First Look: Whole Foods, Kahala
Hawaii's first Whole Foods Market opened a few hours ago, and if the next few are like this one, the other supermarkets had better step up their game.
Whole Foods is known for being the pricey gourmet/granola supermarket. Ecologically conscious and epicurean. Continuing the design trend Hawaii has been seeing in the newer Safeways like Kapahulu and Manoa (remodeled), the Whole Foods Market interior features dark floors, wood accents and warm lighting. If they had tables, you'd want to sit with coffee and a good book.
Food-wise, a surprisingly large amount of floorspace is devoted to prepared foods, everything from the standard poke counter, to paninis to a Chinese food counter. Many items are prepared fresh in the store. Sausages are stuffed by the butchers. Coffee is small-batch roasted by Allegro. PIzzas are fired in what looks to be a wood oven.
But what about the prices? I did a quick price comparison of a few staples to see if the "Whole Paycheck" nickname is deserved.
| prices on Sept 10, 2008 | Foodland Aina Haina | Whole Foods Kahala |
|---|---|---|
| apple bananas (local) | $1.99/lb | $1.99/lb |
| mangoes (local) | $2.19/lb Oahu | $2.29/lb Big Island |
| multigrain bread | $6.19 | $6.29 |
| lowfat milk | $7.29/gal | $8.99/gal |
| large eggs | $3.99/doz | $3.69/doz |
| 6 pack, Kona Longboard beer (local) | $9.99/lb | $9.99/lb |
The first thing I notice is that food has become crazy expensive in Hawaii. Holy energy crisis, Batman! Eating costs too much. Beyond the generally high prices everywhere these days, Whole Food's prices for staples are pretty darn close to Foodland; some a bit higher, others lower.
The real reason people come to Whole Foods isn't for the staples though, it's for everything else: the cheese selection, the olive bar, the countless varieties of organic potato chips, the "I'm a conscientious shopper" vibe. And they do it well. Walking down the aisles, everything looks so good. Not good in the sense that you know it must be good for you if you can force this healthy crap down your throat, but good in the sense that you want to eat everything you see. Whole Foods first foray into Hawaii has succeeded at creating a store that carries items I want to buy. Maybe that makes me a cliche, but I'm okay with that.
This is one store I'm happy has opened in my 'hood.
Sounds great. Thanks for the price comparisons Alan! We'll probably check out the Kahala store, but until the Ward Centers store opens, it's just a bit far for us in Kapolei. :-)
can't wait to check this out on my next trip home.
FranMag and Kat, it's worth popping in during a trip into town. They have food for people who appreciate food. My wife says I sound like a complete fanboi, but that's not entirely true. They fill a particular niche--not for everything but certainly for many things--that happens to scratch my itch.
Alan -- is $7+ per gallon of milk normal in Hawaii? That's just unreal.
Whole Foods has the honor of serving me the single greatest cup of soup I have ever had: Lobster Bisque. It was 9:30 in the morning, and I didn't care. Rachel and I were literally crying as we ate it.
Jonathan, my general rule of thumb is that food in Hawaii costs about 20% more than on the mainland, but milk is an outlier that can be even more extreme. It's the "paradise tax" ;-)
This is almost the first wholefoods commentary that is accurate and positive. Thanks! Much of what I've read in the dailies and PBN is regurgitated and skims the surface. I'm an organic farmer (MA`O) we've sold them tons of stuff since opening, the produce department folks have been awesome -- they came to our farm for a whole morning to understand what we're doing and to get to grips with the issues facing local farmers. They wanted to get a deeper understanding -- the milk situation one example. At one time Wai`anae had 12 dairy farms now zero. When we had 12 farms 90% of the feed was imported, totally unsustainable and not surprising the industry has crashed (resulting in higher costs). We could sustainable raise our own feed on Lualualei Naval Base land (7,000 acres) and irrigate with reclaimed treated waste water but....
Other natural foods retailers have never been interested in this deeper understanding (hence never visited our farm) and we felt W-F respected what we're doing. Okay just wanted to chime in, I noticed that our collard greens were retailing for $2.99 at W-F, whereas we are selling them for $3.00 at KCC farmer's market (yikes!). Some of the items we sold I know that W-F can get them 25% cheaper from California, but they are persistent about wanting local organic. In our case if you unravel this "whole-paycheck" thing it means we get paid more for our products...being paid a fair price allows us to stay in business -- that can only be good! Question is: do local residents want local organic, and if yes how far are they willing to go to support??? Cheers, Gary.
Hi Alan,
Great info about Whole Foods! I completely agree with you about the variety - it's so nice just to have a place where you know you can find things, and I love their commitment to local producers. I came across your blog because I am about to start the locavore challenge in October, so it's been great reading about your locavore week and finding new sources for things - especially I'm fairly new here (and a food blogger to boot!). Glad to see you're back up and blogging - I found you some time ago, but you were taking some time off!
I agree with this being a good representation of what Whole Foods carries and their prices. Food is already expensive in Hawaii but sometimes it is worth paying a little bit more for something that is better for you. And the fact that a great portion of their food is from local businesses is a great way to support the community and keep your mony in the islands.
Tammi
http://3littlebirdz.com
Gary, you've said it better than I ever could. Thanks for taking the time to share a farmer's perspective. BTW, I always pick up something from your booth at KCC, in part because the work education stuff you're doing through MA'O is so cool.
Michelle, good luck with your locavore challenge. In my experience, it will be both enlightening and mildly frustrating :-)
Tammi, yes, it's all about being an educated shopper. Even at WF, there are plenty of items shipped from the mainland. The diff compared to elsewhere is that they seem to put the most effort into partnering with local suppliers whenever they exist.
Fred, thanks for the note about the supplements. I don't use many, and thus was unaware of the price disparity compared to other places. I too tend to pick up the 365 brand as the most affordable option. BTW, I don't know if you'd remember this, but you and I have interacted professionally back when I was shopping for SAS-70 compliant colo space. You were very helpful, even though we weren't quite the right fit.
Thanks for the info, it's good to know their produce is not too much more than at the aina haina store. However, I did a price comparison on a lot of the groceries they carry versus the local health food stores I frequent and let me tell you they are in MANY cases comparing the exact same product and brand about 30% higher. And don't even get me started on their supplements---ridiculously higher, sometimes $4-$10 higher than the health food store I get my supplements from. Out of 8 random supplement price comparisons I did, only one was the same as my health food store, the rest were higher at W_F. I do go to Whole Foods for a lot of my organic produce, the local stuff is wonderful, but I don't dare by my groceries (unless unavailable at local health food stores-or their 365 brand) and definitely not my supplements there!
I would definitely shop at Whole Foods if one were closer to my house. As it is, I have to drive a distance to Woodland Hills -- not my idea of saving money on gas. :-)
~Lorna
Lorna, it doesn't work out as well if you have to drive far to reach the closest WF, especially through LA traffic!