Via iStockphoto / @kevinjay98 TikTok
A Sprouts customer aired their concerns on TikTok after buying a family meal for $30 which, in his opinion, was insufficient.
Sprouts is known for selling high-quality produce at a reasonable price. But based on this customer’s discovery, even it isn’t immune to shrinkflation.
We’ve seen it with IHOP and LongHorn Steakhouse, but by the looks of it, shrinkflation is coming for farmers’ markets, too.
In the clip, which has garnered 8,103 views, TikToker Kevin Jay (@kevinjay98) shows the viewers the packaged meal. It was meant to feed a family of four. However, the food, which includes beef, shrimp, salad, and mashed potato scoops, appears sparse. Jay says that Surf & Turf is meant to be 70% meat and 30% turf. However, in this meal’s case, it seems to be the other way around.
He also notes that the meal includes three scoops of potato when it would make sense for it to be four scoops instead. “If this is a meal for four people, shouldn’t there be another scoop here somewhere?” he asks.
He remarks that while the salad looks “good,” he is “pretty sure” he won’t be going to Sprouts for this again. “Honestly it just looks like $30 worth of food,” he adds. “I mean, you know, which is great […] but, um, no.”
The video is accompanied by on-screen text that reads, “Sprouts Family Meal $30, Thumbs Down from Me.”
BroBible reached out to the TikToker via TikTok direct message and Sprouts via email.
A Family Of 4–Ants
Commenters mostly agreed with the TikToker.
“They played in your face,” one user wrote, sharing a photo of a Sprouts box with substantially more food in it.
“That looks like 1 steak cut in slices,” a second added. “That’s a family for 1.”
“Maybe a family of ants,” a third quipped.
A fourth agreed, “That’s 1 good dinner.”
Elsewhere, others were less sympathetic.
“Stop complaining,” a fifth said. “That is a lot of food for $30. And it’s really good.”
And a sixth asserted, “You paid $30.00, you cant expect too much.”
What’s Wrong With Sprouts?
The TikToker isn’t the only person to have a grievance with Sprouts. In a Reddit post, one user broke down while this was his “first and last trip to Sprouts for a while.”
“I just went in for one item,” they said. “I was too lazy (yes, that is on me) to go back to my normal store for the few other things I needed, but I’m pretty sure that I paid about $25 extra just for that reason. Never again. How do these places stay open, and who shops there? Also, for those prices – no antibacterial wipes for carts or near meat trays, and no bags for meat to keep it separate from other items. I won’t be going back.”
On the post, another Redditor said, “I currently work there, but I choose not to eat the food. From what I’ve observed, the priority is getting products on the floor as quickly as possible, often at the expense of safety/quality. I’ve seen customers return items like moldy, foul-smelling salami and salmon.”
“A lot of the workers are not trained well in maintaining the quality and freshness of the store, or refused to do so and place new product in the front and old product in the back,” a second added.
A third wrote, “They sell chicken that expires long before the use by date. San Diego stores specifically.”