Eating healthy can get pretty pricey, especially if you’re shopping somewhere like Whole Foods.
But luckily, a recent happening is making grocery shopping at the supermarket chain a little bit more affordable.
At the beginning of April, Amazon and Whole Foods announced it would be making the “biggest investment in lowering prices and expanding Prime Member deals to date.”
The third round of price cuts is set to begin today, and while the focus is primarily on the U.S., Whole Foods told Daily Hive that they will be lowering prices on products in Canadian stores as well.
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Product prices have dropped an average of 20% across the board.
Shoppers can expect to see lower prices on fresh peak-season produce like greens, tomatoes, tropical fruits, and more.
“Whole Foods Market continues to maintain the high quality standards that we’ve championed for nearly 40 years and, with Amazon, we will lower more prices in the future, building on the positive momentum from previous price investments,” said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and CEO, in a press release.
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As of right now, Whole Foods has just under 320 locations across North America, with 14 in Canada — primarily in and around the Toronto and Vancouver areas.
When the company was acquired by Amazon in 2017 many wondered what the long-term outcome would be. So far, it seems to be cost cutting to stand up to competition and to make healthy food more accessible for everyone — a major win for shoppers.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated that Canadian Prime members would receive an additional 10% off hundreds of sale items. The article has been adjusted as Prime member perks are not available in Canada.
Featured image: Instagram/@guiltfreebakerykorea
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According to Canadiangrocer.com Whole Foods is thinking of offering a 10% discount for subscribers to Amazon’s Prime program, which if you don’t know already offers Amazon shoppers unlimited two-day shipping and access to a bevvy of other services for $99 a month.
While the 10% discount isn’t official, Candian Grocer via CNBC states that marketing materials with the offer were seen in a whole foods store on Wednesday, and industry insiders point to this promotion as the real deal.
Amazon has already officially communicated their goal of offering special perks to Amazon Prime members at Whole Food stores. At the time of Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods, the mega-retailer promised lower prices on select products and stated that they would begin integrating its Prime Membership program into Whole Foods POS system allowing Prime members access to “special savings” and in-store benefits.
It’s currently unknown how many Amazon Prime members shop at Amazon, but for a 10% discount, it might just make shopping at Whole Foods more financially manageable for consumers.
Source: Canadian Grocer
Imagine it’s 2:00 pm and you get the text that many people in relationships get… “What’s for dinner?” In days of yore, if you didn’t have any food in your fridge, and you didn’t want to go grocery shopping or do delivery you were pretty much forced to pick one of those options. If this has ever happened to you, you’ll be happy to hear that soon you’ll be able to get pretty much any grocery item you want to be delivered to you within two hours.
The Business Insider is reporting that Amazon and it’s newly acquired subsidiary Whole Foods are working on a trial program to deliver groceries and other goods directly from Whole Foods. While media outlets and industry insiders expect this service to come to Canada and specifically to Toronto, Whole Foods delivery trial will start in Austin Texas, Cincinnati, Dallas and Virginia Beach.
In an Amazon press release, the company stated that it expects the program to roll out to more cities in the near future.
The new delivery program will be available exclusively to Amazon Prime members through Amazon’s Prime Now two-hour delivery service. Delivery will be free on orders over $35.
Amazon isn’t interested in stocking Whole Food grocery items in a giant Amazon warehouse. Instead, the new service will use existing Whole Food stores as depots. Amazon’s Whole Food delivery is being touted as full-service and will conceivably the entire Whole Foods product line may be available for customers to shop.
Customers will be able to order fresh produce, seafood, meat, flowers, baked goods, dairy products and a whole lot more.
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The grocery chain market in Toronto is already insanely crowded, and it looks like competition is about to heat up even more as Popular Ottawa-based grocery chain Farm Boy Plans to Open 10 stores in the GTA.
BlogTO reports that Farm Boy, which is kind of like a cross between Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s has announced major expansion plans in the Toronto area. If you’ve never heard of Farm Boy, it rose to popularity by focusing on non-packaged foods. Boasting an incredible bakery, deli, and a vast selection of prepared foods and dairy.
The company positions itself as a “fresh food experience” shop rather than a grocery store. There are plans to open a store in Etobicoke in the “very” near future and industry insiders and BlogTO have reported that 10-12 stores will be coming throughout the GTA in the upcoming year.
This should create strong competition between top grocery players like Loblaw Inc, Longos and Whole Foods.
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According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is working hard and launching its one-hour and two-hour membership delivery service – Prime Now – to Canada this year.
According to inside sources close to the mega e-commerce retailer, Amazon is looking to start piloting Prime Now in Canada with a soft launch in Vancouver planned for November with a Launch in Toronto expected for February.
This will be big news for Canadian shoppers, as Amazon is focused on disrupting the current channels in which Canadians shop for everyday goods. With the acquisition of Whole Foods, Amazon is expected to offer common grocery items through the Prime Now service. Canadians will be able to have produced, dairy, frozen food and health items shipped directly to their houses in under two hours.
According to WSJ, Amazon is considering with local bakeries and butcher shops in order to offer a wider variety of products for Canadian Amazon Prime Now members.
Currently, a Prime membership cost $79 CAD and when Prime Now comes to Canada, 2-hour delivery will be included in the membership while 1-hour delivery will cost a small additional fee.
Who’s ready to say goodbye to grocery stores.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Image: Flickr Amish Patel
Luxury grocer Whole Foods is about to get more affordable.
Earlier this year, Amazon spent nearly $14 billion to take over Whole Foods, and the ownership becomes official on Monday, August 28. CBC News is reporting that Monday will also mark lower prices on ‘a selection of best-selling grocery staples across its stores.’
In a release, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said, “We’re determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone.” Also stating that the lowered prices will not affect Whole Foods Market’s commitment to the highest standards.
Amongst the savings, customers will be able to find lower prices on the following:
- organic bananas
- organic avocados
- organic large brown eggs
- organic responsibly-farmed salmon and tilapia
- organic baby kale and baby lettuce
- animal-welfare-rated 85 per cent lean ground beef
- creamy and crunchy almond butter
- organic Gala and Fuji apples
- organic rotisserie chicken
- 365 Everyday Value organic butter
Avid Amazon shoppers will also be happy to hear that retailer will be implementing Amazon Prime into its payment systems in store, which will eventually lead to more savings and in-store benefits for Prime members.
Will lower prices incentivize you to shop at Whole Foods?
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Business Insider is reporting that e-commerce giant Amazon has purchased high-end grocer Whole Foods today for a whopping $13.7 Billion.
This is a huge move that sees the tech retailer move into a more traditional buying arena. Industry insiders point out that this is an excellent move for Amazon, as Whole Foods 440 U.S. stores (in fabulous locations) will serve as an excellent boosting element for Amazon’s new grocery delivery service AmazonFresh.
With Amazon’s shipping and logistic capabilities and Whole Foods’ retail footprint Amazon will be able to efficiently source and deliver fresh food to urban centres.
As more news surfaces we will be sure to keep you updated, but this is an interesting move that is sure to shake up the grocery industry.