Instant Alert: We compared prices at Whole Foods to those at Trader Joe's — and the results were surprising

MANAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS   |   UNSUBSCRIBE   |   VIEW ONLINE   We compared prices at Whole Foods to those at Trader Joe's — and the results were surprising by Mary Hanbury and Samantha Lee on Apr 2, 2017, 5:09 PM Advertisement Whole Foods is trying desperately to shed its "Whole Paycheck" reputation as it loses millions of customers to grocery store rivals like Kroger and Trader Joe's. While sales of organic food have more than tripled in the past decade, same-store sales at Whole Foods have decelerated in recent years as conventional grocery stores up their organic variety and offer more competitive prices.  To see how Whole Foods is doing, we visited a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's just a few blocks away from each other in New York's Union Square and compared prices on 28 similar items.  Overall, our Whole Foods basket was about $30 more expensive than our basket at Trader Joe's. The final bills came to $115.90 at Whole Foods and $85.33 at Trader Joe's, after we accounted for the products' varying package sizes. Here's how the prices compared:  Red peppers Trader Joe's: $0.99 each  Whole Foods: $3.99 per pound One medium-sized red bell pepper weighed nearly one pound, so peppers were far more expensive at Whole Foods.  Organic avocados Trader Joe's: $2.29 each  Whole Foods: $2.79 each    Organic strawberries Trader Joe's: $5.99 for 16 ounces Whole Foods: $5.99 for 16 ounces Strawberries were expensive across the board. See the rest of the story at Business Insider   Share the latest business news with your network:    Email sent to:   |   Manage your email preferences   |   Unsubscribe Terms of Service   |   Privacy Policy Business Insider. 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10011