been a readily available beer, I would've shrugged & just moved on after the first store, but I was pretty aggravated at how the whole thing was handled. Mad that the first two probably just pulled the beers, but made no mention (to save face) of the printing error; that the third one only made mention of the error at the register & that the manager wasn't accommodating.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I walked into one last week. Walked around and left without buying anything.

I thought it was expensive. There is another cheaper farmers market nearby so I'll continue to go there.

I've always called Whole Foods "Whole Paycheck" so I don't know why I expected Sprouts to be different. LOL

 

[TLuvsD]

Love Sprouts. Great quality, good prices.
My DH loves their ground meat. In the meat counter they have an awesome pollo asada -- I stock up my freezer when it's on sale. Great on the grill or in the oven. I buy most of my chicken and pork items at Sprouts. (Not the sausage, things like pork chops, roasts, etc.)

Their chicken and beef stock is also very good, I buy the low sodium. I use it in lentil soup with smoked turkey legs and the sodium level of the turkey leg can vary, so I prefer to use a low sodium stock. I've used their standard stock and liked it.

Artisan ciabatta bread is good, and the dinner rolls are excellent. Love the nuts/beans/candy in the bins. I mail walnuts to D at college every few weeks (when they go on sale).

 

[ashleysev]

What others have said -- way cheaper than Whole Foods and I go on Wednesdays for double ad days.

My husband is gluten free and they have a great selection of products there that we can't get at Safeway, Target, or Costco. I love their produce prices! Every once in a while they do 25% off the dry food bins and I stock up. The same for vitamins and beauty products.