Say you went to Whole Foods to get some Ataulfo mangoes, Sartori Parmesan Sarvecchio Cheese, some maple gingerbread 365 Cookies, two pounds of bulk trail mix, two filets of salmon, a loaf of rosemary sourdough bread, and Kumato cherry tomatoes. The cashier would ring you up and your total would be like $100 for seven items. No bueno. That’s why Whole Foods got the nickname “Whole Paycheck.” Now that Amazon, who purchased Whole Foods for $13.7 billion, are attempting to put their Amazon touch on the popular grocery store, and the first order of business is to lower the prices.
“Whole Foods Market will offer lower prices starting Monday on a selection of best-selling grocery staples across its stores, with more to come,” the company said in a statement. “We’re determined to make healthy and organic food affordable for everyone,” said Amazon Worldwide Consumer CEO Jeff Wilke in a statement. “Everybody should be able to eat Whole Foods Market quality — we will lower prices without compromising Whole Foods Market’s long-held commitment to the highest standards.”
Some of the items that will be marked down starting on Monday include “bananas, organic avocados, organic large brown eggs, organic responsibly-farmed salmon and tilapia, organic baby kale and baby lettuce, animal-welfare-rated 85% lean ground beef, creamy and crunchy almond butter, organic Gala and Fuji apples, organic rotisserie chicken, 365 Everyday Value organic butter, and much more.” No word on if “asparagus water” will be discounted.
Attempting to convert all of humanity to an Amazon Prime citizen, the online shopping conglomerate said that it will give Whole Foods discounts to members of Amazon Prime. Instead of a regular grocery store rewards card, Whole Foods will offer discounts through Amazon Prime memberships. Analysts estimate that about 63% of Whole Foods customers are also Amazon Prime members. Amazon Prime’s $99 annual membership perks include free shipping, streaming music, and video.