Whole Foods MarketReviews of wholefoodsmarket.com

Some of their prices are still good but the company has changed its ethics. I still love their lunch, soup and salad bar. Their prices are much higher than other stores but some of their sales are also very good. I bought organic ground turkey yesterday and as I was eating today i noticed I was often chewing little tiny pieces of bones. Can't they just separate the bones before they grind the meat? Chewing grains of bones unexpectedly is totally unacceptable quality.

Overall, I like them, but I’m just noticing that their prices are going up much more and we’re getting much less in return in terms of quantity, quality and variety.

Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market in 2017 cost $13.7 billion. ####### Pros 1. Some genuinely high‑quality grocery items. 2. Good variety across fresh produce, prepared foods, and specialty items. 3. Smoothies, hot drinks, cold drinks, and a loyalty card — but only for the café, not for grocery shopping. 4. Rice dish with Beef, pork and chicken. They now offer guacamole for free. Previously you paid extra. They do have a odd system though because they allow 4 items included in the price, choices are Choose, 1)cheese, 2)lettuce, 4)sour cream, and/or 4) chopped tomato + herbs + light dressing but this is all they have on offer so odd they ask you can have 4 if this is all they have anyway. You can add guacamole now as well with things like onions etc. ####### Cons 1. 20& off ice drinks at the time of writing. 2. Prices can be significantly higher than other retailers. For example, I pay around £25/kg for wild sea bass at my local fishmonger — already on the expensive side, but trusted. Whole Foods charges roughly double when you work it out. Selfridges is similar, but at least their pricing is expected due to their high lease costs. Check online with other retailers first. Buy when discounted but check 3. Discounted items are not discounted at the till. I’ve been charged full price multiple times for items clearly marked as 50% off but I now this trick so not caught out. Staff confirmed that many customers complain about this. Unless you check your receipt, you will almost certainly pay full price. I bought five kefir yoghurts at 50% off — the till charged full price. Every supermarket updates the barcode so the discount is applied automatically. Whole Foods does not, and this feels intentional. It places the burden entirely on the customer, a classic profit‑maximising tactic. 4. No loyalty card or points system for grocery shopping — only for the café. Amazon do not reward loyal customers like other stores. You need to factor this in when purchasing items long term. This is greed. I keep asking. They keep responding and not interested. 5. Pizza slices have minimal toppings despite being priced as if they’re fully loaded. I’ve raised this with staff and management several times. The toppings are sold just a few feet away, yet the slices use the bare minimum. You are paying for dough and tomato paste. Vegan similar to much yet so much cheaper 6. Packaged food is not the best as they make it there. The chicken, for example, is stiff and not ideal for me as likely sits in the shelf for too long. 7. The rice bowl section used to be inflexible — you couldn’t mix white/brown rice or black/brown beans. This has recently improved, which suggests the previous manager may have been enforcing the strict policy. 8. No organic foods in fruit and veges section. . I might be wrong, but I didn’t see any certified organic logos on the products. I’ll update this if it turns out they apply the soil‑association code differently as some items have the certified ode so not as obvious but I'm 80% sure this does not apply here Major Concern: Discount Pricing This is the biggest issue. Most retailers update barcodes so the till automatically applies the reduced price. Whole Foods does not. Given that Amazon owns Whole Foods, it’s hard to believe they cannot update their systems overnight like other supermarkets do. The practice feels designed to maximise profit through customer oversight. Overall Whole Foods offers good products, but long‑term you can easily end up paying more than expected. There are no grocery rewards, and you must be vigilant at checkout — especially with discounted items — or you will be charged full price. Always speak to staff to have the price corrected. This pricing approach makes it difficult to fully trust the store. Good hygiene standards as far as I can tell. They have WIFI and seating upstairs and outside. Similar to Planet Organic that I shop at but they offer rewards through an app. I shop their regularly still as I feel they have some quality items. Surprisingly though they do not appear to be a big fan of organic. Fruit and veges section, for example has nothing.

I visited Whole Foods, and I was unpleasantly surprised by the cashier. When I mentioned my Amazon Prime membership to apply a discount I knew existed. he dismissed it insisting I had no discount. Even when 1 reiterated that my membership is linked ta my card, he repeated there was nothing. Meanwhile, the next customer was kindly asked about their membership. When I returned with a photo clearly showing the discount (which was about 8-10 dollars), he showed no reaction, as if it was routine. This gave me the impression that short-changing customers might be a norm there, and the lack of honesty is what frustrated me most

The store is clean and well-lit, which I appreciate. But the layout can be a bit confusing I always end up walking past the same section twice before finding what I need. Checkout is usually fine, though it gets slow during peak hours. Parking is hit or miss depending on the location. Not bad overall, just room for improvement.

The staff at the front where the you pay, seemed disturbed if you ask for assistance. They stand holding up the wall, and talking, instead of helping the patrons. There was only one tall guy who was very nice & helpful, which I appreciated. If you are going to have people working the front, they should be there to assist.

I get all my foods from here and been a loyal customer for over 12 years. They are indeed expensive as I pick only organic. However, the BIGGEST downside I noticed is- their bakery cakes where we cannot customize with sugar substitute like Honey/ Stevia/Monk Fruit etc. I wish they have standard instructions to reach more customers who prefer sugar free and white flour free birthday cakes.

I bought a Chantilly cake at the Playa Vista location and it did not taste like the ones I had before. It tasted stale, dry and not tasty. I was very disappointed. I served it on Christmas day and was embarrassed when I tasted it