Walmart is a favorite place to do groceries
for anyone looking for discounted food prices.
Their rollback prices set them apart from
other chains and they have a great variety
of organic and non-organic food to buy, bushels
of veggies and carts of fruit.
Walmart has everything you need under one
roof.
Which sounds like a marketing slogan.
But upon close inspection, it turns out that
not every food item sold there is cheap or
even healthy.
These are the 10 foods you should absolutely
never buy at Walmart.
Organic Food
Now a lot has been said about organic food
and whether it’s really healthier or tastier
than non-organic food.
But people’s appetite for organic food hasn’t
abated, and it’s more than just a fad.
It’s been going strong for years and contributes
to over $40 billion to the grocery industry
every year.
So if you prefer to buy organic, you’re
not alone.
Just try to find somewhere else to do your
organic food shopping than Walmart.
Organic food is always more expensive than
its non-organic counterpart.
This has to do with the short shelf life that
organic veggies and fruit have.
Because neither chemical fertilizers nor pesticides
are used, the produce tends to perish quicker.
So naturally, the price tag attached to each
item is a bit steeper than the tomatoes or
eggplants which grew with the power of chemical
nutrients.
But Walmart takes this a bit further than
other chains.
Walmart tends to value its organic produce
higher than other stores such as Trader Joe’s
or Aldi.
Which brings up a question about the wisdom
behind these steep prices.
Is it because Walmart appreciates organic
onion more than the other folks?
Or is it because Walmart knows the time and
effort that goes into growing organic food
in green farms and feels the need to pay those
organic farmers for their hard work?
The answer, of course, is no and no.
It’s all about increasing the profit margin
and capitalizing on something that people
seem to relish and are willing to pay more
for.
Namely, organic food.
So you’re better off looking for your organic
tomatoes somewhere else.
Non-organic Food
You know everything we just said about organic
food?
Well, guess what?
It also applies to non-organic food.
Yes, even the carrots with pesticides and
the milk that is probably loaded with antibiotics
is also overpriced.
But why, Walmart?
Obviously, because it can.
People just got used to going to the chain
to do their weekly shopping.
And that includes buying groceries.
There’s plenty to choose from, all the produce
is fresh, and the prices are reasonable.
Or so it appears.
Until you happen to visit a rival chain, stroll
down the fresh produce section and look at
the prices there.
It’s at that exact moment when you’ll
realize that Walmart has probably been overcharging
you for carrots and onions for years.
Not just with their high prices but also the
low quality of their food.
Out of all 68 chains reviewed by Consumer
Report, Walmart always reserves a bottom place
on the list.
The report found that the food was not as
fresh as advertised and the quality of the
vegetables, fruit, and meat was very low.
So is it that Walmart food suppliers cheat
and provide sub-standard food?
Or is the problem more complex?
It turns out that the Walmart fresh produce
section has come as an afterthought.
The section always faces understaffing problems.
So staff from other sections fill in during
peak shopping hours.
And when it’s not your section, you don’t
really care about the quality of the product
you stock the shelves with.
Pure Vanilla Extract
Now that we’ve covered general fresh foods,
both organic and non-organic, let’s dive
in your cart and see what other overpriced
items you’re about to take to the cashier.
One of the first things to pop up is a bottle
of pure vanilla extract.
Now this one has a price tag that is way higher
than you should pay for it.
And we get it.
All chains tend to use weekly flexible prices
on their items.
It’s a proven strategy to increase business.
Some days Costco will be promoting big price
cuts on dairy products and fresh meat.
But what you may not know is that other products
carry that cut in prices to keep the chain
from losing.
So if the dairy products are 30% off that
day, that means that the fruits will get a
few cents each to balance things out.
And all this is normal and acceptable almost.
We can’t always compare prices between chains
and go buy milk at Costco and veggies at Walmart.
But what defies comprehension is that certain
items are always sold for a higher price at
Walmart than other chains.
One of those is the pure vanilla extract.
For some reason, Walmart thinks this stuff
is being underestimated and undervalued by
other chains and it needs to make up for that
oversight.
But the truth is, you can always get pure
vanilla extract at almost half the price if
you head over to Costco.
So that’s another item you should not seek
at Walmart.
Maple Syrup
Maple Syrup.
Canada’s gift to the world.
Ask anyone who can’t start their day without
a couple of pancakes for breakfast about maple
syrup and watch them wax lyrical.
Their eyes grow languid and both passion and
yearning fill up their voices as they recite
a litany of qualities that make this molten
gold so loved by millions of people.
But as we all know, maple syrup isn’t cheap.
The bottle is priced as if it’s full of
real liquid gold, not the juice of some leafy
tree.
Not that we’re complaining.
We know it’s well worth every cent we pay
for it.
Unless of course, we’re buying it from Walmart.
Because then we’d be paying a few bucks
more than at other chains.
Which really leaves the maple syrup lovers
with two options.
The first is, go with a knock-off syrup that
tastes almost the same but doesn’t cost
as much.
I mean, the kids won’t know the difference
as they smother their waffles and pancakes
with the stuff.
We even heard that corn syrup does a good
job of masquerading as the real thing and
no child is the wiser.
Both Log Cabin and Aunt Jemima make some good
stuff that doesn’t cost you an arm and a
leg.
The other option is to shop for maple syrup
elsewhere other than Walmart.
We hear that Costco doesn’t guard its maple
syrup with as much jealousy as Walmart, and
will part with it for a fair price.
Organic Milk
OK, it’s time to look into organic milk
and how high Walmart values it.
But first, we need to find out why organic
milk is always more pricey than normal milk.
It’s not that the organic milk farmers are
trying to cash in on the organic food craze.
Organic milk means raising fewer cows and
feeding them more expensive food.
This means steering clear from genetically
modified food and milk them less often than
other cows.
This is why your organic milk tastes better.
But it also comes at a price.
The farmer produces less milk and sells to
Walmart at a relatively higher price than
non-organic milk.
Walmart turns around and slaps a hefty price
tag on the organic milk carton.
And if you compare prices as you should between
different chains, you’ll find Walmart organic
milk always on the pricey side.
Aldi, for example, sells organic milk for
much less than Walmart.
Even Whole Foods, notorious for its high prices,
still doesn’t put such a price tag on organic
milk.
Imported Farmed Shrimp
Shrimp is delicious seafood that has found
its way into numerous recipes over time.
Some processed food might contain shrimp even
if you don’t recognize the taste.
Those finger-length crustaceans are packed
with protein and healthy nutrients.
That is, assuming they grow in the wild seas
roaming free and eating their natural food.
But that’s not the case with the huge bags
of imported shrimp that you find in Walmart
and other retailers.
They are cheap and loaded with lots of farmed
shrimp.
Not just that, but they also come from Asian
and South American countries.
Warm water shrimp is tastier than cold water
ones or so the foodies would have us believe.
So what could go wrong with a cheap buy like
that?
Apparently, everything.
First off, these shrimp that grow in Thailand
farms involve child labor.
Every time you buy one of those large bags
of frozen shrimp you’re paying someone who
used children to work on their farms in unhealthy
conditions.
But that’s not the whole story.
Shrimp that comes from Latin America and also
Asia is not adequately supervised by health
officials in these countries, which means
the shrimp might pose a risk to your health
when you consume it.
They include bacteria and traces of antibiotics,
which don’t rule each other out, and are
not the kind of things you like to be placed
on a plate in front of you.
Snack Food
If you love snacks then you must have a field
day at Walmart.
Their ‘Great Value’ packs offer a snacker
all they ever wanted.
Inexpensive snacks that come in various shapes,
packages, and sizes, and you won’t burn
a hole in your pocket when you fill up your
cart to the brim with the glossy packages.
And who can blame you?
The stuff is tasty and crunches just right
in your mouth when you’re binging on that
Netflix series.
So why are we against buying snacks from Walmart?
Because you can get better deals at the dollar
stores.
As usual, purchasing things from the large
retailer always comes at a cost.
Even small things like snacks always get a
few cents added to the price tag.
So from a purely financial perspective, you’ll
save a few bucks buying your snacks from dollar
stores.
But it’s not just the price tag.
Dollar stores take snacks to extreme heights.
That means you can find brands and flavors
you won’t find in the large chains.
So the more time you spend browsing the more
snack gems you’re bound to find.
And some of those exotic flavors are worth
a try or two.
Big Burly
This is Walmart’s answer to the eternal
question: what will I have for breakfast this
morning?
It doesn’t hurt to have something different
for breakfast every now and then, but when
that breakfast is called Big Burly, you need
to think twice.
The full name of the culprit is The Great
Value Big Burly Breakfast Sandwich.
Now supposedly the ‘great value’ part
of the name is supposed to mean low cost,
which is a great draw for customers.
But what does ‘big burly’ stand for?
We’ll need to look under the packaging to
find out.
First, we’re faced with two slices of toast.
In between, there’s over a half pound of
bacon, processed cheese, and fried eggs.
That’s some serious heart-busting saturated
fat right there.
And if you’re going to start your day with
this vicious attack on your heart, what will
you be having for lunch?
Concentrated cholesterol swirled in a glass
of melted lard?
So it’s not about the price tag this time.
This is purely for health reasons that you
should say no to this monstrosity.
I mean even fast food chains have healthier
options for breakfast than this one.
Low-cost Pork
When a retailer grows so big and takes control
over a big chunk of the market, you know that
at some point, prices will be laid on the
table and someone has to carry more than their
fair share of the burden.
In this case, Walmart lays its terms and the
pork farmers have to pay the price.
In order to please its customers who expect
prices to be low in Walmart, the giant retailer
forces the pork farmers to sell their pork
at a lower price.
In fact, it’s so low that they barely make
any profit.
But what can you do when you supply pork to
Walmart?
It’s obviously not that easy to simply find
another buyer willing to purchase the tons
of pork you produce every year.
And these margins of profit have been declining
over the years.
While this doesn’t affect the average customer
directly, it still affects the pork farmers
drastically.
Yes, we all want to get our hands on inexpensive
pork, but at what cost?
Much has been said about some of Walmarts
buying practices and the relationship with
their suppliers.
One of the major complaints is that you play
by Walmart’s rules, or you don’t play
at all.
Ground Beef
And finally, it’s time to turn our attention
to ground beef.
We left this one for last simply because it’s
a popular purchase and on most people’s
shopping list when passing the meat section.
The Walmart ground beef is also the item that
most customers buy believing that they’re
paying the cheapest out of all the retailers.
Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
As usual, it pays to compare prices between
retailers in order to know for sure if your
favorite chain is offering the best price.
In the case of ground beef, Walmart isn’t
the cheapest.
Not by a long shot.
With weekly specials that vary from different
retailer to retailer, the Walmart price can
always be beaten, if you do your research.
In fact, it has been reported that the Aldi
chains are always selling ground beef at lower
prices.
Sometimes one dollar less per pound.
Which is a big savings if you buy a lot of
ground beef every week.
I guess Smokey Robinson and the Miracles were
right - you better shop around.
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