Here’s a deal I stumbled across, partially by chance and partially by frustration.
I went over to Jewel-Osco to get fresh green beans (.79/lb) to make for tomorrow’s Easter dinner with my extended family. As I was walking out the door, my husband asked me to pick up some bell peppers for a dish he wanted to make. After I picked up the beans, I glanced at the ad to see how much the peppers were on sale for…
$1.50 each? Does that seem ridiculously high to anyone else? I know they are usually around $1 each at Jewel, but $1.50? Out of principle, I thought, no way… I am not buying these today.
After Jewel, I stopped at Super Walmart to look for a headlight for my truck, and then meandered over to the produce aisle just to price-compare red bell peppers and see what Walmart was charging for them.
.67 each.
Hmmm. Further compounding the equation, they were also selling a bag of 6 bell peppers (4 green, 2 red) for $2.49.
Six bell peppers at Jewel would have cost me $9!
Guess where I bought the peppers.
(The photo above will answer that question.)
And it’s left me wondering if I ought to be price-comparing their produce more often. It’s not as easy when their produce prices are typically unadvertised, and with the price variances between stores, but still… Jewel is charging over twice what Walmart is for a single bell pepper. And with produce being more difficult to coupon, we really do have to look at the per-pound or per-unit price over anything else.
jewelover says
Peppers are on the Dirty Dozen list! Can’t believe you would buy them at all Jill at any price.
dolrskolr says
It can be hit or miss but I got a bag of multi-colored mini peppers for $2.99. I think Meijer was almost $2 more for the same and Jewel was the 1# bag for a ridiculous amount. Aldi was definitely the best and cheapest choice for me. I’ve bought them a few times. Probably a seasonal item but you could freeze them as you would any produce item.
We use them in all kinds of salads, stir fry, stews, sauteed, grilled, and raw. Love them.
kbalder says
Before I started couponing, I always shopped at Wal-Mart for groceries. Their produce is generally less expensive than Jewel, but last year, so much of what I purchased at Wal-Mart was no good. I bought potatoes and some were rotten in the bag when I got home. This happened on more than one occasion. It happened with a few other items as well (bags of oranges, tomatoes, etc.). I don’t know if it was my particular store, but I got tired of having to throw it out or take it back and just started shopping at Jewel. I agree that 1.50 is too much for a green pepper. A lady nearby in Plainfield uses an “ice cream truck concept” and sells fresh, organic produce off her truck along with grass fed meat. I have also bought from her often.
mashupmom says
I rarely buy produce at Jewel any more, as the prices are outrageous and the quality has really gone downhill. No Super-Walmart by me, but bought sale cauliflower at Jewel the other day and everything else this week from ALDI and Ultra — and there’s a Pete’s Market opening near me next week that I anticipate seeing more of my business as well. So in answer to your question, yes, I think it’s especially important to compare produce prices because that’s one of the hardest areas to save on coupon-wise. When I’ve done comparisons, the same batch of produce I pick up at ALDI generally costs 2-3x as much at Jewel in any given week, and that’s huge over time.
working2pay says
I shop at Aldi for my produce too. They have very fresh produce and you can’t beat their price. I hardly ever shop Jewel’s produce. Like Jill said…You should limit your exposure..How do you know your “organic” produce is really organic? Thank you Jill for posting that blog about your Jewel and Walmart’s produce prices. No need to be sorry or have to explain yourself. Others simply don’t financially have the option of organic….Thank you for thinking about them :)
lahnie1675 says
I never buy produce at Walmart-I always get something rotten or it’s swarming with flies! Last pepper (and last produce item we have bought from there) was black inside (looked like mold) when we cut it open, but was perfectly fine on the outside. My husband was so disgusted he took them right back and they refunded the money. We only bought it there out of convenience, he had gone there for other non-food items, but ended up costing more in the long run! I typically go to Caputo (I live near the Naperville, IL store) or Aldi for produce. Aldi is limited, but for my 3 picky eaters, it has the staples and the prices are generally hard to beat!
Mom with a coupon says
I typically price match 75% or more of my order to your deals (thank you a million times) as well as butera, garden fresh, aldi and a couple locals. Walmart produce is typically lower priced than jewel, but rarely below advertised specials of the other stores. I’d be glad to share my best produce finds.
Calibabydolly says
Our Walmart sometimes offers the deals on produce so you dont need to price match. Like when strawberries are 99 cents. They had sweet potatoes like that too over the winter. But on the whole, I think they have terrible produce prices and not that great quality. I bought a 3 pack of tomatoes wrapped in plastic tray last winter and when I went to make the salad (the next day) 2 of them were like popping a water balloon.
Im sure they were hot house grown, but I just could not wait until my garden tomatoes.
I went back to Walmart the next day with receipt in hand and asked for a refund. She told me it was not possible since I did not have the items to return. I told her the tomatoes plopped right down in my garbage disposal and could not be returned, since they turned to a watery mess. She said she needed the package so she could scan something. I said I will walk over and get you the tomato pkg and you have my receipt, I was not pulling a fast one on her. She said nope and I left an unhappy customer. I think it was only $1.49, but I was mad they didnt stand behind it like they are known to do.
I vowed never to buy winter tomatoes unless I can feel them on the vine. My husband price matches bananas from Aldis at Walmart, but thats about it. The rest of the produce is an overpriced hot mess.
Rocketmom60 says
As someone who has worked in HUGE gardens before, I can’t begin to tell you how difficult it is to be completely organic. Have you ever tried hand picking aphids and those dang Japanese beetles off acres of produce? It is impossible. And the products that are supposed to control them organically just don’t work. No wonder organic stuff is so expensive. It is so labor intensive. Personally, I buy produce at the store that carries the freshest and then I wash it (or peel it if appropriate) before using it.
DiamondCass says
Wow. I haven’t had a lot of time to be on the blog here lately but times sure have changed!
1. I appreciate all the information about organic vs not, especially from all of you that have your own gardens or worked on one. We are finally buying a house and I am excited to start a garden in the backyard (even though it seems I have a lot of learning to do…)
2. Jill it is TERRIBLE that people are on you about buying non-organic one time. Red peppers are always more expensive than green, and $1 is a good SALE price. I wouldn’t have paid $1.50 either.
3. I had the same problem with Wal-Mart’s produce section as many of these people. Before I started using Jill’s website I shopped at WalMart consistently, for everything. But I constantly had issues with their produce. Especially when you have young children (now we have a 4 yr old girl and 1 yr old boy and another girl due in 10 weeks), packing everyone up, making sure you have your receipt, and lugging everything back to the store for a return is just not acceptable. But it IS inconvenient because then I might be missing a key ingredient for a planned meal. I have started purchasing at Jewel because that’s usually where we are anyway, and I don’t have time to trek to 5 different stores; one for produce, one for shelf grocery sales, etc. I don’t do Aldi’s because even though I have a lot of my own reusable bags, I can’t justify leaving my kids in the car alone to return that cart. Plus they never have everything on my list so I always end up going somewhere else too. I guess what I’m saying is I’m a one-stop shopper kind of gal lately, even though it’s costing us a little more money.
***I am curious Jill how the quality of those peppers were…?? (Seems like you would’ve posted if they were bad)
4. I am SO TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! of making my best effort to feed my family healthily and then some green environmentalist (who probably thinks trees are more important than people) tries to tell me I’m feeding my family poison because I’m not buying organic. It’s like every time I think I’m doing a good job someone hits me on the head and says, “that’s terrible”. I’m sorry, some weeks it’s tough just to afford the NON-organic vegetables. What would you rather I do: feed my family over processed fruit snacks and chips and cookies and candy, or non-organic vegetables?!?!?! I am so tired of this. Every time I turn around there is a new thing that’s wrong with the way this is grown or that is made. Rant over.
My new response to all those people is:
I will happily buy purely organic if you pay for it all :)
mashupmom says
Tomorrow’s Jewel ad has red bell peppers 2/$4.00 — “ONLY $2.00 each!”
seriously??