Whole Foods, an Austin-Based Store with Over 400 Locations in the U.S. and U.K. - Being Purchased by Amazon for $13.7 Billion

[monavano]

I have to share one of my favorite things I can get at WF (Old Town) and it's Fulvi Pecorino cheese. Fulvi has more tang and flavor than Locatelli (which I don't like) and a little goes a long way. It has to be the best Pecorino out there and it's about $14 per pound. I find it grated in the refrigerated section next to the cheese counter.

[NolaCaine]

Has anyone been getting lumpy whole-fat, plain, organic yogurt in the 32 oz container at the Clarendon WF or is it just me? 2 months of this! 6 complains! no change!

[monavano]

Has anyone seen good white chocolate at WF? I'm so done with trying to melt crappy Nestle morsels!

[zoramargolis]

good white chocolate

An oxymoron, IMO. Sorry.

[Barbara]

An oxymoron, IMO. Sorry.

True, but the best white chocolate is Callebaut, which can be found at WF.

[monavano]

Thank Barbara. Indeed WF did have good white chocolate. The Callebaut was more expensive than the El Rey White Discos that I bought. The bars of Callebaut were a bit big for my immediate needs and the discs looked convenient. There's no veg. oil in the El Rey so I'm hoping it melts without problem.

I'm dipping pumpkin biscotti into it

[Anna Blume]

Is Al Dente in charge of weekly specials in this region? Coincidence, maybe, but this week chicken drumsticks and Humboldt Fog (cf. recent discussions in spin-off thread and discussion of "artisinal") are on sale.

[Anna Blume]

The company now has an app that instructs the team in the cheese department on the various qualities of cheese so they can, in turn, educate the public on what to expect. Very misleadingly, it turns out.

For example, they were sampling a ribiola described accurately as "delicate" and "mild" on the identifying card. Because of the app from WFM, however, the descriptors on the card behind it said it is "extremely sharp" or words to that effect. Same goes for a Brie and Gorgonzola Dolce. I don't get it. Related but separate: When I used to shop at the Tenleytown, P St. and G'town stores, I could depend on team leaders who clearly had strong backgrounds in cheese. Not so in Silver Spring.

[zoramargolis]

When I used to shop at the Tenleytown, P St. and G'town stores, I could depend on team leaders who clearly had strong backgrounds in cheese. Not so in Silver Spring.

Caveat emptor is the watchword in Whole Foods stores, in pretty much every department. Alas, the team leader at the Georgetown WF retired some time ago--she really was terrific.

[Pat]

The Whole Foods Old Town store on Duke Street currently has clamshells of Spanish pine nuts. I've been rather diligent in recent months in only buying ones of Spanish and Turkish origins, since they don't seem to have any association with pine nut mouth. It's much more expensive than buying sacks of them at Costco, which I'd done for years, but the Costco ones are from China, as are most of the ones Whole Foods seems to be stocking. (I've been checking obsessively on every trip and was finally rewarded with a new supply of Spanish pine nuts the other day.)

[Anna Blume]

^I hope you got your money back on the mussels! Pat, you need to get out to the Rockville store just to visit the bulk section. Disneyland! (In Silver Spring, the store is starting to adopt some of the Mother Ship's coolest features, but when you have team members dump lousy, squat, cheap pine nuts into the bin with the superior, expensive stuff...)

[Pat]

^I hope you got your money back on the mussels! Pat, you need to get out to the Rockville store just to visit the bulk section. Disneyland! (In Silver Spring, the store is starting to adopt some of the Mother Ship's coolest features, but when you have team members dump lousy, squat, cheap pine nuts into the bin with the superior, expensive stuff...)

They did give me my money back, with no problem.

I'd like to check out the bulk section at the Rockville store, but contemplating the drive to Rockville dims my enthusiasm .

[Drive-by Critic]

WFM Friendship Heights has serious stocking problems. Why is the packaged salad selection nearly depleted at 9 a.m. on a Friday? Can't they use the massive amounts of data they collect to predict demand? This has been going on for two weeks now. I am getting sick and tired of having to make multiple trips to get basics. And they don't get their staff in early enough to get the prepared foods stocked. The selection of prepared salads and sandwiches was pathetic at 9:15. They never have the rotisserie chicken out before 10 a.m. (That's actually OK - it is an excuse to go to Don Pollo - but I don't always have the time to do that).

It's getting to be as random as Rodman's.

[goodeats]

I actually prefer Moro for their slightly bitter edge. For me, the taroccos are similar to "normal" tangerines and not quite as good as good honeybell tangerines.

Speaking of blood orange varieties, anyone ever seen Sanguinellos for sale?

I think Sanguinellos were what I saw at the Foggy Bottom WF today, next to the Blood Oranges, which are $1.00 per orange until Sunday.

Their air-chilled chickens are the Friday special at $1.99/lb, which includes their whole organic chickens.

[astrid]

I think Sanguinellos were what I saw at the Foggy Bottom WF today, next to the Blood Oranges, which are $1.00 per orange until Sunday.

Thanks for the tip! Must stop by Foggy Bottom on my way home.

[The Hersch]

The last couple of weeks, the Glover Park store has had a citrus fruit called a "sumo mandarin". This fruit looks a lot like a Minneola tangelo, about the same size, with pebbly skin and the distinctive sort of nubbin at the stem end. The skin is a markedly paler shade of orange than the typical Minneola. There's a piece on this new hybrid here. Has anybody tried it? I've been loath to buy any because they cost $1.69 apiece--not a huge sum in itself, but rather a lot for a fkin tangerine. I might be willing to fork out if it's a superb fruit.

Speaking of cost, the Glover Park store outdid itself today. I've had a standing gripe about the terrible job they do of displaying prices for their wares. They have a whole refrigerator case next to the fish counter dedicated to smoked fish--many different kinds of smoked salmon, plus several other smoked fish varieties, probably a total of twenty different items, maybe more. Today, not one single smoked-fish item had a price showing. Not one!

[Joe H]

Wegman's in Fairfax was giving out free samples of this today-they were selling them by the box, $11.00+ for a box of nine of them. When I got home my wife and I peeled one and read the literature included in the box. Supposedly this is the single most popular piece of citrus fruit in Japan or Korea and certainly must be the most expensive. Now a California company is growing them.

They're unbelievably easy to peel with thick (1/4") peel that would come off if you only used your knuckles. As for flavor they are sweet but I'm not so sure they are any better than, say, Indian River navel oranges. At their price point I doubt I will buy another.

[DaRiv18]

My in-laws love mandarin oranges for their peels, lots of applications in cooking. I wonder how these peels are.

[zoramargolis]

Speaking of cost, the Glover Park store outdid itself today. I've had a standing gripe about the terrible job they do of displaying prices for their wares. They have a whole refrigerator case next to the fish counter dedicated to smoked fish--many different kinds of smoked salmon, plus several other smoked fish varieties, probably a total of twenty different items, maybe more. Today, not one single smoked-fish item had a price showing. Not one!

They've no doubt determined that if people know beforehand how much it costs, they won't put it in their basket. But if it's already there when they are checking out, they'll buy it rather than look like a cheapskate. Or maybe they aren't even paying attention to the prices as they are rung up.

[Joe H]

In the WF Reston store there is not a single screen/register/place to watch the prices as they are rung up. After the cashier is finished there is nowhere to see the final total. The only way to know it is to be told it. The only way to confirm pricing is to review the receipt AFTER the order is finished.

I haven't noticed this in other stores but it personally bothers me since we are all human and mistakes can be made.

[Chocolatechipkt]

FYI, Certifikid is offering a $5 for $10 deal on meat at WF Bethesda this week.

http://www.certifikid.com/deal/2294/5-for-10-worth-of-all-natural-meat-or-poultry-at

(and apologies if this shouldn't be here ... I just got this deal and thought I'd share.)

[zoramargolis]

In the WF Reston store there is not a single screen/register/place to watch the prices as they are rung up. After the cashier is finished there is nowhere to see the final total. The only way to know it is to be told it. The only way to confirm pricing is to review the receipt AFTER the order is finished.

I haven't noticed this in other stores but it personally bothers me since we are all human and mistakes can be made.

I was just at Whole Foods Arlington and noticed that the items appear on the little credit card/debit card screen as they are rung up, and then the total appears, before you run your credit card through it.

[mdt]

I was just at Whole Foods Arlington and noticed that the items appear on the little credit card/debit card screen as they are rung up, and then the total appears, before you run your credit card through it.

It is like that at the WFs in Springfield and Fairfax too.

[monavano]

^^

Old town too. It's a relatively new location and I don't remember ever noticing that I could not see items and prices rung up before I ran my CC.

[Barbara]

I was just at Whole Foods Arlington and noticed that the items appear on the little credit card/debit card screen as they are rung up, and then the total appears, before you run your credit card through it.

Ditto for the P Street store.

[giant shrimp]

what's up with the new packaging for driscoll's raspberries and blackberries on sale usually in the $3-$4 range at whole foods? the 6 oz. plastic containers have two layers of berries, and sometimes those on the bottom become moldy. you used to be able to check them out by looking through the plastic. unfortunately, the container bottoms have become untransparent, obscured by an opaque berry-colored paper liner. if the purpose of the liner is to prevent spoilage, it is not entirely successful. i have discovered moldy berries in a couple of cases. i have discussed this issue with store managers and they don't know what to make of it.

[goodeats]

Still at a quandary when it comes to buying Whole Foods - can someone reply to this in the Shopping and Cooking thread? South or Central American whole beans from Quartermaine is generally my coffee of choice there, but they often don't have them, forcing me to buy "Red Line Blend," etc.

I've seen a good selection at the Foggy Bottom WF. The selection at Clarendon is much smaller, but if you drive to the Tyson's or the Vienna location, I seem to recall a few more options.

[dcs]

I missed this announcement when it came out. Whole Foods Market to stop selling red-rated seafood.

[goodeats]

For those living or working nearby the WF Foggy Bottom, Kaz Sushi has partnered with this location for its sushi to go or customizable sushi orders. I have not seen this at other WF locations.

Also, they are opening (have opened?) a Korean cafe, riffing off of current Asian-Taco fusion food truck cuisine as a dining option.

[dcs]

I missed this announcement when it came out. Whole Foods Market to stop selling red-rated seafood.

... and the fishermen complain.

[Anna Blume]

Context: a lament in the Trader Joe thread about not finding raw peanuts.

That's strange. I have a partially-used sack of raw peanuts from Whole Foods, bought a few weeks ago. Must be a temporary shortage.

Or the decision of buyers at Friendship Hts and Silver Spring (both checked) vs. Tenleytown? I don't know since I am convinced I've seen them at WFM before.

You can grind your own nut butters at Whole Foods Old Town. So they most definitely have raw shelled peanuts.

Actually, you grind roasted peanuts. $3.99 lb. vs. the bins of roasted peanuts sold at $5.99 lb. as part of the Granola Bar. Talk about cynical, sleazy selling practices...

[qwertyy]

Or the decision of buyers at Friendship Hts and Silver Spring (both checked) vs. Tenleytown? I don't know since I am convinced I've seen them at WFM before.

P Street definitely has* them.

[sorry--should have said "had." This was two weeks ago.]

[JuneBacon]

Actually, you grind roasted peanuts. $3.99 lb. vs. the bins of roasted peanuts sold at $5.99 lb. as part of the Granola Bar. Talk about cynical, sleazy selling practices...

AWW HELL

[Rhone1998]

So, I go to Whole Foods quite a bit, but not to very many individual stores...usually just the one on P St. So I really had little idea how much variation in selection there is across stores until I came across a display of a dozen different varieties of smoked salmon (!) at the Framingham, MA location a few weeks ago. The rest of the store looked pretty different (and generally better), too. Why can't we have this sort of thing around here (or do we)?

[TheMatt]

So, I go to Whole Foods quite a bit, but not to very many individual stores...usually just the one on P St. So I really had little idea how much variation in selection there is across stores until I came across a display of a dozen different varieties of smoked salmon (!) at the Framingham, MA location a few weeks ago. The rest of the store looked pretty different (and generally better), too. Why can't we have this sort of thing around here (or do we)?

The Fair Lakes Whole Foods has an in-house smoker where it does its own smoked meats and sausages, though not salmon like this. They also seem to have a better selection of whole fish than most Whole Foods (aka fish on ice).

[MsDiPesto]

So, I go to Whole Foods quite a bit, but not to very many individual stores...usually just the one on P St. So I really had little idea how much variation in selection there is across stores until I came across a display of a dozen different varieties of smoked salmon (!) at the Framingham, MA location a few weeks ago. The rest of the store looked pretty different (and generally better), too. Why can't we have this sort of thing around here (or do we)?

Haven't you heard? We're a second-tier city.

[kirite]

Haven't you heard? We're a second-tier city.

Thus Spake Spike (cue the pipe organ).

[giant shrimp]

I assume that there is consumer regulation in DC requiring grocery stores to provide prices for what they are selling. If I am correct, and it is possible I am not, then why is it that Whole Foods does not comply? I can say categorically, since the store has been in existence, I have never once visited one of their stores where I did not find product on the shelf with no price within a million miles. Typically, if the product looks good and there is no price, you can bet that few customers would buy it if they knew the price. Tonight, at Tenleytown the problem even exended to crackers. Four or five different crackers in the chese, wine and coffee aisle had no price. The wine guy, who is always reliable, said he would tell the cracker guy he should put prices on them. I told the manager I would not buy anything in the store if it did not have a price. I also told her that I have had frequent problems purchasing moldy raspberries where the condition of the fruit is obscured by an opaque napkin on the bottom of the plastic container. It does an outstandingly poor job of correcing moisture problems, if that is what it is there for, but it is highly effective at covering up any blemishes. The latest purchase from the store I opened up a couple days ago were coated in black mold on the bottom, and even the raspberries on the top layer had their throats infected with little black dots. These rapsberries have never been that good in the first place, mass harvested from California, so I am ready to give them up. And customers at the store are well aware of the problem, judging from what they have had to say when adding them to their carts. The store has been advised for months about this problem, by me, and done absolutely nothing to correct it that I can see. If it were up to me, I could go into this store and bust it for its shady pricing inconsistencies tomorrow morning. But it is up to somebody else, who is apparently happy to regard the place with a blind eye.

[Pat]

It's not just DC stores. I've encountered the no price tag problem at other locations. The store I usually shop at is Old Town and it's definitely a problem there as well. Occasionally, I will buy something when I can't figure out the price (usually because it's something I really need), but other times I just walk away.

[Anna Blume]

I wonder how many new foods are introduced to WFM stores over the course of a week and while that may be a source of the pricing problem, it seems easy enough to include three new steps into the process of displaying/stocking new products or foods: 1) make a sign; 2) check to see if all the foods rearranged to accommodate the new food also are labeled w name, bar code & price; 3) make and display all other necessary signs in that team's section of the store.

Often cashiers will charge nothing for a food that doesn't correspond to the numbers they memorize or have listed in their binders of codes. This was the case Saturday in Silver Spring when I bought two unlabeled mandarins.

[zoramargolis]

poorly-trained, lightly supervised, often deficient in knowledge about the products they are selling: the Whole Foods workforce is one of the major aspects of the company's profit model. selling over-the-hill berries at full price is another.

[goldenticket]

I've been hitting the Old Town store's "Winesday" event the last few weeks. Wednesdays, 5-7pm, $5 (the first time, bring your glass back and it's $4), they have five stations set up around the store, each with a food and wine pairing, all centered around a theme of sorts. It's quite the social event and the store can get pretty crowded. The pros bring their own wine glass holder plates

Yesterday's menu featured honey, and included a chilled carrot soup, a heart of palm salad, and a chipotle-honey glazed chicken. Recipes are provided for some of the dishes. One Wednesday a month (the 4th maybe?) features a vegan menu. It's an economical (and close to home) happy hour/dinner option.

[cheezepowder]

Whole Foods Clarendon has this Wine happy hour thing (I don't remember the exact name ) on Thursdays evenings. It's a fun event.

[bookluvingbabe]

Foggy Bottom has the wine thing on Wednesday's.

[Anna Blume]

I stopped buying pine nuts anywhere else since the introduction of those amazing, expensive Spanish or Turkish ones at Whole Foods.

The supply is out now. Rockville acknowledges the fact and the bin in the bulk section is empty. You can still buy bags of the ubiquitous teardrop-shaped ones that are squatter, golden, and often taste beyond prime, so I opted out.

In Friendship Heights last night, so I dropped in the store there only to find the less costly, inferior nuts in the bulk section being sold as Spanish pine nuts for $29.99 a pound! I am sure this was out of ignorance rather than deceit. Let's see if anyone bothers to correct the sign and price now that the store has been alerted to the problem.

[Dr. Delicious]

We just learned that the WF guacamole is really quite good, with very little drop off compared to what I'd (my wife, more realistically) make if I (wife) were making it from scratch. It's also a huge step up from other pre-made guacs like Wholly Guacamole, etc.

[lperry]

Surviving Whole Foods.

[zoramargolis]

We just learned that the WF guacamole is really quite good, with very little drop off compared to what I'd (my wife, more realistically) make if I (wife) were making it from scratch. It's also a huge step up from other pre-made guacs like Wholly Guacamole, etc.

I've tasted it in the store a couple of times and find it too heavy on onion, and lacking in complexity. Not enough lime juice, no garlic or cilantro. I've read claims that "traditional" guacamole is flavored only with onion. That may be the case, but I don't like it that way.

[Barbara]

I've tasted it in the store a couple of times and find it too heavy on onion, and lacking in complexity. Not enough lime juice, no garlic or cilantro. I've read claims that "traditional" guacamole is flavored only with onion. That may be the case, but I don't like it that way.

Me neither. Guac without garlic isn't worth eating.

[saf]

 no garlic or cilantro.

No cilantro? A guacamole that I didn't make that I can eat? YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!

(I remember, before the coming of the obsession with the evil weed that is cilantro, when I could eat guacamole in restaurants. I hope that someday, that will be true again.)