Retail: On Amazon’s first day in charge, Whole Foods begins cutting prices.
Whole Foods cuts prices, adds products under Amazon
Rotisserie chicken sales were brisk at the Whole Foods on California Street on Monday morning, the first day that Amazon became the grocer’s official owner and dropped the price of a whole roasted bird from $9.99 to $7.99. Over in produce, Amazon Echo and Echo Dot Internet speakers were on special for $99.99 and $44.99, displayed on a stand with signs calling out “Farm Fresh” and “Pick of the Season.”
After announcing that it had purchased the grocery chain for $13.7 billion in June, Amazon promised to slash prices on select groceries at Whole Foods, known for its pricey fare, starting Monday. Distinct from regular sale items, which have yellow labels, the new price cuts on about a dozen items appeared with orange labels marked “Whole Foods + Amazon” and “more to come.”
Not all shoppers were impressed by the Amazon touch, with many commenting online about the “Farm Fresh” dis- play that accompanied the gadgets on sale. “I love the Echo still warm, fresh off the vine,” San Francisco software developer Maciej Ceglowski tweeted.
Discounts in the San Francisco store were on par with prices reported in other locations of the chain, such as $9.99 a pound for “responsibly farmed” Atlantic salmon, down from $12.99. These special prices also applied to Whole Foods 365 brand butter, which was sold out (at least the unsalted variety) after being reduced
from $4.99 to $4.49. Other items sold under the 365 store brand, like large eggs and almond butter, were also offered on a special Amazon discount.
In Northern California, Whole Foods has long carried a wide range of local products and touts their local provenance with special blue labels, the Amazon deal has raised concerns that smaller local vendors would no longer be a priority. Last year, before the Amazon deal, Whole Foods executive Don Clark announced that the chain was moving to a more centralized, rather than regional, buying model.
As of this week, the store still carries quite a few local products including Fort Point beer, Wise Sons bagels and nectarine jam from Brentwood’s Frog Hollow Farm — though the latter was on sale for $5.59 down from $6.95.
Local grocers seemed eager to make up for any shift in Whole Foods’ buying patterns.
“We have always been laserfocused on our mission of creating community through food, which we do by supporting our producer community and staying committed to the well-being of our team and to our planet,” said Sam Mogannam, owner of Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, reached via email. “We will continue to pay a fair price to our farmers and ranchers and pay them on time.”
Dimitri Vardakastanis, gen- eral manager of Gus’s Community Market, Haight Street Market and Noriega Produce, said the family-owned business wasn’t planning to do anything out of the ordinary in response to Whole Foods’ lower prices. Whole Foods operates stores near the family’s Mission District and Haight-Ashbury stores.
“We’re going to keep operating at the same level and quality and keep our prices competitive as we’ve done for the last 36 years,” said Vardakastanis.